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The Computational Geometry Algorithms Library (CGAL) is a C++ library that aims to provide easy access to efficient and reliable algorithms in computational geometry.
CGAL Releases
The primary vector of distribution of CGAL are sources tarballs, released twice a year, announced on the web site of CGAL.
Getting Started with CGAL
Since version 5.0, CGAL is header-only by default, meaning that it is no longer necessary to build or install CGAL before it can be used.
Head over to the CGAL manual for usage guides and tutorials that will get you started smoothly.
Compilation and Installation
If you do not wish to use the header-only mode of CGAL, it is still possible to build CGAL itself.
The compilation and installation of CGAL from a sources tarball are described in the CGAL installation manual and in the file INSTALL.md that is at the root of any sources tarball.
You can also clone this repository and compile from your local Git repository. This kind of compilation is called a branch build, and is described in the file INSTALL.md that is at the root of the Git repository.
License
See the file LICENSE.md.
CGAL Git Repository Layout
The Git repository of CGAL has a different layout from release tarballs. It
contains a CMakeLists.txt file that serves as anchor for configuring and building programs,
and a set of subfolders, so called packages. Most packages
implement a data structure or an algorithm for CGAL (e.g., Convex_hull_2,
or Triangulation_3); however some packages serve special needs:
Installation- meta-files and CMake-supportMaintenance- infrastructural supportCore,CGALimageIO,Qt_widget,GraphicsView- component librariesScripts- scripts to simplify developer's and user's workTestsuite- infrastructure for testsuiteDocumentation- infrastructure for CGAL's manualSTL_Extension- extensions to the standard template library