Modern Graphics Library (with SDL) Installation Guide on C in Linux/WSL for windows

Installing required files are suprisingly easy on linux compared to Windows

Installation

Install gcc/g++ compiler with following command

sudo apt install build-essentials

Install SDL with:

sudo apt-get install libsdl2-2.0-0

• or with

sudo apt-get install libsdl2-dev

• more info on this is here !

Download SDL_bgi package depending on linux distro from here !

• for me, I am using WSL(Windows Subsystem for Linux) with Ubuntu which is Debian based, so I will use deb package.

Install(for WSL) if you downloaded in default Downloads folder using:

sudo apt install /mnt/c/Users/<userName>/Downloads/sdl_bgi_3.0.0-1_amd64.deb  

• if you downloaded in other place than usual downloads folder then use:

sudo apt install /mnt/<pathToPackaged>/sdl_bgi_3.0.0-1_amd64.deb  

• or simply copy it to the linux's folder using windows file explorer

• when installing wsl, new directory should be formed in our file explorer called "Linux", simply copy downloaded package to Linux > linuxName > home > userName > desired folder

• install with command similar to below, except the path location would be where we put our package at

Installing (for Linux) if you downloaded in default Downloads folder using:

sudo apt install ~/Downloads/sdl_bgi_3.0.0-1_amd64.deb

• if it doesn't work, either the path is incorrect or command input is wrong
• try to install with your package manager
• and INTERNET is our best friend as always, if it still doesn't work

With this all required files and libraries should be installed.

Configure VS Code

Now let's configure vs code to link SDL and SDL_bgi headers and libraries

• first create a graphicsTemplate folder in any location of your choice

• open that folder in vs code

• create a new file, name is test.c or anything and save in c.

• copy code from "test.c" and paste it in YOUR test.c and save it

• now install this extension: C/C++ (for intellisense and others)

• then, press "Ctrl+Shift+P" to open search box and type "C/C++", click on "C/C++: Edit Configurations(UI)" not the one with (JSON)

• "Compiler Path" should be directed automatically at gcc for C codes

• (Optional)
  • "C standard" should also be automatically set at "c17", or check your gcc version and set it accordingly and leave "C++ standard" as it is, since we won't be using c++ for this (or change it to "c++20" or accordingly) - this is just to use latest compatible C/C++ code standards

A new folder is automatically created in main folder named ".vscode". We will use this folder to use as a template for OTHER graphics C programs without having to set up vs code again and again !!!

• we can simply copy this .vscode folder in other folders to run our graphics C Code without the hassle of setting it up next time

• now click/hover over "Terminal" then click on "Configure Tasks..." (in my case due to screen size being smaller, that menu was hidden behind dots)

• all avaiable c compiler options should come up (in my case only GCC is present)

  • the "Build with GCC ..." is the same gcc compiler, I just configured it early

• click on either one of those (while c code tab is active), it creates and opens "tasks.json" inside of that ".vscode" folder. This is where we can properly link libraries to compile our graphics program in C code

  • gcc-11 and gcc is same, in my case, my current installed gcc version is 11.4.0, yours might be version 12 or 13(latest)

• if you want to use another compiler for eg, Clang, simply follow previous steps and click on Clang

• next, inside "tasks.json" add these lines inside "args":

  "-lSDL_bgi",
  "-lSDL2"

• Don't forget to add commas

These linkers are provided in SDL_bgi !!!

Some more vs code configuration

modify the line:

"${fileDirname}/${fileBasenameNoExtension}",
//to
"./bin/${fileBasenameNoExtension}",

• this keeps all the compiled files in "bin" folder when C code is compiled without issues. Just make sure said "bin" folder is present in the main folder

we can also modify "Label" of these compilers by changing in "label":

• here I changed it to "Build using GCC 11.4.0" as I am using GCC compiler of version 11.4.0, this is really helpful if we have multiple different compilers or same compilers with different versions

Compiling

• to compile our C code, simply press "Ctrl+Shift+B"

  • if you have configured multiple compilers, we can choose one of them, else it will start compiling without having to choose any

• it should say "build completed" in vscode's terminal, simply press any key to close it, then run the file

• if you want to compile C code in typical terminal fashion, use this command:

gcc -o test test.c -lSDL_bgi -lSDL2

• just make sure your terminal is pointed at that folder

more on these at their docs as usual

And we are done YAY !!!

• if the window resolution is small, check out SDL_bgi docs here !!! on how to use different available resolutions

Error Solving

• if it results in lSDL... not found, try reinstalling SDL/SDL2 again

• if it says bin not found, add correct bin folder path or create bin folder

• if it results in other errors, Internet is your friend

• LASTLY, check the documentations of both SDL and SDL_bgi libraries for more info on how these works.

Important !!!

• Make sure to include "graphics.h" header in your C program

• Make sure that your main() function has following parameters: *(int argc, char argv[])

  int main(int argc, char *argv[]){
    /* Code Segments */
  }
  

• if not, it will conflict with main() function included in SDL librairies. Check their documentations for more, AGAIN!!!

Why do all these instead of using graphics.h header file ?

• Simply because graphics.h is old and not updated for modern systems.
• Also BGI was for old DOS era systems.

Why use graphics.h at all then ?

• Well for college lessons, not more not less. It introduces us to computer graphics in C atleast.

AND HAPPY CODING !!!

Also, check my "How to configure modern graphics in C for windows", here!!!