Installation

Universal is a header-only C++ template library with no external dependencies.

Requirements

• C++20 compiler (GCC 11+, Clang 14+, MSVC 2022+)
• CMake 3.22 or later

Install CMake

Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo snap install cmake --classic

Portable Linux:

wget https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v4.2.1/cmake-4.2.1-Linux-x86_64.sh
sudo sh cmake-4.2.1-Linux-x86_64.sh --prefix=/usr/local --exclude-subdir

macOS/Windows: Download the installer from cmake.org/download.

Build from Source

git clone https://github.com/stillwater-sc/universal
cd universal
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make -j4
make test

CMake Build Options

Use cmake-gui or ccmake to explore interactively, or set options on the command line:

# Build everything
cmake -DUNIVERSAL_BUILD_ALL=ON ..

# Build a specific number system
cmake -DUNIVERSAL_BUILD_NUMBER_POSITS=ON ..

# Enable AVX2 optimizations
cmake -DUSE_AVX2=ON ..

# Build educational examples
cmake -DUNIVERSAL_BUILD_EDUCATION=ON ..

Using Universal in Your Project

Option 1: CMake find_package

After installing Universal (make install):

project("my-numerical-experiment")
find_package(UNIVERSAL CONFIG REQUIRED)

add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/main.cpp)
set_property(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 20)
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} universal::universal)

Option 2: Header-only include

Since Universal is header-only, you can simply add the include path:

g++ -std=c++20 -I/path/to/universal/include/sw my_program.cpp -o my_program

Install / Uninstall

# Install (default: /usr/local)
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/your/path ..
make install

# Uninstall
make uninstall