How to setup C++, Cmake and Make to Work Natively in Windows 10 using MinGW

🚀 End goal: To create the same developer setup as Mac and Linux without having to rely on proprietary Microsoft Visual Studio (MSVC).

Note: You will need to run most commands as an Administrator in the Command Prompt.

1️⃣ Install Chocolately

Official Instructions

Why? We need a package manager

Linux has apt-get by default

sudo apt-get <packageName>

Mac has Homebrew

brew install <packageName>

Windows has Chocolately

choco install <packageName>

2️⃣ Recommend you install Windows Terminal and Powershell (Optional)

Official Windows Terminal Instructions

The default Command Prompt sucks. 💩 It's like trying to build a house without power tools. We have technology.

Official Powershell Instructions

Set your default shell to Powershell. Don't use "Powershell Core"... that's a weird Microsoft project to try to get Linux and Mac users to switch to Powershell.

3️⃣ Install MinGW (GCC and G++ compiler)

MinGW-64 is the Windows equivalent of GCC (for C) and G++ (for C++). It even comes with the gdb debugger! 😍

1. GCC ➡️ GNU C Compiler
2. G++ ➡️ GNU C++ Compiler

choco install mingw

4️⃣ Install Cmake and Make

choco install cmake

choco install make

Add cmake as a command in your Environment Variables. There is a bug in the installer and it doesn't automatically create a command alias for you.

1. Search for Environment Variables in Windows
2. Click on Environment Variables button
3. In the upper window (user variables) click on New
4. Variable name = cmake
5. Variable path = C:\Program Files\CMake\bin
   • Please verify this path on your own computer
   • You will know this is the correct bin folder if it contains cmake.exe
6. Click OK and OK to finish

Check that MinGW, Cmake, and Make are installed correctly in the Terminal:

g++ --version
>>  g++.exe (MinGW-W64 x86_64-posix-seh, built by Brecht Sanders) 11.2.0
    Copyright (C) 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

cmake --version
>>  cmake version 3.21.3

make --version
>>  GNU Make 4.3
    Built for Windows32

You can even check that other GNU tools from MinGW are installed:

grep --version
>> grep (GNU grep) 3.0

gdb --version
>> GNU gdb (GDB for MinGW-W64 x86_64, built by Brecht Sanders) 10.2

bash --version
>> GNU bash, version 5.0.17(1)-release (x86_64-pc-linux-gnu)

If you forget where G++ is installed, use this:

which g++
>>  /c/ProgramData/chocolatey/bin/g++

Refresh your Terminal environment variables with refreshenv

5️⃣ Download and Install SFML

SFML Downloads Page

1. Download GCC 7.3.0 MinGW (SEH) - 64-bit

   • Place this SFML folder somewhere safe like C:\Users\yourname\Documents\. Don't lose this folder!
   • We don't want the Visual C++ versions.
   • The 32-bit version should work as well if you want to use that instead.

2. We do NOT want to manually tell the GCC/G++ compiler where to find our SFML library. Doing this will suck because GCC/G++ and Cmake will not be able to find SFML by itself.

3. We WANT to add this SFML library as a choco package into our computer.

4. Use this Github code to help add SFML as a choco package.

   • Download all files from this Github repository: https://github.com/jeanmimib/sfml-mingw64

     git clone https://github.com/jeanmimib/sfml-mingw64.git
     

   • Place this folder into a temporary place like C:\Users\yourname\Documents\. You can delete this folder afterwards.
   • In the terminal, go into this temporary sfml-mingw64 folder.
   • Type this command. It will create a nupkg file.

     choco pack
     

   • Type this command. It will install SFML as a choco package that MingGW can easily find. The dot means "here", and since you're in the same folder as the nupkg file, choco will find it.

     choco install sfml-mingw64 -s .
     

5. Check that all choco packages are installed correctly.

   choco list --local-only
   >>  Chocolatey v0.11.2
       cmake 3.21.3
       cmake.install 3.21.3
       make 4.3
       mingw 11.2.0
       sfml-mingw64 2.5.1  
   

Refresh your Terminal environment variables with refreshenv

6️⃣ Configure your IDE with working IntelliSense

1. I use Visual Studio Code (VS Code), so you will need to find the equivalent in your IDE.

2. Open up your VS Code such that the working folder is your desired Project Home.

   • You should see the include and src folders.
   • There are no parent folders above this folder!

