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1How to build Skia
2=================
3
4Make sure you have first followed the [instructions to download
5Skia](./download).
6
7Skia uses [GN](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/tools/gn/) to
8configure its builds.
9
10`is_official_build` and Third-party Dependencies
11------------------------------------------------
12
13Most users of Skia should set `is_official_build=true`, and most developers
14should leave it to its `false` default.
15
16This mode configures Skia in a way that's suitable to ship: an optimized build
17with no debug symbols, dynamically linked against its third-party dependencies
18using the ordinary library search path.
19
20In contrast, the developer-oriented default is an unoptimized build with full
21debug symbols and all third-party dependencies built from source and embedded
22into libskia.  This is how we do all our manual and automated testing.
23
24Skia offers several features that make use of third-party libraries, like
25libpng, libwebp, or libjpeg-turbo to decode images, or ICU and sftnly to subset
26fonts.  All these third-party dependencies are optional and can be controlled
27by a GN argument that looks something like `skia_use_foo` for appropriate
28`foo`.
29
30If `skia_use_foo` is enabled, enabling `skia_use_system_foo` will build and
31link Skia against the headers and libaries found on the system paths.
32`is_official_build=true` enables all `skia_use_system_foo` by default.  You can
33use `extra_cflags` and `extra_ldflags` to add include or library paths if
34needed.
35
36A note on software backend performance
37--------------------------------------
38
39A number of routines in Skia's software backend have been written to run
40fastest when compiled by Clang.  If you depend on software rasterization, image
41decoding, or color space conversion and compile Skia with GCC, MSVC or another
42compiler, you will see dramatically worse performance than if you use Clang.
43
44This choice was only a matter of prioritization; there is nothing fundamentally
45wrong with non-Clang compilers.  So if this is a serious issue for you, please
46let us know on the mailing list.
47
48Quickstart
49----------
50
51Run GN to generate your build files.
52
53    bin/gn gen out/Static --args='is_official_build=true'
54    bin/gn gen out/Shared --args='is_official_build=true is_component_build=true'
55
56If you find you don't have `bin/gn`, make sure you've run
57
58    python tools/git-sync-deps
59
60GN allows fine-grained settings for developers and special situations.
61
62    bin/gn gen out/Debug
63    bin/gn gen out/Release  --args='is_debug=false'
64    bin/gn gen out/Clang    --args='cc="clang" cxx="clang++"'
65    bin/gn gen out/Cached   --args='cc_wrapper="ccache"'
66    bin/gn gen out/RTTI     --args='extra_cflags_cc=["-frtti"]'
67
68To see all the arguments available, you can run
69
70    bin/gn args out/Debug --list
71
72Having generated your build files, run Ninja to compile and link Skia.
73
74    ninja -C out/Static
75    ninja -C out/Shared
76    ninja -C out/Debug
77    ninja -C out/Release
78    ninja -C out/Clang
79    ninja -C out/Cached
80    ninja -C out/RTTI
81
82If some header files are missing, install the corresponding dependencies
83
84    tools/install_dependencies.sh
85
86Android
87-------
88
89To build Skia for Android you need an [Android
90NDK](https://developer.android.com/ndk/index.html).
91
92If you do not have an NDK and have access to CIPD, you
93can use one of these commands to fetch the NDK our bots use:
94
95    python infra/bots/assets/android_ndk_linux/download.py  -t /tmp/ndk
96    python infra/bots/assets/android_ndk_darwin/download.py -t /tmp/ndk
97    python infra/bots/assets/android_ndk_windows/download.py -t C:/ndk
98
99When generating your GN build files, pass the path to your `ndk` and your
100desired `target_cpu`:
101
102    bin/gn gen out/arm   --args='ndk="/tmp/ndk" target_cpu="arm"'
103    bin/gn gen out/arm64 --args='ndk="/tmp/ndk" target_cpu="arm64"'
104    bin/gn gen out/x64   --args='ndk="/tmp/ndk" target_cpu="x64"'
105    bin/gn gen out/x86   --args='ndk="/tmp/ndk" target_cpu="x86"'
106
107Other arguments like `is_debug` and `is_component_build` continue to work.
108Tweaking `ndk_api` gives you access to newer Android features like Vulkan.
109
110To test on an Android device, push the binary and `resources` over,
111and run it as normal.  You may find `bin/droid` convenient.
112
113    ninja -C out/arm64
114    adb push out/arm64/dm /data/local/tmp
115    adb push resources /data/local/tmp
116    adb shell "cd /data/local/tmp; ./dm --src gm --config gl"
117
118
119ChromeOS
120--------------
121To cross-compile Skia for arm ChromeOS devices the following is needed:
122
123  - Clang 4 or newer
124  - An armhf sysroot
125  - The (E)GL lib files on the arm chromebook to link against.
