# Using deal.II on native Windows
-For an overview of different ways to use deal.II on Windows have a look at the corresponding [FAQ entry](https://github.com/dealii/dealii/wiki/Frequently-Asked-Questions#can-i-use-dealii-on-a-windows-platform).
+For an overview of different ways to use deal.II on Windows have a look at
+the corresponding [FAQ entry](https://github.com/dealii/dealii/wiki/Frequently-Asked-Questions#can-i-use-dealii-on-a-windows-platform).
-**Warning: please be aware that the following is experimental and you will likely encounter bugs in compilers and deal.II itself. Only continue if you are willing to experiment.**
+**Warning: please be aware that the following is experimental and you will
+likely encounter bugs in compilers and deal.II itself. Only continue if you
+are willing to experiment.**
## Visual Studio
-Since deal.II 8.4.0 we have experimental support for the newer Visual Studio C++ compilers (2017 or newer), but this is still work in progress. Please see the following threads for more details:
-- https://github.com/dealii/dealii/issues/1921
+Since deal.II 8.4.0 we have experimental support for the newer Visual
+Studio C++ compilers (2017 or newer), but this is still work in progress.
+You can check the current development status
+[here](https://github.com/dealii/dealii/issues/1921)
Installation instructions:
-1. Download and install Visual Studio 2017: https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/ and make sure you select the C++ compiler
-2. Install cmake from https://cmake.org/download/ (pick the windows installer)
-3. Extract deal.II to a folder, for example c:\dealii (or clone the git development version)
-4. Configure using cmake by opening the 64bit command line shortcut and run:
-
- ```
- set PreferredToolArchitecture=x64
- cd c:\dealii
- mkdir build
- cd c:\dealii\build
- cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64" ..
- ```
- Note: Setting the tool architecture to 64 bit works around problems of the compiler or linker running out of memory and leads to much quicker compile times.
- Note: Use generator ``"Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64"`` for Visual Studio 2017.
-
-6. Compile and install the library by opening ``deal.II.sln`` in c:\dealii\build, pick the install target and compile. Note: you need to either compile in the same terminal as above (using ``cmake --build .``) or open ``devenv.exe`` from the same terminal, to use the 64 bit tool architecture.
+1. Download and install Visual Studio 2017:
+ https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/ and make sure you select the C++
+ compiler
+2. Install cmake from https://cmake.org/download/ (pick the windows
+ installer)
+3. Extract deal.II to a folder, for example c:\dealii (or clone the git
+ development version)
+4. Configure using cmake by opening the 64bit command line shortcut and
+ run:
+
+ ```
+ set PreferredToolArchitecture=x64
+ cd c:\dealii
+ mkdir build
+ cd c:\dealii\build
+ cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64" ..
+ ```
+ <b>Note:</b> Setting the tool architecture to 64 bit works around problems of
+ the compiler or linker running out of memory and leads to much quicker
+ compile times.
+ <b>Note:</b> Use generator ``"Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64"`` for Visual Studio
+ 2017.
+
+6. Compile and install the library by opening ``deal.II.sln`` in
+ c:\dealii\build, pick the install target and compile. Note: you need to
+ either compile in the same terminal as above (using ``cmake --build .``)
+ or open ``devenv.exe`` from the same terminal, to use the 64 bit tool
+ architecture.
7. in cmd go to one of the examples in c:\dealii\examples\step-xy:
+ ```
+ cmake -D DEAL_II_DIR=c:\dealii\build -G "Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64" .
+ ```
- ```
- cmake -D DEAL_II_DIR=c:\dealii\build -G "Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64" .
- ```
-
-8. Open the newly created solution (step-xy.sln) in that directory and compile/run/debug.
+8. Open the newly created solution (step-xy.sln) in that directory and
+ compile/run/debug.
## Running build tests on Windows:
## Cygwin / MingGW
-Cygwin and forks such as MinGW and MinGW-64 are unsupported due to multiple unresolved miscompilation issues.
+Cygwin and forks such as MinGW and MinGW-64 are unsupported due to multiple
+unresolved miscompilation issues.
## Other Windows compilers
-We haven't had much success with any other compiler on Windows (Intel, Borland, ...).
\ No newline at end of file
+We haven't had much success with any other compiler on Windows (Intel,
+Borland, ...).