Getting started

This page will guide you through downloading, installing and using Pikt.

Download

...the Pikt archive and extract its content anywhere.
The archive contains:

File name	Description
pikt.jar	The main executable
colors.properties	The default color scheme
colors.png	The default color scheme as a visual palette image
kotlin-compiler-[version].zip	The Kotlin compiler needed to compile/interpret sources
lib	External libraries, including the stdlib
helloworld.png	A ready-to-use Hello world! Pikt source

Unzip

...the Kotlin compiler anywhere to extract the kotlinc folder.

Test

...if everything is set: run
java -Dsource=helloworld.png -Dcolors=colors -Dtargets=jvm -Djvmcompiler=<path_to_kotlinc>/bin/kotlinc -jar pikt.jar
This should compile a JAR executable into the out/ folder that prints Hello world!.

Note: append .bat to the -Djvmcompiler property if you are on Windows.

-Dcolors points to the .properties color scheme that your program uses, which is the default one in this case.

On-the-fly interpretation is also available via -interpret:
java -Dsource=helloworld.png -Dcolors=colors -Djvmcompiler=<path_to_kotlinc>/bin/kotlinc -jar pikt.jar --interpret

Play

...with your code and learn features from this wiki.
Any pixel art editor will be fine: the Piskel web app is a good choice.

How does the Hello world! example work?