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---
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short-description: Simple getting started guide
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...
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# The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Installing and Using Meson
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This page is meant for people who are new to using Meson and possibly
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even to compiling C and/or C++ code in general. It is meant to contain
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one simple way of getting your build environment up and running. If
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you are more experienced and have your own preferred way of installing
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and using development software, feel free to use that instead. This
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guide only deals with Linux, Windows and macOS platforms. If you use
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some other platform, such as one of the BSDs, you probably already
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know how to install development tools on it (probably better than we
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do, even).
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There are three phases to getting a development environment running.
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1. Installing a compiler toolchain
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2. Installing Meson
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3. Creating a project and building it
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## Installing a compiler toolchain
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### Linux
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All Linux distributions provide easy access to development tools.
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Typically you need to open a terminal and execute one command, which
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depends on your distro.
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- Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives: `sudo apt install build-essential`
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- Fedora, Centos, RHEL and derivatives: `sudo dnf install gcc-c++`
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- Arch: `sudo pacman -S gcc`
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### Windows
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The most common development toolchain on Windows is Visual Studio,
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which can be downloaded from [the Visual Studio web
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site](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/). Select the Community
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version unless you have bought a license.
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
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Download the installer and run it. When you are given a list of things
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to install, select *Desktop development with C++*. This installs both
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a C and a C++ compiler.
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
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Once the installer finishes the compiler toolchain is ready to use.
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### macOS
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On macOS the development toolchain must be installed via the Mac app
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store. Search for an app called XCode and install it.
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
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*Note:* Installing XCode is not sufficient by itself. You also need to
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start XCode' GUI application once. This will make XCode download and
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install more files that are needed for compilation.
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## Installing Meson
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### Linux
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Installing Meson is just as simple as installing the compiler toolchain.
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- Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives: `sudo apt install meson ninja-build`
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- Fedora, Centos, RHEL and derivatives: `sudo dnf install meson ninja-build`
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- Arch: `sudo pacman -S meson`
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### Windows
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Meson provides a standard Windows `.msi` installer that can be
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downloaded from [the Releases
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page](https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/releases).
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
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Download and run it to install all the necessary bits. You can verify
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that your installation is working by running the Visual Studio
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developer tools command prompt that can be found in the start menu.
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
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You should be able to run both `meson` and `ninja` and query their
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versions.
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
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### macOS
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#### With Homebrew
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`brew install meson ninja`
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#### Without Homebrew
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Start by downloading the installation package from [the Releases
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page](https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/releases).
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
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Double click the downloaded installer to start. If you are running a
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new macOS version, it might refuse to run the application with the
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following error message:
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
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This can be fixed by starting System Preferences, selecting the
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Security and Privacy entry. At the bottom it shows the blocked app and
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you can enable it by clicking on the "Open anyway" button.
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
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Now the installer should start. If not, double click on the downloaded
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installer file again.
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
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Once the installation is finished you can verify that the system is working via the terminal app.
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
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## Running Meson
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Start a terminal application. On Windows you have to use the Visual
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Studio Developer Tools Command Prompt as discussed above, because the
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compilers are only available in that terminal. You also need to change
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into your home directory (Linux and macOS terminals start in the home
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directory by default).
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cd \users\username
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Create a new directory to hold your project.
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mkdir testproject
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cd testproject
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Use Meson to create and build a new sample project.
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meson init --name testproject --build
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This will create a project skeleton for you and compile it. The result
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is put in the `build` subdirectory and can be run directly from there.
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build/testproject
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
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The project is now ready for development. You can edit the code with
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any editor and it is rebuilt by going in the `build` subdirectory and
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executing the `meson compile` command. If your version of Meson is too
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old, you can compile the project by running the command `ninja`
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instead.
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