Drag-and-Drop Setup

Step 1 Install MSYS2 (once only)

Go to msys2.org and download the installer. Run it, click Next until done. After it installs a black window opens automatically. Paste this in and press Enter:

pacman -S --needed mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc mingw-w64-x86_64-glfw mingw-w64-x86_64-glew

Press Enter again when it asks to confirm. Wait for it to finish, then close that window.

Step 2 Get the package

Download processing-cpp-dragdrop.zip from the Downloads page. Right-click it and choose Extract All. You'll get a folder called processing-cpp-dragdrop. rename it to processing-cpp.

Step 3 Set up your project folder

Create a new empty folder anywhere, call it MySketch. Move the processing-cpp folder into it:

MySketch/
└── processing-cpp/

Step 4 Write your sketch

Open Notepad. Paste the code below. Save it as main.cpp directly inside MySketch, next to the processing-cpp folder, not inside it.

#include "Processing.h"

struct Sketch : public Processing::PApplet {
    void settings() override { size(640, 360); }
    void setup()    override { background(0); }
    void draw()     override {
        background(0);
        fill(255, 140, 0);
        circle(mouseX, mouseY, 40);
    }
};

int main() {
    Sketch sketch;
    sketch.run();
}

Your folder should now look like this:

MySketch/
├── main.cpp          ← your file
└── processing-cpp/   ← the package

The sketch uses circle(), fill(), background(), and mouseX / mouseY. Everything in the reference works the same way.

Step 5 Open VS Code and the terminal

Open VS Code, go to File → Open Folder and select your MySketch folder. Then open the integrated terminal with Ctrl+`.

Step 6 Run it

./processing-cpp/run.bat

The first run takes about 15 seconds because it's compiling the engine. After that a window opens with an orange circle that follows your mouse. Every run after the first is much faster since the engine is already built.