raylib-cpp-template/README.md

Raylib C++ Starter

The Raylib C++ Starter kit is a template project that provides a simple starter template for the raylib game tools library incorporating the raylib-cpp C++ bindings and using Make for building. The starter kit can automatcially clone down raylib and the bindings, compile them, and setup the project for build using a static library.

Why static linking?

One of the most absurdly annoying things about C++ development is finding and linking dynamic libraries. The raylib project prides itself on having "NO external dependencies", and we tend to agree that portability is way cooler than saving that fraction of a second on compile-time.

Why not just use CMake?

I guess we just don't want the added headache. CMake is complex and sometimes feels like some arcane magic that we generally take for granted in build systems. If you look at the raylib library, yes it has CMake support, but it generally encourages the use of Make on all platforms because as the library reads:

raylib is a programming library to enjoy videogames programming; no fancy interface, no visual helpers, no auto-debugging... just coding in the most pure spartan-programmers way

So that being said, we hope that this repository finds you well and wholeheartedly enjoying the simple things in life (i.e. video games programming).

Current Compatibility

OS	Default Compiler	Last Built On	Status
macOS	Clang++	Big Sur 11.0.1
Linux	G++	Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
Windows	MinGW (G++)	Windows 10 19041

Getting Started

Installing Dependencies

Installing Apple Developer Tools (macOS only)

To do anything of value in the later versions of macOS, you're going to need the Xcode developer tools. Fortunately, if you want to skip downloading the behemoth of an IDE, then you can just get the command line tools package with the following command:

$ xcode-select --install

Installing MinGW (Windows only)

Building raylib libraries requires the installation of MinGW (32 and 64 bit versions). Please ensure that you link MinGW's bin directory to your system environment variables for BOTH the 32 and 64 bit versions. You can follow the instructions here for the 32-bit and here for the 64-bit bit versions.

After installing MinGW, you should have G++ installed. You can verify this by running:

> g++ --version
g++ (x86_64-posix-seh-rev0, Built by MinGW-W64 project) 8.1.0

Installing G++ & Make (Linux only)

Some Linux distributions do not come preinstalled with the basic build tools required to do C/C++ development. In the case that you do not have them and you're on a Debian-based system, you can install them all with one very handy meta-package aptly named build-essential. Otherwise if you're using Fedora, you can install them each individually. Run the following lines to install them:

Debian/Ubuntu

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install build-essential

Fedora

$ sudo dnf check-update
$ sudo dnf install make automake gcc gcc-c++ kernel-devel

After installing the package, you should have both G++ and Make installed. You can verify this by running:

$ g++ --version
g++ (Ubuntu 9.3.0-17ubuntu1~20.04) 9.3.0

$ make --version
GNU Make 4.2.1
Built for x86_64-pc-linux-gnu

Installing ALSA, Mesa & X11 (Linux only)

On Linux, raylib is reliant on a number of libraries for audio, graphics, and windowing that may not come preinstalled, these being ALSA, Mesa & X11 respecively. Fortunately they can all be easily installed through your distribution's package manager with just a few lines:

Debian/Ubuntu

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install libasound2-dev mesa-common-dev libx11-dev libxrandr-dev libxi-dev xorg-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libglu1-mesa-dev

Fedora

$ sudo dnf check-update
$ sudo dnf install alsa-lib-devel mesa-libGL-devel libX11-devel libXrandr-devel libXi-devel libXcursor-devel libXinerama-devel

Building the Project

macOS & Linux

Once you have cloned this repository and installed the relevant dependencies for your platform, building the project is as simple as running these two commands in its root directory:

$ make setup
$ make

The first command will clone in the lastest C++ bindings and targeted version of raylib, copy across any relevant header files into /includes, and build a static library file from them, placing it in /lib. The second command then compiles, runs and cleans up your project using the source code in /src/main.cpp.

If a window pops up, congratulations, you've successfully built the project and you can now start programming your game!

Windows

Unfortunately we do not yet have automated project setup configured for Windows. Below are instructions on how to perform this setup manually.

1. Clone down the raylib-cpp bindings and raylib repositories from the submodules recursively included:

> git submodule init
> git submodule update

> cd vendor/raylib-cpp
> git submodule init
> git submodule update

2. Generate a static library (.a file) using the build and installation instructions in the raylib README.

3. Clone this repository and move the static library file you just generated into a /lib/Windows directory.

4. Run the following command in the project's root directory:

> mingw32-make

Additional Notes

• It is recommended that your code should go into the /src directory, which is automatically included in the compile process when you run make.
• If you wish to change the program entry point from /src/main.cpp, add more libraries, or really anything about your project, all build instructions are specified in the Makefile no smoke and mirrors!

---

Todo

• Get static linking to work with C++ bindings
• Setup for at least one compiler on each platform
• Add raylib-cpp as vendor for procedural builds and auto-updating
• Set up CI/CD with GitHub Actions and Make
• Test with multiple compilers on each platform
• Add compiler specification options

Contributing

How do I contribute?

It's pretty simple actually:

1. Fork it from here
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b cool-new-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m "Added some feature")
4. Push to the branch (git push origin cool-new-feature)
5. Create a new pull request for it!

Contributors

• J-Mo63 Jonathan Moallem - co-creator, maintainer
• Raelr Aryeh Zinn - co-creator, maintainer

Licence

This project is licenced under an unmodified zlib/libpng licence, which is an OSI-certified, BSD-like licence that allows static linking with closed source software. Check LICENCE for further details.