Step 1: Obtaining the source code

"levolution" is hosted on bitbucket and can be cloned with the command:

git clone --depth 1 https://WegmannLab@bitbucket.org/WegmannLab/levolution.git

If you already have cloned the repo but would like to update to a newer version, simply use

git pull

Alternative, the source can also be downloaded as a zipped folder. This folder contains the latest C++ source code of levolution as well as the sub folder "examples" containing some example files. (See [downloads page](https://bitbucket.org/wegmannlab/levolution/downloads) for more options).

Step 2: Compiling the code

After unzipping or cloning, the code must be compiled to obtain an executable. It is recommended to use cmake and the GNU C++ compiler GCC, which is part of the GCC package and is pre-installed on any Linux system. On a Mac, g++ can be installed as part of the developer tools. On windows, it is advised to use the g++ compiler that ships with the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Note that levolution requires GCC 8.1 or higher.

To compile levolution, simply type the following command in the base folder:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake ..
make

That's it! The binary levolution is now found in the build folder and ready to use.

Step 3: Launching levolution

To launch levolution from within the build folder, type:

./levolution

If you want to call levolution from a different folder, you must specify the absolute path to it. It can thus be convenient to copy the executable somewhere else or to add the source folder to your $PATH variable (search on Google for more advice).

What's next?:

Check out how to launch and use levolution