Skip to content

Installation

Jump to bottom
Kris Simon edited this page Jan 10, 2026 · 1 revision

Installation

This guide covers installing ARO on macOS, Linux, and Windows, including the requirements for native compilation.

Quick Install

macOS (Homebrew)

brew tap arolang/aro
brew install aro

Linux

curl -L https://github.com/arolang/aro/releases/latest/download/aro-linux-amd64.tar.gz | tar xz
sudo mv aro /usr/local/bin/
sudo mv libARORuntime.a /usr/local/lib/

Windows

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases:

  1. Extract aro-windows-amd64.zip
  2. Add the extracted directory to your PATH

Detailed Installation

What's Included

Each ARO release includes:

  • aro (or aro.exe on Windows) - The ARO CLI
  • libARORuntime.a - Static runtime library (required for native compilation)

Installation Modes

ARO has two execution modes with different requirements:

Mode Command Requirements
Interpreter aro run ./MyApp Just the aro binary
Native Compilation aro build ./MyApp Additional toolchain (see below)

Interpreter Mode (aro run)

The interpreter mode requires only the aro binary. It executes ARO programs directly without compilation.

macOS

No additional dependencies. The aro binary is self-contained.

Linux

No additional dependencies. The aro binary is self-contained.

Windows

Requires Swift runtime DLLs in PATH. These are installed automatically with Swift for Windows.

If you see DLL errors, install Swift for Windows to get the runtime DLLs.

Native Compilation (aro build)

Native compilation produces standalone executables that don't require ARO or Swift to be installed on the target system. This requires additional toolchain components.

macOS

Requirements

  • LLVM (provides llc for LLVM IR to object file compilation)
  • Xcode Command Line Tools (provides the system linker)

Installation

# Install LLVM via Homebrew
brew install llvm

# Verify installation
/opt/homebrew/opt/llvm/bin/llc --version

The ARO linker automatically finds LLVM in standard Homebrew locations.

Verification

# Test native compilation
mkdir -p HelloWorld
echo '(Application-Start: Hello) {
    <Log> the <message> for the <console> with "Hello from native binary!".
    <Return> an <OK: status> for the <startup>.
}' > HelloWorld/main.aro

aro build ./HelloWorld
./HelloWorld/HelloWorld

Linux

Requirements

  • LLVM 14 (provides llc for LLVM IR compilation)
  • Clang 14 (used as the linker)
  • Swift runtime libraries (linked into the binary)

Installation (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install LLVM and Clang
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y llvm-14 clang-14

# Install Swift (if not already installed)
# Download from https://swift.org/download/
# Or use swiftly: https://github.com/swift-server/swiftly

# Verify installation
llc-14 --version
clang-14 --version

Installation (Fedora/RHEL)

sudo dnf install llvm clang

Swift Runtime Libraries

The Swift runtime libraries must be available for linking. If you installed Swift from swift.org, they're typically at:

  • /usr/lib/swift/linux/
  • /usr/share/swift/usr/lib/swift/linux/

Verification

# Test native compilation
aro build ./HelloWorld
./HelloWorld/HelloWorld

Windows

Requirements

  • LLVM (provides clang.exe for LLVM IR compilation)
  • Visual Studio or Build Tools for Visual Studio (provides MSVC linker)
  • Windows SDK (provides UCRT and Windows API libraries)
  • Swift for Windows (provides Swift runtime DLLs)

Installation

  1. Install Visual Studio Build Tools

    Download from Visual Studio Downloads and select:

    • "Desktop development with C++" workload
    • Windows SDK (usually selected by default)

    Or install via winget:

    winget install Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools --override "--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.VCTools --includeRecommended"

  2. Install LLVM

    Download from LLVM Releases or:

    winget install LLVM.LLVM

    Ensure C:\Program Files\LLVM\bin is in your PATH.

  3. Install Swift for Windows

    Download from Swift.org Downloads.

    The installer adds Swift to PATH and sets up environment variables.

  4. Verify Installation

    # Check LLVM
clang --version

# Check Swift
swift --version

# Check Visual Studio (from Developer Command Prompt)
cl

Environment Variables

The following environment variables are used by ARO's linker (usually set automatically by installers):

Variable Purpose Example
SDKROOT Swift SDK location C:\Users\...\Swift\Platforms\...\Windows.sdk\
PATH Must include Swift runtime DLLs ...\Swift\Runtimes\...\usr\bin

Verification

# Test native compilation
aro build .\HelloWorld
.\HelloWorld\HelloWorld.exe

Build from Source

Prerequisites (All Platforms)

  • Swift 6.2 or later
  • Git

macOS

# Xcode 16.3+ includes Swift 6.2
xcode-select --install

git clone https://github.com/arolang/aro.git
cd aro
swift build -c release

# Binary at .build/release/aro
# Runtime library at .build/release/libARORuntime.a

Linux

# Install Swift from https://swift.org/download/
# Or use swiftly: curl -L https://swift-server.github.io/swiftly/swiftly-install.sh | bash

git clone https://github.com/arolang/aro.git
cd aro
swift build -c release

# Binary at .build/release/aro
# Runtime library at .build/release/libARORuntime.a

Windows

# Install Swift from https://swift.org/download/

git clone https://github.com/arolang/aro.git
cd aro
swift build -c release

# Binary at .build\release\aro.exe
# Runtime library at .build\release\libARORuntime.a

Troubleshooting

macOS: "llc not found"

Install LLVM:

brew install llvm

If ARO still can't find it, the binary is at /opt/homebrew/opt/llvm/bin/llc.

macOS: Gatekeeper Warning

Official releases are code-signed and notarized. If building from source:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/bin/aro

Linux: "swiftrt.o not found"

Ensure Swift is properly installed and the runtime libraries are at /usr/lib/swift/linux/ or /usr/share/swift/usr/lib/swift/linux/.

Linux: Linker hangs or times out

This can happen with older versions of swiftc. ARO uses clang as the linker on Linux to avoid this issue. Ensure clang-14 is installed.

Windows: "ACCESS_VIOLATION" when running compiled binary

This usually means Swift runtime DLLs aren't in PATH. Ensure Swift for Windows is installed and the runtime bin directory is in PATH:

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Programs\Swift\Runtimes\<version>\usr\bin

Windows: "cannot open input file 'ucrt.lib'"

Install Windows SDK via Visual Studio Installer:

  1. Open Visual Studio Installer
  2. Modify your installation
  3. Ensure "Windows SDK" is selected under Individual Components

Windows: "unresolved external symbol"

Ensure Visual Studio Build Tools are installed with the C++ workload. The MSVC libraries (vcruntime, msvcrt) are required for linking.

IDE Integration

For the best development experience, install the ARO language extensions:

  • Visual Studio Code: Search for "ARO Language" in Extensions
  • IntelliJ/WebStorm: Search for "ARO Language" in Plugins

See IDE Integration for more details.

Next Steps

Home

Getting Started

Language Guide

Fundamentals

Runtime & Events

I/O & Communication

Advanced

Language Reference

Extending ARO

Clone this wiki locally