126
127To compile Skia for an x86 ChromeOS device, one only needs Clang and the lib files.
128
129If you have access to CIPD, you can fetch all of these as follows:
130
131    python infra/bots/assets/clang_linux/download.py  -t /opt/clang
132    python infra/bots/assets/armhf_sysroot/download.py -t /opt/armhf_sysroot
133    python infra/bots/assets/chromebook_arm_gles/download.py -t /opt/chromebook_arm_gles
134    python infra/bots/assets/chromebook_x86_64_gles/download.py -t /opt/chromebook_x86_64_gles
135
136If you don't have authorization to use those assets, then see the README.md files for
137[armhf_sysroot](https://skia.googlesource.com/skia/+/master/infra/bots/assets/armhf_sysroot/README.md),
138[chromebook_arm_gles](https://skia.googlesource.com/skia/+/master/infra/bots/assets/chromebook_arm_gles/README.md), and
139[chromebook_x86_64_gles](https://skia.googlesource.com/skia/+/master/infra/bots/assets/chromebook_x86_64_gles/README.md)
140for instructions on creating those assets.
141
142Once those files are in place, generate the GN args that resemble the following:
143
144    #ARM
145    cc= "/opt/clang/bin/clang"
146    cxx = "/opt/clang/bin/clang++"
147
148    extra_asmflags = [
149        "--target=armv7a-linux-gnueabihf",
150        "--sysroot=/opt/armhf_sysroot/",
151        "-march=armv7-a",
152        "-mfpu=neon",
153        "-mthumb",
154    ]
155    extra_cflags=[
156        "--target=armv7a-linux-gnueabihf",
157        "--sysroot=/opt/armhf_sysroot",
158        "-I/opt/chromebook_arm_gles/include",
159        "-I/opt/armhf_sysroot/include/",
160        "-I/opt/armhf_sysroot/include/c++/4.8.4/",
161        "-I/opt/armhf_sysroot/include/c++/4.8.4/arm-linux-gnueabihf/",
162        "-DMESA_EGL_NO_X11_HEADERS",
163        "-funwind-tables",
164    ]
165    extra_ldflags=[
166        "--sysroot=/opt/armhf_sysroot",
167        "-B/opt/armhf_sysroot/bin",
168        "-B/opt/armhf_sysroot/gcc-cross",
169        "-L/opt/armhf_sysroot/gcc-cross",
170        "-L/opt/armhf_sysroot/lib",
171        "-L/opt/chromebook_arm_gles/lib",
172        "--target=armv7a-linux-gnueabihf",
173    ]
174    target_cpu="arm"
175    skia_use_fontconfig = false
176    skia_use_system_freetype2 = false
177    skia_use_egl = true
178
179
180    # x86_64
181    cc= "/opt/clang/bin/clang"
182    cxx = "/opt/clang/bin/clang++"
183    extra_cflags=[
184        "-I/opt/clang/include/c++/v1/",
185        "-I/opt/chromebook_x86_64_gles/include",
186        "-DMESA_EGL_NO_X11_HEADERS",
187        "-DEGL_NO_IMAGE_EXTERNAL",
188    ]
189    extra_ldflags=[
190        "-stdlib=libc++",
191        "-fuse-ld=lld",
192        "-L/opt/chromebook_x86_64_gles/lib",
193    ]
194    target_cpu="x64"
195    skia_use_fontconfig = false
196    skia_use_system_freetype2 = false
197    skia_use_egl = true
198
199Compile dm (or another executable of your choice) with ninja, as per usual.
200
201Push the binary to a chromebook via ssh and [run dm as normal](https://skia.org/dev/testing/tests)
202using the gles GPU config.
203
204Most chromebooks by default have their home directory partition marked as noexec.
205To avoid "permission denied" errors, remember to run something like:
206
207    sudo mount -i -o remount,exec /home/chronos
208
209Mac
210---
211
212Mac users may want to pass `--ide=xcode` to `bin/gn gen` to generate an Xcode project.
213
214iOS
215---
216
217Run GN to generate your build files.  Set `target_os="ios"` to build for iOS.
218This defaults to `target_cpu="arm64"`.  Choosing `x64` targets the iOS simulator.
219
220    bin/gn gen out/ios64  --args='target_os="ios"'
221    bin/gn gen out/ios32  --args='target_os="ios" target_cpu="arm"'
222    bin/gn gen out/iossim --args='target_os="ios" target_cpu="x64"'
223
224This will also package (and for devices, sign) iOS test binaries. This defaults to a
225Google signing identity and provisioning profile. To use a different one set `skia_ios_identity`
226to match your code signing identity and `skia_ios_profile` to the name of your provisioning
227profile, e.g. `skia_ios_identity=".*Jane Doe.*" skia_ios_profile="iPad Profile"`. A list of
228identities can be found by typing `security find-identity` on the command line. The name of the
229provisioning profile should be available on the Apple Developer site.