   

3. Install the C/C++ extension (by Microsoft) because we want all the coding power we can get.

4. Install the Cmake Tools extension (by Microsoft) if you want. This is optional because we have already installed Cmake into our system. This Cmake extension only works inside VS Code and automatically builds your project when you save your files. This extension does not make an .exe file!

5. ‼️ Because I have the Cmake tools extension, it generates a /build folder for me which is the same thing as /bin. ‼️

6. Open up the command palette with ctrl + shift + p.

7. Select edit configuration (ui) in the search bar.

   

8. Change the following configurations:

   Configuration Name	Setting
   Compiler Path	C:/ProgramData/chocolatey/bin/g++.exe
   IntelliSense mode	windows-gcc-x64
   Include Path	${workspaceFolder}/**
   	C:\Users\yourname\Documents\SFML-2.5.1\include
   C++ standard	C++ 17

9. Here we have 2 include paths. (1) The project's include and (2) SFML's include that you stored in a safe place. If you eventually have more external libraries, add them in "Include Path" as a new line.

10. Your IDE IntelliSense should now be happy. The red lines should go away because now it can find the .hpp files.

7️⃣ Write your CMakeLists.txt

We are not going to use any absolute file paths. This usually leads to errors because the compiler can't find stuff.

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)

project(
    App             # Name of our application
    VERSION 1.0     # Version of our software
    LANGUAGES CXX)  # Language that we are using

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)

include_directories("./include/")

find_package(SFML 2.5.1 COMPONENTS graphics window system REQUIRED)

add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} ./src/App.cpp ./src/Draw.cpp ./src/Command.cpp ./src/main.cpp)

target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} sfml-graphics sfml-window sfml-system)

8️⃣ Link the MinGW64 .dll libraries to your project

There are two ways to link .dll libraries in Windows 10.

Option 1: You want to distribute the .exe program.

If you want to distribute a prebuilt .exe program, you should include the .dll libraries within the program files. Otherwise, a normal user will never be able to find & link the .dll libraries. You either provide all the necessary .dll in one package, or you create a Windows installer (lmao).

1. Copy/paste all the MinGW .dll files into your project /bin or /build folder which contains the prebuilt .exe program.

2. For example, my .dll file location is: C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\mingw\tools\install\mingw64\bin.

3. Use the search bar to filter by .dll and copy all.

   

4. Paste .dll files

   

Option 2: You want to build the .exe program as a developer.

If you are a developer, you should let your computer automatically find the necessary .dll so that you don't have to copy/paste .dll every time to work on a new project.

1. Add the folder containing all the .dll libraries into your system PATH variable.

2. Go into Environment Variables again. Edit the Path variable.

   

3. Add the location for MinGW64 .dll folder into your PATH variable. For example, my location is: C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\lib\mingw\tools\install\mingw64\bin.

   

9️⃣ Build your Project

• Go into your project /bin or /build folder in the Terminal
• Type cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles .. in the Terminal
• This will generate the makefiles for the MinGW compiler
• Type make in the Terminal
• This will build your executible
• Pray that it works 🙏
• Try running the App.exe
• Extra Notes:
  • It is good practice to build outside of your source directory. This is why we tell cmake to target one directory up (..)
  • After you run cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles .. one time, cmake will remember that you are using MinGW. So the next time you re-compile, you can just type cmake ..
  • If you ever delete your makefiles, you will need to re-generate them
• VSCode Notes:
  • The VSCode cmake extension can auto generate the makefiles for you if you set it up correctly in the configuration (see step 6 above). It generates each time you hit save.

🎬 Demo of Native Windows Build

https://streamable.com/jaevms

Help! It doesn't work

• Restart your computer. Seriously, try it.
• Delete the VSCode settings (in the folder called .vscode), restart VSCode, and re-apply the settings.
• Windows is stubborn, so restart anything you can think of.