>**Note**: This page discusses instructions for compiling and linking libui, and does so in the most general way possible. Your build system may provide better options for doing any of the following than what is described on this page; consult its manual.
In order to properly use libui, you first need to know whether you are using it as a shared library (also called a dynamically-linked library) or as a static library.
With a shared library, your application will need to ship with the libui shared library object, or require it at runtime (if it is to be installed via a system package manager). However, your program will only need to directly depend on libui itself.
With a static library, your application will ship with libui embedded within it, so no additional dependencies will be needed at runtime (apart from ones that require installation via a system package manager, such as GTK+). However, you need to do slightly more work to be able to actually build your application; exactly what is discussed on this page.
If you are using a language binding, the language binding will likely have already decided how it will use libui, and will provide its own instructions on what to do based on that decision.
## Including libui in Source Code
libui ships as a single header file, `ui.h`. Therefore, to include it in a C or C++ source file, all you need to do is
```c
// If the libui headers are loaded in the same way as other system headers
#include <ui.h>
// OR
// If the libui headers are included directly
#include "path/to/ui.h"
```
If you are using libui as a static library, you'll need to add the line
*before* including `ui.h`, as that informs `ui.h` to tell the compiler that the functions in `ui.h` are not dynamically loaded. (You may, of course, also do this on your compiler's command line.)
For most purposes, the above will be sufficient. However, if you need to do any OS-specific work with libui, there are a few more steps to take. Typically, this would be done if you either wanted to create a new control or access the underlying OS handles behind a control.
Each OS has a special OS-specific header that provides the necessary additional functions and constants. These must be included *after*`ui.h`. These must also be included *after* any OS headers:
The OS-specific header is `ui_windows.h`. The only OS header that is necessary is `<windows.h>`. You should also specify the Unicode, type-strictness, and minimum-version macros before including `<windows.h>`:
How to link against libui depends on how you are using libui.
### Linking Against libui as a Shared Library
When linking a shared library, all you need is the shared library itself, and the compiler-specific mechanism for linking shared libraries applies. Note that for MSVC, this means you link against `libui.lib`, not `libui.dll`!
### Linking Against libui as a Static Library
Because static libraries are merely collections of object files, in order to link against libui as a static library, you will also need to link against libui's dependencies.
#### Windows
libui needs to be linked against a set of standard Windows DLLs, preferably in the order listed here. The syntax to use depends on the compiler; examples are listed for the first one, and all follow the same pattern.
**Furthermore**, because libui requires Common Controls v6, you will also need to provide a manifest file that specifies Common Controls v6, and ideally also speciifes the versions of Windows your executable runs on. For instance, the one used by libui.dll is a good place to start:
```xml
TODO
```
Ideally, you should provide this as a resource that's linked into your program:
At a minimum, you'll need to link against GTK+ itself. As with compiling, the preferred way to get the correct linker flags is with `pkg-config`. For instance:
```shell
$ gcc -o program program.o `pkg-config --libs gtk+-3.0`
```
Depending on your system, you'll also need to link against libm and libdl; your linker will complain in some way. For instance, if you see something like `DSO missing from command line`, add `-ldl` to make libdl explicit.
#### macOS
You'll need to link against the `Foundation` and `AppKit` frameworks. To do so, simply pass `-framework Foundation` and `-framework AppKit` to your linker command.
