SDL2/C++ Tutorial. Setting Up SDL & Creating Your First Window Visual Studio 2017

Step-by-Step Tutorial: Setting Up SDL2 in Visual Studio 2017

Step 1: Download SDL 2.0

1. Navigate to libSDL.org on your web browser.
2. Download the current stable version of SDL 2.0 from the homepage.
3. Locate the development libraries section and download the SDL development package for PC.
4. Rename the downloaded file to SDL2 and copy it to a location where you can easily access it.

Step 2: Setting Up Visual Studio 2017

1. Open Visual Studio 2017.
2. Create a new project for your SDL application.
3. Ensure that Visual Studio knows the location of the SDL files by adding them to the project.
4. In the Solution Explorer, right-click on the project and select "Add" > "Existing Item" to add the SDL2 file to the project.

Step 3: Linking SDL Files to the Project

1. Right-click on the project in the Solution Explorer and go to "Properties."
2. In the Properties window, navigate to the "Header Files" section and add a new line for the SDL header file.
3. Browse to the location where you saved the SDL development package and select the header file.
4. Next, go to the "Linker" section, select "General," and add the SDL library directory.
5. Click on "Additional Library Directories," browse to the SDL library folder, select the appropriate version (e.g., x64), and click "OK."
6. In the "Input" section, under "Additional Dependencies," add the SDL2.lib and SDL2main.lib files.
7. Click "OK" to save the changes.

Step 4: Copying SDL2.dll to Project Folder

1. Locate the SDL2.dll file in your SDL development folder.
2. Copy the SDL2.dll file to your project folder where your source code is located.

Step 5: Writing SDL Code

1. Include the SDL header file in your source code by adding #include <SDL.h>.
2. Create the main function with the necessary arguments and return value.
3. Initialize the SDL subsystems using SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_EVERYTHING);.
4. Create an SDL window using SDL_CreateWindow() with the desired parameters.
5. Create an SDL renderer using SDL_CreateRenderer() with the window and flags as arguments.
6. Use SDL_RenderDrawColor() to set the color for rendering.
7. Clear the screen using SDL_RenderClear() to prepare for drawing.
8. Render any shapes or graphics on the screen using appropriate SDL functions.

Step 6: Running the Application

1. Build and run your SDL application in Visual Studio 2017.
2. Verify that the SDL window opens and displays the graphics as intended.
3. Test different functionalities and features of SDL to familiarize yourself with the library.

By following these steps, you should now have SDL 2.0 set up in Visual Studio 2017 and be able to create your first window using SDL for your C++ application.