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First steps

This guide walks you through the simplest way to build and run the Mandelbrot viewer on a Linux machine.

1. Install the required packages

On Debian or Ubuntu, install the development libraries needed by MiniLibX:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y gcc make libx11-dev libxext-dev libbsd-dev zlib1g-dev

2. Prepare MiniLibX

From the repository root, configure the bundled MiniLibX library:

cd minilibx-linux
./configure
cd ..

3. Build the project

Back in the project root, build the executable:

make

4. Launch the viewer

Run the program with the only supported argument:

./fractol mandelbrot

A window should open and begin rendering the fractal.

5. Explore the image

Once the window is open, you can:

  • Use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out
  • Use the arrow keys to shift the view
  • Close the window to exit the program

If the window does not appear, the most common cause is a missing X11 dependency or an issue while building MiniLibX. The troubleshooting guide covers the usual fixes.