[SOLVED] how do i resolve this error when compiling C code that includes SDL

Issue

when i try to compile the following C code with gcc -I/SDL2-2.0.20/x86_64-w64-mingw32/include hsdl.c -L/SDL2-2.0.20/x86_64-w64-mingw32/lib in windows

#include "SDL2/SDL.h"
int main( int argc, char* args[] ) {
  SDL_Init( SDL_INIT_EVERYTHING ); //Start SDL
  SDL_Quit(); //Quit SDL
  return 0;
}

i get the following errors

C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/10.3.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\PC\AppData\Local\Temp\ccfFajdG.o:hsdl.c:(.text+0x15): undefined reference to `SDL_Init'
C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/10.3.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:\Users\PC\AppData\Local\Temp\ccfFajdG.o:hsdl.c:(.text+0x1a): undefined reference to `SDL_Quit'
C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/10.3.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/bin/ld.exe: C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/../lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/10.3.0/../../../../x86_64-w64-mingw32/lib/../lib/libmingw32.a(lib64_libmingw32_a-crt0_c.o): in function `main':
C:/_/M/mingw-w64-crt-git/src/mingw-w64/mingw-w64-crt/crt/crt0_c.c:18: undefined reference to `WinMain'
collect2.exe: error: ld returned 1 exit status

i did install SDL headers and library files manually by moving the files to the library and include paths.

Solution

You need to tell gcc where to find those include files and where to find required libraries for SDL2.

Compile your program like this:

gcc `pkg-config --libs --cflags sdl2` ./hsdl.c -o ./hsdl.exe

If you haven't installed SDL2 on msys2 use this command:

pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-SDL2

If you haven't installed pkg-config on msys2 use this command:

pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-pkg-config

Answered By - Darth-CodeX

Answer Checked By - Timothy Miller (WPSolving Admin)