getting started

Getting started

Copyright (c) 2024-2026 Jack Waechter. MIT licensed.

AP2 is Application Primitives: one header and a small C17 library. This page gets a window on screen.

What you need

• CMake 3.15 or newer
• A C17 compiler (GCC, Clang, or MSVC)
• Python 3, once, so CMake can generate the GLAD OpenGL loader
• cforge is optional; plain CMake works

On Windows, MSYS2 UCRT (C:/msys64/ucrt64/bin/gcc.exe) matches cforge.toml.

Build and run

From the repo root:

python ap2_product.py
cforge run

Or:

cmake -B build -G "Ninja Multi-Config"
cmake --build build --config Debug
./build/bin/Debug/ap2

src/main.c is a sample 3D program (orbit camera, lights, meshes).

A program of your own

Create a .c file and include the umbrella header:

#include <AP2/AP2.h>

int main(void) {
  if (!AP_Init(AP_INIT_VIDEO)) {
    return 1;
  }

  if (!AP_CreateWindow("AP2", 1280, 720, AP_WINDOW_RESIZABLE)) {
    AP_Quit();
    return 1;
  }

  while (AP_IsRunning()) {
    AP_PumpEvents();
    AP_Tick();

    if (AP_IsKeyPressed(AP_KEY_ESCAPE)) {
      AP_RequestClose();
    }

    AP_SetDrawColor(0.08f, 0.09f, 0.11f, 1.0f);
    AP_Clear();

    AP_SetDrawColor(0.95f, 0.35f, 0.35f, 1.0f);
    AP_FillRect(&(AP_FRect){80.0f, 80.0f, 240.0f, 140.0f});

    AP_Present();
  }

  AP_DestroyWindow(NULL);
  AP_Quit();
  return 0;
}

AP_INIT_VIDEO also brings up windowing. Add | AP_INIT_AUDIO when you need the mixer.

Short draw names

Application code should use the short macros:

You write	Underlying call
AP_SetDrawColor	AP_SetRenderDrawColorFloat
AP_Clear	AP_RenderClear
AP_Present	AP_RenderPresent
AP_FillRect	AP_RenderFillRect
AP_FillCircleF	AP_RenderFillCircle
AP_DrawLineF	AP_RenderLine
AP_DrawTexture	AP_RenderTexture
AP_DrawSprite	AP_RenderSprite
AP_DrawTilemap	AP_RenderTilemap
AP_DrawText	AP_RenderText
AP_PushTransform	AP_PushRenderTransform

Both names work. Tutorials in this tree use the left column.

Coordinates

• 2D / GUI / text: top-left origin, Y down, units are window pixels.
• 3D / math / spatial audio: right-handed, Y up (OpenGL world).

Next

• Architecture — subsystems and modules
• Hello window — the loop in more detail
• Drawing in 2D — shapes and color