230
231For signed packages `ios-deploy` makes installing and running them on a device easy:
232
233    ios-deploy -b out/Debug/dm.app -d --args "--match foo"
234
235Alternatively you can generate an Xcode project by passing `--ide=xcode` to `bin/gn gen`.
236
237If you find yourself missing a Google signing identity or provisioning profile,
238you'll want to have a read through go/appledev.
239
240Deploying to a device with an OS older than the current SDK doesn't currently work through Xcode,
241but can be done on the command line by setting the environment variable IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET
242to the desired OS version.
243
244Windows
245-------
246
247Skia can build on Windows with Visual Studio 2017 or Visual Studio 2015 Update 3.
248If GN is unable to locate either of those, it will print an error message. In that
249case, you can pass your `VC` path to GN via `win_vc`.
250
251Skia can be compiled with the free [Build Tools for Visual Studio
2522017](https://www.visualstudio.com/downloads/#build-tools-for-visual-studio-2017).
253
254The bots use a packaged 2017 toolchain, which Googlers can download like this:
255
256    python infra/bots/assets/win_toolchain/download.py -t C:/toolchain
257
258You can then pass the VC and SDK paths to GN by setting your GN args:
259
260    win_vc = "C:\toolchain\VC"
261    win_sdk = "C:\toolchain\win_sdk"
262
263This toolchain is the only way we support 32-bit builds, by also setting `target_cpu="x86"`.
264There is also a corresponding 2015 toolchain, downloaded via `infra/bots/assets/win_toolchain_2015`.
265
266The Skia build assumes that the PATHEXT environment variable contains ".EXE".
267
268### **Highly Recommended**: Build with clang-cl
269
270Skia uses generated code that is only optimized when Skia is built with clang. Other compilers get generic
271unoptimized code.
272
273Setting the `cc` and `cxx` gn args is _not_ sufficient to build with clang-cl. These variables
274are ignored on Windows. Instead set the variable `clang_win` to your LLVM installation directory.
275If you installed the prebuilt LLVM downloaded from [here](https://releases.llvm.org/download.html "LLVM Download") in the default location that would be:
276
277    clang_win = "C:\Program Files\LLVM"
278
279Follow the standard Windows path specification and not MinGW convention (e.g. `C:\Program Files\LLVM` not ~~`/c/Program Files/LLVM`~~).
280
281### Visual Studio Solutions
282
283If you use Visual Studio, you may want to pass `--ide=vs` to `bin/gn gen` to
284generate `all.sln`.  That solution will exist within the GN directory for the
285specific configuration, and will only build/run that configuration.
286
287If you want a Visual Studio Solution that supports multiple GN configurations,
288there is a helper script. It requires that all of your GN directories be inside
289the `out` directory. First, create all of your GN configurations as usual.
290Pass `--ide=vs` when running `bin/gn gen` for each one. Then:
291
292    python gn/gn_meta_sln.py
293
294This creates a new dedicated output directory and solution file
295`out/sln/skia.sln`. It has one solution configuration for each GN configuration,
296and supports building and running any of them. It also adjusts syntax highlighting
297of inactive code blocks based on preprocessor definitions from the selected
298solution configuration.
299
300Windows ARM64
301-------------
302
303There is early, experimental support for [Windows 10 on ARM](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/arm/).
304This currently requires (a recent version of) MSVC, and the `Visual C++ compilers and libraries for ARM64`
305individual component in the Visual Studio Installer. For Googlers, the win_toolchain asset includes the
306ARM64 compiler.
307
308To use that toolchain, set the `target_cpu` GN argument to `"arm64"`. Note that OpenGL is not supported
309by Windows 10 on ARM, so Skia's GL backends are stubbed out, and will not work. ANGLE is supported:
310
311    bin/gn gen out/win-arm64 --args='target_cpu="arm64" skia_use_angle=true'
312
313This will produce a build of Skia that can use the software or ANGLE backends, in DM. Viewer only works
314when launched with `--backend angle`, because the software backend tries to use OpenGL to display the
315window contents.
316
317CMake
318-----
319
320We have added a GN-to-CMake translator mainly for use with IDEs that like CMake
321project descriptions.  This is not meant for any purpose beyond development.
322
323    bin/gn gen out/config --ide=json --json-ide-script=../../gn/gn_to_cmake.py
324