# Dear ImGui.hs > Dear ImGui is a **bloat-free graphical user interface library for C++**. It > outputs optimized vertex buffers that you can render anytime in your > 3D-pipeline enabled application. It is fast, portable, renderer agnostic and > self-contained (no external dependencies). This project contains Haskell bindings to the [ImGui](https://github.com/ocornut/imgui) project. This allows you to rapidly put together graphical user interfaces in Haskell, with a particular focus to games and graphics intensive applications. # Getting Started To get started, we'll build the following: ![](./Example.png) `dear-imgui.hs` can be used like a normal Haskell library. If you use Cabal, simply add `dear-imgui` to your `build-depends`. ImGui supports a variety of backends, and you will need to choose your backend at configuration time. Backends can be enabled using Cabal flags, and these can be set through the `cabal.project` file. For example, if you want to use a combination of SDL and OpenGL: ``` package dear-imgui flags: +sdl +opengl3 ``` With this done, the following module is the "Hello, World!" of ImGui: ``` haskell {-# language OverloadedStrings #-} module Main ( main ) where import DearImGui import DearImGui.OpenGL3 import DearImGui.SDL import DearImGui.SDL.OpenGL import Graphics.GL import SDL import Control.Monad.Managed import Control.Monad.IO.Class () import Control.Monad (when, unless) import Control.Exception (bracket, bracket_) main :: IO () main = do -- Initialize SDL initializeAll runManaged $ do -- Create a window using SDL; as we're using OpenGL, we enable OpenGL too window <- do let title = "Hello, Dear ImGui!" let config = defaultWindow { windowGraphicsContext = OpenGLContext defaultOpenGL } managed $ bracket (createWindow title config) destroyWindow -- Create an OpenGL context glContext <- managed $ bracket (glCreateContext window) glDeleteContext -- Create an ImGui context _ <- managed $ bracket createContext destroyContext -- Initialize ImGui's SDL2 backend managed_ $ bracket_ (sdl2InitForOpenGL window glContext) sdl2Shutdown -- Initialize ImGui's OpenGL backend managed_ $ bracket_ openGL3Init openGL3Shutdown liftIO $ mainLoop window mainLoop :: Window -> IO () mainLoop window = unlessQuit $ do -- Tell ImGui we're starting a new frame openGL3NewFrame sdl2NewFrame newFrame -- Build the GUI withWindowOpen "Hello, ImGui!" $ do -- Add a text widget text "Hello, ImGui!" -- Add a button widget, and call 'putStrLn' when it's clicked button "Clickety Click" >>= \clicked -> when clicked $ putStrLn "Ow!" -- Show the ImGui demo window showDemoWindow -- Render glClear GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT render openGL3RenderDrawData =<< getDrawData glSwapWindow window mainLoop window where -- Process the event loop unlessQuit action = do shouldQuit <- gotQuitEvent unless shouldQuit action gotQuitEvent = do ev <- pollEventWithImGui case ev of Nothing -> return False Just event -> (isQuit event ||) <$> gotQuitEvent isQuit event = eventPayload event == QuitEvent ``` # Hacking If you would like to help `dear-imgui`, here's how you can get started. The best path to development is using [Nix](https://nixos.org/guides/install-nix.html). Once you have Nix installed (either in your operating system, or by running NixOS), you can enter a development shell: ``` $ nix-shell ``` You should now be in a `bash` shell where you can run `cabal build all`, `cabal run readme`, etc. If you experience any difficulties, please don't hesistate to raise an issue. # Getting Help Feel free to raise bugs, questions and feature requests on the GitHub issue tracker. We have a Matrix room at [`#dear-imgui.hs:ocharles.org.uk`](https://matrix.to/#/#dear-imgui.hs:ocharles.org.uk).