02-hello-world.md

title
Hello World

"Hello World" is a common example of getting started with programming, here we will show you how to add Hello World with HaxeFlixel's FlxText. You can compile this test for any supported target platform.

Make sure you have installed Flixel, as well as set up the lime and flixel commands as explained previously.

Create a new HaxeFlixel Project

HaxeFlixel requires a basic structure of files for any project that can be created automatically for you. First open a command prompt and switch to the directory where you'd like to have the project using cd, for example:

cd C:\Users\<User>\Projects

Then run the template command (tpl for short):

flixel tpl -n "HelloWorld"

You will now see a new folder named "HelloWorld" with all the files for your project being created automatically.

Add the "Hello World" FlxText

Adding the text is as simple as opening the PlayState.hx file in the newly created source folder. The file should look like this:

package;

import flixel.FlxState;

class PlayState extends FlxState
{
	override public function create()
	{
		super.create();
	}

	override public function update(elapsed:Float)
	{
		super.update(elapsed);
	}
}

All you need to do is add the following three lines to the create() function (and save the file):

override public function create()
{
	super.create();

	var text = new flixel.text.FlxText(0, 0, 0, "Hello World", 64);
	text.screenCenter();
	add(text);
}

This will create a new FlxText instance with font size 64, center it on the screen and add() it so it is displayed.

Test the Project

Return to your command line window - now we can compile the project. First switch to the directory containing the Project.xml file:

cd HelloWorld

You can then compile to HTML5, Neko and Flash out of the box with these commands:

lime test html5
lime test neko
lime test flash

Other targets require further setup. For more details, check the "Advanced Setup" section of the Lime documentation.

If you struggled through any part of this tutorial, get in touch with the community for support.