Getting Started

This guide will help you get your system set up for building Neon projects. If you already have everything installed and are looking to write your first Neon code, try the Hello, World! guide.

Install Node

Neon requires Node.js and supports all versions since the most recent LTS release. If you don't already have Node.js installed, or don't have a supported version, go to the Node.js web site for installation instructions.

Install Rust

Neon requires Rust for development and supports all versions of Rust since 1.15. If you don't already have Rust installed, or don't have a supported version, go to the Rust web site for installation instructions.

Install Node Build Tools

Neon depends on Node's plugin build tools, which have a few additional system requirements. These dependencies have different installation steps on different operating systems.

macOS

The development dependencies for macOS are:

  • Python 2.7 (Python 3 is not supported)
  • Xcode
  • Install the Command Line Tools via Xcode under the menu Xcode → Preferences → Downloads.

Windows

The easiest and recommended way to set up a Windows development environment is with the windows-build-tools package. In a PowerShell or command prompt run as Administrator, run the following step:

C:\> npm install --global --production windows-build-tools

This installs all the system dependencies unobtrusively, without conflicting with any software already installed on your system.

Advanced: Manual setup

Alternatively, you can set up the Windows development environment manually instead of using windows-build-tools. You do not need to do this if you used the recommended setup process above.

  • On Windows Vista or Windows 7, install the .NET Framework 4.5.1.
  • Install the Visual C++ Build Environment with one of the following options:
    1. Install the Visual C++ Build Tools using the Default Install option.
    2. Install Visual Studio (or modify an existing installation) and select Common Tools for Visual C++ during setup.
  • Install Python 2.7 (Python 3 is not supported).
  • Run the following commands:
C:\> npm config set python python2.7
C:\> npm config set msvs_version 2015

Generic

The generic Unix development dependencies are:

  • Python 2.7 (Python 3 is not supported)
  • make
  • A proper C/C++ compiler toolchain, like GCC

Most modern Unix systems, like Linux or FreeBSD, should have the required development dependencies installed already.

Install the Neon CLI

Finally, use npm to install the Neon command-line toolchain.

npm install --global neon-cli
# OR
yarn global add neon-cli

You can verify your Neon installation by running

neon version

from a shell, which should print out the version of Neon you just installed.