diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 3171649..09e61f0 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@ project(project_name_here
 # setting this so compile_commands.json is generated for clangd
 set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS 1)
 
+# allowances for debugging
+set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "-g")
+
+# generally useful
+set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-Wall -pedantic -Wextra -Wfloat-equal -Wundef -Wpointer-arith -Wcast-align -Wstrict-overflow=2 -Wunreachable-code")
 # for convenience if they're needed
 #find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
 #find_package(fmt REQUIRED)