Frequently Asked Questions

Where should I start?

Echo has detailed setup instructions uses all of Discord++'s basic functions

https://github.com/DiscordPP/echo-bot

How do I use the Linux setup instructions if I'm on Windows?

You could dual-boot or get Discord++ to work with a Windows compiler, but I'd recommend using WSL

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install-win10

What Linux Distribution should I use?

For beginners, I'd recommend Ubuntu. You could (1) install it under WSL or (2) install it to your system

(1) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/ubuntu/9nblggh4msv6

(2) https://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

Is this a Discord app for iOS?

No. The video you came from was baseless speculation about a BetterDiscord app for iOS being called Discord++.

How can I compile Boost myself if my distro has an old version?

It will vary from distro to distro, but try compiling Boost like so: https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1180792

It may just work

While Discord++ can make for a great beginner's C++ project, it isn't a great thing to learn C++ with. I'd highly recommend Codecademy for that, their C++ course is free: https://www.codecademy.com/learn/learn-c-plus-plus

How do I use Nlohmann's JSON library?

Check out the library's README, it's pretty darn good: https://github.com/nlohmann/json

How do I clone with submodules?

Add --recursive to git clone for git clone --recursive <repository> or you can clone using a graphical tool like GitKraken: https://www.gitkraken.com/invite/mS1RATY9

How can I download the submodules if I have already cloned the repo non-recursively?

git submodule update --init --recursive

My bot takes a long time to compile.

Why?

Discord++ is a heard-only library. For some general info, you can read about them in the answers to this question on StackOverflow. The short answer here, though, is that Discord++ is header-only to simplify cross-platform compatibility and to enable the templates for its plugin system

How can I make it faster?

Your compiler choice can make a huge difference. I (Aido) currently use Ubuntu 22.04.1 LTS in WSL2 on Windows 11 and when I swap from gcc to clang compilations take 1/4 as long, but your results may vary.

Echo also has a system for partial builds, which you can see implemented in its CMakeLists.txt. By way of precompiling its headers and moving the bot definition to a second object, a clean debug build that takes 6 minutes on gcc and 1.5 minutes on clang is shortened to 1 minute on both when only the main.cc file is changed. You can also do your initial build outside your IDE to reduce that initial compilation time.