Getting started

What you will have at the end of this page:

raylib installed, which all four ports link against
at least one port running in a window with Pac-Man moving
a sense of which port to reach for first

Install raylib

None of the four bundles it. Install it once, system-wide:

brew install raylib                  # macOS
sudo pacman -S raylib                # Arch
sudo apt install libraylib-dev       # Debian/Ubuntu, if new enough

Version 6.0 or newer. Anything older is missing calls these examples use.

Pick a port

Each directory is standalone and needs only its own toolchain. Start with whichever you already have.

Directory	Also needs	First run
`babashka-example/`	`bb`	instant, no build step
`clojure-example/`	JDK 22+ (Panama)	a few seconds, plus a git clone
`jolt-example/`	`jolt` 0.8.0+	a few seconds
`jank-example/`	`jank` and Leiningen	several minutes, it builds raylib natively

babashka is the fastest way to see something on screen. jank is the slowest to start and the most interesting to read.

Run it

From the repository root:

bb babashka          # or: bb clj, bb jank, bb jolt

Or from inside the example, which is the same thing without the indirection:

cd babashka-example
bb info              # what this example can do
bb pacman            # play it

Arrows or WASD steer. ENTER restarts after GAME OVER. Close the window or press ESC to quit.

If something is missing, ask before guessing:

bb doctor-all        # every toolchain, with the install command for what is absent

Run it unattended

Every port takes the same optional arguments, which is what makes them testable with nobody at the keyboard:

bb pacman 10               # quit after ten seconds of game time
bb pacman 3 out.png 76     # quit after three, capture frame 76 to out.png

The seconds are game time, not wall time. Running unattended explains why that distinction earns its keep.

Check everything at once

bb check-all         # compile or load all four
bb run-all 10        # cycle all four as a demo reel

bb tasks lists every command, and bb info groups them with a short description each. Every example directory has its own bb info too.

Where to go next

If you want to understand the code rather than run it, read the game first: it covers the half that barely changes between runtimes, so the four ports then read as the same file with a different bottom third. Crossing to C is the part the repo exists for.