Development Setup

Guide for contributors who want to work on the Wings project itself.

Prerequisites

Required Dependencies

Nim: Programming language and compiler
Nimble: Nim package manager (usually comes with Nim)
Git: For version control

Cross-Compilation Dependencies

Some additional packages might be needed for cross-compilation: - gcc-multilib - gcc-arm-linux-gnueabihf - mingw-w64 - libevent-dev

Note: The exact installation varies by platform.

Repository Setup

Clone and Initialize

git clone https://github.com/binhonglee/wings.git
cd wings/

Nim Environment Setup

# Install Nim dependencies
nimble install -d

# Verify setup
nim --version
nimble --version

Development Scripts

Documentation Development

nim src/main/scripts/docs.nims

- Runs MkDocs development server for real-time feedback - Watches changes in the docs/ folder
- Requires mkdocs to be installed

Release Build

# Build for current environment
nim src/main/scripts/release.nims

# Cross-compile for other environments  
nim src/main/scripts/release.nims --all

Language Template Generation

nim c -r -d:ssl src/main/staticlang/main.nim

This generates/updates the lang folder based on files in src/main/wingspkg/lang and examples/input/templates.

Testing

./scripts/test.sh

Important: This isn't a proper test for everything. Recommend reading the script, < 20 lines, before running it.

Development Workflow

Making Changes

Basic Development Cycle

# Make changes to source code

# Test basic compilation
nim c src/main/wings.nim

# Test with example files
./wings examples/input/student.wings

# Run the basic test suite
./scripts/test.sh

Working with Templates

# After modifying template files in examples/input/templates/
nim c -r -d:ssl src/main/staticlang/main.nim

# Test the updated templates
./wings examples/input/student.wings

Documentation Changes

# Start documentation server
nim src/main/scripts/docs.nims

# Edit documentation in docs/ folder
# Changes should auto-reload

Repository Structure

wings/
├── src/main/
│   ├── wings.nim              # Main entry point
│   ├── wingspkg/              # Core package code
│   └── scripts/               # Development scripts
├── examples/
│   ├── input/                 # Example Wings files
│   └── output/               # Generated example outputs
├── docs/                     # Documentation source
└── scripts/                  # Build and test scripts

Testing Your Changes

Basic Testing

# Test with provided examples
find examples/input -name "*.wings" -exec ./wings {} \;

Cross-Platform Testing

Adding New Language Support

Create Template Configuration
Add your language configuration to examples/input/templates/
Follow the templating system documentation on wings.sh

Test Your Template

wings -c:examples/input/templates/your_lang.json examples/input/student.wings

Add to Built-in Support (Optional)

# After adding to src/main/wingspkg/lang/
nim c -r -d:ssl src/main/staticlang/main.nim