Set up the project

The folder

Install Git LFS first; the fonts are stored in LFS. Then add TachyonUI as a submodule:

mkdir my_app
cd my_app
git init
git submodule add https://github.com/LogicalError/TachyonUI.git external/TachyonUI
git submodule update --init --recursive

--recursive fetches TachyonUI's dependencies, such as SDL and HarfBuzz, so the build needs no network.

The project's layout:

my_app/
  CMakeLists.txt
  my_app.h        the panels and the app class
  my_app.cpp      what the panels and the app draw
  main.cpp
  external/TachyonUI/

CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.22)
project(my_app LANGUAGES CXX)
 
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 20)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
 
add_subdirectory(external/TachyonUI)
 
add_executable(my_app main.cpp my_app.cpp my_app.h)
target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE TachyonUI::gui_controls)

• Shaders, theme and fonts are built in, and SDL is linked in. No files or DLLs go next to the program.
• As a subproject, TachyonUI builds only its libraries, not its examples or tests.
• For an installed TachyonUI, replace add_subdirectory with find_package(TachyonUI 0.1 CONFIG REQUIRED); see Adding the library to a build.

Building

cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build --config Debug

• On Linux and macOS, add -G "Ninja Multi-Config" to the first line.
• The first configure builds the third-party libraries. This takes a few minutes, once.
• The build fails until the three source files exist; the next steps write them.

---

Tutorial | Next: 2. Buttons