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I am trying to install OpenCV, but I dont know what needs to happen for it to be installed, how to check, or what really OpenCV is (Is it a library, framework, something else).

Then, after you download it, you have to build it (I dont know what build means though), and then link your compiler against it so that it can access the files I dont know how any of this would be done, or really what this means.

I think a lot of this is done by CMake, but I dont know what CMake really does, how you would use it, or how you would then utilize the libraryframework in your code.

Also, where would the libraries like OpenCV be installed, how would clang (or any other compilerlinker) know where to find them, and what kind of files would they be (.a,.dylib,.cpp,.hpp, executables, or a collection of everything) Is this structure specific to C and OS X or is it more widespread.

The general concepts apply to C regardless of implementation or platform.

Using an IDE like XCode or Eclipse-CDT or Visual Studio masks a lot of the lower-level details (you configure some settings in a GUI and the tools do the rest), but your question is both very broad and also hard to answer without knowing your level of C proficiency.

The main thing that you have to know to clear up the mystery is this; programs are compiled in individual pieces.

The individual pieces are combined into an application by the process of linking.

Using things like OpenCV requires that you link together your programs parts with parts made by others (like OpenCV).

I have used 3rd party libraries successfully with C in the past, but I didnt know what was going on under the hood because things like pkg-config have done the dirty work for me.

I have never used an IDE with C because they seem more confusing to me as a beginner than using a text editor and learning what the IDE is doing.

My biggest problem so far has been all the resources I have found do not discuss what is going on low-level, and as a result I dont know how to expand simple hello world programs to larger and more useful things.

Without Xcode, you will have no compiler (i.e.

Copy and paste the following into Terminal and hit EnterReturn.

I will not show the line here in case it ever changes and someone looks at this in a few years, but it is easy to see if you go to the link above.

It helps if you use the pkg-config package to pick up all the necessary compilerlinker settings you need, so I would suggest.

This will vary with your OpenCV version, but you will need to alter the places marked in the two diagrams below.

You will find these easily if you click them in order - green area first, then the yellow, then the blue, then the red.

I am really looking for information on how the installation process works, and what actually a package like opencv is (is it a library, framework, or something else).

Would you mind telling me why pkg-config --cflags opencv AND pkg-config --libs opencv do not work for FFMPEG library.

If you want to build a different package, such as ffmpeg you will need to find the package (probably by using pkg-config --list-all ) and then, when you find the package name you want, (e.g.

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Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

Install Opencv For C++ Mac