Getting the DQ Compiler

This page describes how to get dq-comp and dq-run.

Release Packages

For normal use, prefer a release package from the DQ GitHub releases page:

https://github.com/nvitya/dq-lang/releases

The release archive names include the DQ version. For version 0.32.6, the main packages are:

Package	File name	Notes
Linux full package	`dq-0.32.6-x86_64-linux-full.tar.gz`	Recommended Linux package. Includes DQ tools, `stdpkg`, examples, docs, autotests, bundled LLVM/Clang, runtime libraries, and a Linux link sysroot.
Linux light package	`dq-0.32.6-x86_64-linux.tar.gz`	Smaller package for systems that already have the native compiler/linker dependencies installed.
Windows UCRT package	`dq-0.32.6-x86_64-windows-ucrt.zip`	Windows package with DQ tools, `stdpkg`, examples, autotests, docs, and bundled Windows LLVM/MinGW runtime pieces.

Linux Full Package

For a normal Linux install, use the full package:

tar -xzf dq-0.32.6-x86_64-linux-full.tar.gz
cd dq-0.32.6-x86_64-linux-full
bin/dq-comp --version
bin/dq-run examples/basic/test1.dq

The full package is intended to work without installing compiler packages from the operating system. It has been tested in clean Ubuntu 24.04, Ubuntu 26.04, and Debian 13 containers.

You can also add the package tools to your shell environment:

. ./dq-env.sh
dq-comp --version
dq-run examples/basic/test1.dq

Linux Light Package

The light Linux package is useful when the host system already has the native toolchain dependencies. On a plain Ubuntu 24.04 system, install:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y clang lld g++ libc6-dev libstdc++-14-dev libgcc-14-dev

Then extract and run:

tar -xzf dq-0.32.6-x86_64-linux.tar.gz
cd dq-0.32.6-x86_64-linux
bin/dq-comp --version
bin/dq-run examples/basic/test1.dq

The light package depends on the host system for clang++, lld, glibc startup files, the C/C++ linker libraries, GCC support libraries, and libbacktrace.

After extracting a package or sourcing dq-env.sh, make sure the compiler tools are available:

dq-comp --version
dq-run --help

Building From Source

Build from source when there is no release package for your platform, or when you want to work on the compiler itself.

Requirements

You need:

Tool	Notes
CMake 3.10 or newer	used to generate the native build files
GNU Make	used by the repository build wrapper
A C++23 compiler and standard library	GCC 14 or newer; needed for `std::print` and backtrace support
LLVM 21 development files	CMake must be able to find LLVM 21's `LLVMConfig.cmake`
LLVM support library headers	zlib, zstd, libedit, curl, libxml2, and libffi development packages

The compiler is currently developed and tested with LLVM 21. Older LLVM versions, including LLVM 18 and below, are not expected to work.

Install GCC 14 or Newer

DQ uses C++23 standard-library features such as std::print and stacktrace support for diagnostics and crash backtraces. Ubuntu 24.04 uses GCC 13 as the default compiler, but GCC 13's standard library is too old for these features. Check the selected compiler before configuring the build:

g++ --version

The first line should show version 14 or newer.

On Debian or Ubuntu, install GCC 14 with:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gcc-14 g++-14

To make GCC 14 the default compiler for normal shell commands, register it with update-alternatives:

sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gcc gcc /usr/bin/gcc-14 140
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/g++ g++ /usr/bin/g++-14 140
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/c++ c++ /usr/bin/g++-14 140

If more than one compiler version is registered, select GCC 14:

sudo update-alternatives --config gcc
sudo update-alternatives --config g++
sudo update-alternatives --config c++

Verify the selected versions again:

g++ --version

Install LLVM 21

On Debian or Ubuntu systems, use the official LLVM APT packages from https://apt.llvm.org/.

Install the LLVM APT helper script and request LLVM 21:

sudo apt install wget ca-certificates gnupg
wget https://apt.llvm.org/llvm.sh
chmod +x llvm.sh
sudo ./llvm.sh 21

Install the packages needed to build DQ:

sudo apt install \
  build-essential cmake llvm-21-dev clang-21 lld-21 \
  zlib1g-dev libzstd-dev libedit-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev \
  libxml2-dev libffi-dev

Verify that LLVM 21 is available:

/usr/lib/llvm-21/bin/llvm-config --version

The command should print a 21.x version.

Get The Source

Clone the DQ repository and enter the source tree:

git clone https://github.com/nvitya/dq-lang.git
cd dq-lang

Configure

From the repository root, generate the build files:

cmake .

This creates the root Makefile used by the repository's GNUmakefile. (See Troubleshooting if you experience problems here.)

Build

Build the compiler and helper tools:

make -j"$(nproc)"

The host build places the user-facing tools in the repository's build directory:

build/dq-comp
build/dq-run
build/dqatrun

Install

Install the built tools and standard packages:

sudo make install

The install target installs dq-comp and dq-run into bin, and installs the standard DQ packages into lib/dq/stdpkg under the chosen CMake install prefix. The default prefix is usually /usr/local.

To install under a different prefix, configure with CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:

cmake . -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$HOME/.local"
make -j"$(nproc)"
make install

Then make sure the selected bin directory is on your PATH.

Try The Compiler

Compile and run a single DQ file with the installed tools:

dq-run examples/console/hello_libc.dq

If you are working on your own file:

dq-run path/to/file.dq

dq-run uses -g -O0 by default when no compiler options are supplied, which is useful while developing or debugging.

Troubleshooting

cmake .

If CMake finds another LLVM version, or cannot find LLVM at all, pass LLVM 21's CMake package directory explicitly:

cmake . -DLLVM_DIR=/usr/lib/llvm-21/lib/cmake/llvm

To build with a specific compiler without changing the system default, pass it through CC and CXX before the first configure command. For example:

CC=gcc-14 CXX=g++-14 cmake .

If configuration fails inside LLVM's CMake files with a missing imported target such as ZLIB::ZLIB, one of LLVM's support-library development packages is missing. Install the dependency packages listed above, then run cmake . again.

If configuration or compilation fails with a missing C++23 standard-library header such as print or stacktrace, CMake is using a compiler or standard library that is too old. On Ubuntu 24.04 this usually means it found GCC 13. Install GCC 14 or newer, remove the old CMake cache if necessary, and configure again with CC=gcc-14 CXX=g++-14 cmake ..

Link Driver

dq-comp uses Clang as the native linker driver when it turns generated object files into an executable. A compiler built from these instructions uses LLVM's own clang++ from the configured LLVM installation by default.

If you are using an older build, or if you want to select another linker driver, set DQ_LINKER_DRIVER:

DQ_LINKER_DRIVER=clang++-21 dq-run examples/basic/test1.dq

You can also export it for the current shell:

export DQ_LINKER_DRIVER=clang++-21