Get Feel++ Programming Environment

Difficulty: difficulty advanced

advanced!

We present here the Feel++ toolchain with both required and suggested tools to either compile Feel++ or use with Feel++.

1. Compilers

Feel++ uses C++17 compilers such as GCC8 and Clang (\(\geq 5\)).

It is mandatory not only to have a C++17 compiler but also C++ stantard library compatible with C++17 We don’t use yet C++17 standard library features

Table 1. Table C++ compilers and standard libraries combinations
Compiler	Minimal Version	Recommended Version	Standard Library
Clang++	6	9	libstdc++ 7
Clang++	6	9	libc++ (corresponding clang version)
G++	8	9	libstdc++ 7

Clang++ is the preferred compiler by far for Feel++, it compiles much faster and use far less memory than G++

A few applications are not built with GCC, GCC ICEs (Internal Compiler Error) on them.

Table 2. List of applications disabled with GCC
`feelpp_elasticity_pure_traction_{2d,3d}`	pure traction elasticity applications in `feelpp/quickstart`
`feelpp_toolbox_hdg_*`	all toolbox HDG applications are disabled with GCC.

2. Required tools and libraries

Other than C++17 compilers, Feel++ requires only a few tools and libraries, namely CMake, Boost C++ libraries and an MPI implementation such as open-mpi or mpich. The table below provides information regarding the minimum and maximum version supported. A — means it has not necessarily been tested with the latest version but we do not expect any issues. Note that for MPI, an implementation with MPI-IO support would be best.

Table 3. Table required tools to compile Feel++
Name	Minimum Version	Maximum Version	Notes
CMake	3.13.0	—
MPI	—	—	OpenMPI or MPICH
Boost	1.61	1.70
Python Interpreter	3	3	Version 2 has never been tested

3. Recommended libraries

Here is a list of libraries that we recommend to use jointly with Feel++.

Table 4. Table optional external libraries
Library	Minimum Version	Maximum Version	Notes
HDF5	1.8.6	—
PETSc	3.5	—	We strongly recommand to install PETSc with MUMPS packages. Others packages like Suitesparse, Trilinos/ML, Boomeramg can be appreciable.
SLEPc	3.5	—	Depends on PETSc
Gmsh	2.8.7	4.4.1
Python Libs	3.0
Python SymPy	1.1		Python 3 module sympy

4. Recommended tools

Here is a list of tools that we recommend to use jointly with Feel++.

Table 5. Table of recommended tools
Tool	License	Notes
Computer Aided Design
Gmsh	Open Source
Mesh Generation
Gmsh	Open Source
MeshGems	Commercial
Post-Processing
Paraview	Open Source
Ensight	Commercial
Octave	Open Source
Gmsh	Open Source
Scripting Languages
Python	Open Source	Python 3 interpreter

Note that all these packages are available under Debian GNU/Linux and Ubuntu. Once you have installed those dependencies, you can go to Compiling.

5. Suggested tools

Here is a list of tools that we suggest to use jointly with Feel++.

Table 6. Table of suggested tools
Tool	License	Notes
Computer Aided Design (CAD)
Freecad	Open Source
Salome	Open Source	HDF5 version in Debian/sid currently breaks MED format support.
Modeling, Compilation and Simulation Environment
Open Modelica	Open Source
Debugging and Profiling
Google perftools	Open Source
Valgrind	Open Source

6. What’s next?

Checkout the Linux installation from sources in Ubuntu or Debian
Checkout the MacOsX installation from sources using Homebrew or Macport