diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 31cf125f..18fe4382 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -1,30 +1,42 @@
 # 17 march 2019
 
+# Here's the overall idea: the build syntax would be something like
+# $ meson setup build \
+#     [--buildtype=debug|release] \        (core option, default debug)
+#     [--default_library=static|shared] \  (core option, default shared)
+#     [--b_sanitize=whatever]
+# It turns out that I wouldn't really need any custom options; go figure.
+# I'm not sure how to allow building 32-bit instead of 64-bit with meson.
+# I'd also like all the outputs to appear in a folder out/ in the build folder.
+# I'd also like to be able to omit the library's dependency libraries in the executables if building a shared library, as those are not required in that case; I'd need to require them in a static library.
+# And for Windows, the shared library (but not shared executables) needs an additional resource file, and the static executables (but not the static library) need a *different* resource file. (Windows static libraries can't contain resources anyway; the linkers will just ignore the resource objects.)
+
 libui_OS = target_machine.system()
 libui_MSVC = meson.get_compiler('c').get_id() == 'msvc'
 
-libui_languages = ['c', 'c++']
-if libui_OS == 'darwin'
-	libui_languages += ['objc']
-endif
-
 libui_default_options = [
+	'buildtype=debug',				# build debug by default (TODO: disallow plain?)
 	'default_library=shared',			# build shared libraries by default
 ]
+# TODO switch to tabs; the spaces are just so I can share this file while I'm writing it
 libui_forced_options = {
-	'warning_level':	'3',			# always max warnings
-	'b_pch':			'false',		# we don't want precompiled headers
-	'b_staticpic':		'true',		# use PIC even for static libraries
-	'c_std':			'c99',		# strict C99
-	'cpp_std':			'c++11',		# strict C++11
+	'warning_level': '3',     # always max warnings
+	'b_pch':         'false', # we don't want precompiled headers
+	'b_staticpic':   'true',  # use PIC even for static libraries
+	'c_std':         'c99',   # strict C99
+	'cpp_std':       'c++11', # strict C++11
+	'cpp_eh':        'sc',    # shut the compiler up in some cases
 }
 foreach name, value : libui_forced_options
 	libui_default_options += [name + '=' + value]
 endforeach
 
-project('libui', libui_languages,
+project('libui', 'c',
 	default_options: libui_default_options,
 	license: 'MIT')
+# TODO:
+# - add add_language('c++') in windows/meson.build and examples/meson.build:cpp-multithread
+# - add add_language('objc') in darwin/meson.build
 
 foreach name, value : libui_forced_options
 	actual = '@0@'.format(get_option(name))
@@ -38,7 +50,7 @@ if libui_mode == 'both'
 	error('sorry, but libui does not support building both shared and static libraries at the same time, because Windows resource file rules differ between the two')
 endif
 if libui_OS == 'windows' and libui_mode == 'shared' and not libui_MSVC
-	error('sorry, but libui currently does not support building a shared library with MinGW; use -Ddefault_library=static instead')
+	error('sorry, but libui currently does not support building a shared library with MinGW; use --default_library=static instead')
 endif
 
 libui_deps = []
@@ -57,6 +69,7 @@ elif libui_OS == 'darwin'
 else
 	gtk = dependency('gtk+-3.0',
 		version: '>=3.10.0',
+		method: 'pkg-config',
 		required: true)
 	libui_deps += [gtk]
 	libui_soversion = '0'
@@ -66,18 +79,16 @@ endif
 if libui_MSVC
 	# TODO subsystem version
 
-	# TODO -Wno-switch equivalent
+	# TODO is there a -Wno-switch equivalent?
 	# TODO /sdl turns C4996 into an ERROR
 	# don't use /analyze; that requires us to write annotations everywhere
 	# TODO undecided flags from qo?
 	# the RTC flags are only supplied in debug builds because they are only supposed to be used by debug builds (see "This is because run-time error checks are not valid in a release (optimized) build." in https://docs.microsoft.com/cpp/build/reference/rtc-run-time-error-checks)
 	# /RTCc is not supplied because it's discouraged as of VS2015; see https://www.reddit.com/r/cpp/comments/46mhne/rtcc_rejects_conformant_code_with_visual_c_2015/d06auq5
-	# /EHsc is to shut the compiler up in some cases
 	# TODO add these compiler flags (assuming meson doesn't provide an alternate method for these, which I know it does for EHsc):
 	#	/wd4100 (equivalent of -Wno-unused-parameter)
 	#	/bigobj /nologo
 	#	$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:/RTC1 /RTCs /RTCu>
-	#	/EHsc
 
 	# TODO add these linker flags (for each: maybe? depends on whether meson does this itself)
 	#	/LARGEADDRESSAWARE