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.
The sources distributed that way can be built using the
CGAL installation manual.
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 building, 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:
Scripts - scripts to simplify developer's and user's work
Testsuite - infrastructure for testsuite
Documentation - infrastructure for CGAL's manual
STL_Extension - extensions to the standard template library
Compilation and installation
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.
CGAL developers, however, usually compile CGAL directly from a local Git
repository. That 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.
