Get started with Meadow.Mac

Meadow.Mac provides an environment for developing Meadow applications on macOS, with optional GPIO support through an add-on accessory. Setting up Meadow.Mac requires configuring your development machine and connecting external components before you can deploy and run your Meadow application.

unning Meadow applications on a Mac offers a convenient and fast development loop for prototyping and testing. You can use the same components you would on a Meadow Feather or Core-Compute module by connecting an FTDI breakout board like the FT232H, which supports GPIO, SPI, and (in the future) I2C.

Meadow.Mac also allows for prototyping graphics using an emulated IDisplay object, rendering to a standard window on your Mac. Additionally, running Meadow apps on macOS can leverage the hardware's increased processing power for intensive workloads.

Prerequisites

Before starting with Meadow.Mac, ensure your development machine is set up for Meadow development.

If you haven't already, install the .NET 8.0 SDK for macOS. You can find the latest version on the .NET downloads page.

Using GPIO and SPI

To add GPIO and SPI capabilities to your Mac, you can use an FTDI breakout board such as FT232H.

Create your first Meadow.Mac app

Create a new .NET console application:
```
dotnet new console --output MeadowMacSampleApp
cd MeadowMacSampleApp
```
This will ensure the Meadow app has the project settings that will work within Meadow.Mac.
Add the Meadow.Mac NuGet package:
```
dotnet add package Meadow.Mac
```

Replace the contents of the Program.cs file:

using Meadow;
using Meadow.Devices;

public class MeadowApp : App<Mac>
{
    static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        await MeadowOS.Start(args);
    }

    public override Task Initialize()
    {
        Resolver.Log.Info("Initialize...");

        return base.Initialize();
    }

    public override Task Run()
    {
        Resolver.Log.Info("Run...");

        Resolver.Log.Info("Hello, Meadow.Mac!");

        return base.Run();
    }
}

This simple app logs messages at various stages of the Meadow application.

Build the app:
```
dotnet build
```

Run the app:

dotnet run

The console output should display:

Initialize...
Run...
Hello, Meadow.Mac!

You now have a Meadow.Mac app running on your Mac development machine.

Adapt a Meadow app for Meadow.Mac

To update an existing Meadow app to target a Mac, adjust the app’s structure as follows:

Update the project file to target an executable:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
    <PropertyGroup>
        <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
        <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
        <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
        <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
    </PropertyGroup>

    ...
</Project>

Change the app type to Meadow.Mac:

public class MeadowApp : App<Mac>
{
    ...
}

Add the Main method to the MeadowApp class:

public static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
    await MeadowOS.Start(args);
}

Your Meadow app should now be able to run on macOS, calling into the usual Initialize and Run methods of your app.

Next steps

With your Meadow.Mac setup complete, start exploring the Meadow.Foundation libraries to add functionality to your Meadow app. You can also find additional examples in the samples in the Meadow.Desktop.Samples.

Prerequisites​

Using GPIO and SPI​

Create your first Meadow.Mac app​

Adapt a Meadow app for Meadow.Mac​

Next steps​

Prerequisites

Using GPIO and SPI

Create your first Meadow.Mac app

Adapt a Meadow app for Meadow.Mac

Next steps