SDL3 installation guide

Last modified date : 08/18/23

This covers the installation of SDL3 on a Unix system based on Debian (with apt).
Contribute to cover more systems.

Download and installation

Step 1 : Download

From the global SDL organization on Github, download the zip of these packages :

Package name	version	repository URL	description
Core	3.0	https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL	Core required package
SDL_image	3.0	https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL_image	Used for images and textures
SDL_ttf	3.0	https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL_ttf	Used for text and fonts managment
SDL_mixer	3.0	https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL_mixer	Used for audio
SDL_net	2.0	https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL_net	Used for networking

Step 2 : installation process

The process for each package will be the same.
However, some will require other packages, otherwise it won't build.

Packages that have dependencies :

Package name	dependency	guide for installation
SDL_ttf	freetype	go to chapter

# assuming you are in ~/Download folder, with all SDL*.zip in it

# 1. setup
mkdir SDL3_setup && cd SDL3_setup
mv ../SDL*.zip .
mkdir build

# Repeat step 2 and 3 for each packages you want to install

# 2. prepare for the desired package
unzip SDL-main.zip
# optional step
rm -rf ./build/* # clean folder for next installation

# 3. build and install
cd build
cmake ../SDL-<package-name>/CMakeLists.txt -B .
make
sudo make install

Dependencies installation guide

Freetype

Go on and click on the sourceforge link.

Download the tar.xz file.

Extract with tar -xf freetype-<version>.tar.xz, replacing <version> by the version you have, then move inside the extracted folder.

You can find documentation for the installation depending your system, on the doc/ folder.

Then build the package :

sh autogen.sh
./configure # this will install in /usr/local. See --help for moving target
make
sudo make install

Minimal Code Example

#include <iostream>
#include <SDL3/SDL.h>

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
	if(SDL_Init(SDL_InitFlags::SDL_INIT_VIDEO) < 0) {
		std::cerr << "Init error : " << SDL_GetError() << std::endl;
		return EXIT_FAILURE;
	}

	auto window = SDL_CreateWindowWithPosition(
		"MCE",
		SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED, SDL_WINDOWPOS_CENTERED,
		720, 405,
		SDL_WindowFlags::SDL_WINDOW_OPENGL
	);

	if(!window) {
		std::cerr << "Window creation error : " << SDL_GetError() << std::endl;
		SDL_Quit();
        	return EXIT_FAILURE;
	}

	bool isRunning = true;

	while(isRunning) {
		// render here

		// input
		SDL_Event event;

		while(SDL_PollEvent(&event)) {
			switch(event.type) {
				case SDL_EventType::SDL_EVENT_QUIT:
					isRunning = false;
					break;
			}
		}
	}

	SDL_Quit();

	return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

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