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+---
+short-description: Simple getting started guide
+...
+
+# The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Installing and Using Meson
+
+This page is meant for people who are new to using Meson and possibly
+even to compiling C and/or C++ code in general. It is meant to contain
+one simple way of getting your build environment up and running. If
+you are more experienced and have your own preferred way of installing
+and using development software, feel free to use that instead. This
+guide only deals with Linux, Windows and macOS platforms. If you use
+some other platform, such as one of the BSDs, you probably already
+know how to install development tools on it (probably better than we
+do, even).
+
+There are three phases to getting a development environment running.
+
+1. Installing a compiler toolchain
+2. Installing Meson
+3. Creating a project and building it
+
+## Installing a compiler toolchain
+
+### Linux
+
+All Linux distributions provide easy access to development tools.
+Typically you need to open a terminal and execute one command, which
+depends on your distro.
+
+ - Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives: `sudo apt install build-essential`
+ - Fedora, Centos, RHEL and derivatives: `sudo dnf install gcc-c++`
+ - Arch: `sudo pacman -S gcc`
+
+### Windows
+
+The most common development toolchain on Windows is Visual Studio,
+which can be downloaded from [the Visual Studio web
+site](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/). Select the Community
+version unless you have bought a license.
+
+![Download page of Visual Studio](images/win_dlvs.png)
+
+Download the installer and run it. When you are given a list of things
+to install, select *Desktop development with C++*. This installs both
+a C and a C++ compiler.
+
+![Installing the Visual Studio compilers](images/win_installvs.png)
+
+Once the installer finishes the compiler toolchain is ready to use.
+
+### macOS
+
+On macOS the development toolchain must be installed via the Mac app
+store. Search for an app called XCode and install it.
+
+![App store page for XCode](images/osx_xcode.png)
+
+*Note:* Installing XCode is not sufficient by itself. You also need to
+start XCode' GUI application once. This will make XCode download and
+install more files that are needed for compilation.
+
+## Installing Meson
+
+### Linux
+
+Installing Meson is just as simple as installing the compiler toolchain.
+
+ - Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives: `sudo apt install meson ninja-build`
+ - Fedora, Centos, RHEL and derivatives: `sudo dnf install meson ninja-build`
+ - Arch: `sudo pacman -S meson`
+
+### Windows
+
+Meson provides a standard Windows `.msi` installer that can be
+downloaded from [the Releases
+page](https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/releases).
+
+![Meson installed download](images/win_downloadmeson.png)
+
+Download and run it to install all the necessary bits. You can verify
+that your installation is working by running the Visual Studio
+developer tools command prompt that can be found in the start menu.
+
+![Devtool prompt](images/win_vstoolsprompt.png)
+
+You should be able to run both `meson` and `ninja` and query their
+versions.
+
+![A working Windows install](images/win_working.png)
+
+### macOS
+
+Start by downloading the installation package from [the Releases
+page](https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/releases).
+
+![Downloading the macOS installer](images/meson_mac1.png)
+
+Double click the downloaded installer to start. If you are running a
+new macOS version, it might refuse to run the application with the
+following error message:
+
+![A macOS signing warning](images/meson_mac2.png)
+
+This can be fixed by starting System Preferences, selecting the
+Security and Privacy entry. At the bottom it shows the blocked app and
+you can enable it by clicking on the "Open anyway" button.
+
+![Security settings](images/meson_mac3.png)
+
+Now the installer should start. If not, double click on the downloaded
+installer file again.
+
+![Installer running](images/meson_mac4.png)
+
+Once the installation is finished you can verify that the system is working via the terminal app.
+
+![A successful install](images/meson_mac5.png)
+
+## Running Meson
+
+Start a terminal application. On Windows you have to use the Visual
+Studio Developer Tools Command Prompt as discussed above, because the
+compilers are only available in that terminal. You also need to change
+into your home directory (Linux and macOS terminals start in the home
+directory by default).
+
+    cd \users\username
+
+Create a new directory to hold your project.
+
+    mkdir testproject
+    cd testproject
+
+Use Meson to create and build a new sample project.
+
+    meson init --name testproject --build
+
+This will create a project skeleton for you and compile it. The result
+is put in the `build` subdirectory and can be run directly from there.
+
+    build/testproject
+
+![All finished and ready to go](images/linux_alldone.png)
+
+The project is now ready for development. You can edit the code with
+any editor and it is rebuilt by going in the `build` subdirectory and
+executing the `meson compile` command. If your version of Meson is too
+old, you can compile the project by running the command `ninja`
+instead.