Install Dazzle

Install

On Linux or macOS:

curl -fsSL https://dazzle-lang.github.io/install.sh | sh

On Windows, in PowerShell:

irm https://dazzle-lang.github.io/install.ps1 | iex

The installer downloads the latest release, checks it against its checksum, unpacks it into ~/.dazzle (%USERPROFILE%\.dazzle on Windows), and adds ~/.dazzle/bin to your PATH. Run it again to update. Then:

dz new hello
cd hello
dz run

A release holds dz and, on Linux and Windows, the libclang it reads C and C++ headers with, so nothing else from LLVM needs to be installed. Releases are built for Linux on x86-64 and ARM64 (glibc 2.34 or newer: Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 35 and later), macOS on Apple silicon, and Windows on x86-64. On anything else, build from source.

The installer reads three settings from the environment: DAZZLE_HOME, where to install; DAZZLE_VERSION, a release tag such as v0.1.0 rather than the latest; and DAZZLE_NO_MODIFY_PATH=1, to leave your shell’s startup files or your Windows PATH alone.

A C++ compiler

dz writes C++17 and compiles it with your C++ compiler, which is the one thing it needs from the machine:

Linux: g++ or clang++ from your distribution: sudo apt install g++, sudo dnf install gcc-c++ or sudo pacman -S gcc.
macOS: Xcode’s command line tools, xcode-select --install. They also hold the libclang dz uses there.
Windows: LLVM’s clang++, winget install LLVM.LLVM, with the Visual Studio Build Tools for its C++ libraries; or MinGW’s g++. MSVC’s cl.exe is not supported, because dz passes GCC-style flags.

dz uses the first of clang++, g++ and c++ it finds. Choose another with --cxx, the DZ_CXX environment variable, or cxx under [build] in the manifest. clang++ 19 and 21 and g++ 13 and 14 are verified.

Some C libraries are built by their own CMake project, such as SDL3 in the sdl3 example. Those need CMake too.

The VS Code extension

The extension gives you highlighting, the language server, and run and debug buttons. Download dazzle.vsix from the latest release and install it:

code --install-extension dazzle.vsix

It runs the dz on your PATH.

Build from source

You need a current stable Rust toolchain, a C++ compiler as above, and libclang from any recent LLVM: LLVM’s installer on Windows, the libclang-dev package on Ubuntu and Debian, Xcode’s command line tools or Homebrew’s llvm on macOS.

git clone --recursive https://github.com/dazzle-lang/Dazzle.git
cd Dazzle
cargo build --release

--recursive fetches the C libraries the examples build from source, which are git submodules: raylib, SDL3, RGFW, sokol, stb, miniaudio and Box2D. In a checkout made without it, run git submodule update --init. Nothing outside examples/ needs them.

The compiler is then target/release/dz (dz.exe on Windows). Put it on your PATH. dz finds libclang beside its own executable, in a lib/ folder next to it, through the LIBCLANG_PATH environment variable, or in an installed LLVM.

To build the VS Code extension from the checkout instead (it needs Node.js):

cd editors/vscode
npm install
npm run deploy

Troubleshooting

If dz cannot find libclang, set LIBCLANG_PATH to the folder that holds it. For anything else, open an issue.

Write your first program.