Download and install the latest Microsoft Visual Studio from here: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads
During installation of Visual Studio, you should install all of the options required for C# and C++ development on Windows. Plus, enable individual components: cmake and git.
Start a VS PowerShell session and configure the build with the following commands given in the debugger's source tree:
C:\Users\localuser\dncdbg> md build
C:\Users\localuser\dncdbg> cd build
C:\Users\localuser\dncdbg\build> cmake .. -G "Visual Studio 18 2026"
Option -G specifies which instance of Visual Studio should build the project.
Note, the minimum requirement for the debugger's build is Visual Studio 2019.
If you want to run tests after a successful build, then you should add the following option:
-DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$PWD.Path\..\bin"
If you have downloaded the .NET SDK manually, you should add the following option:
-DDOTNET_DIR="C:\Program Files\dotnet"
Add your build type (Release or Debug), for example:
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
To build with Address Sanitizer, add the option
-DASAN=1
To build with case-sensitive file name collision, add the option
-DCASE_SENSITIVE_FILENAME_COLLISION=1
To compile and install, use the following command:
C:\Users\localuser\dncdbg\build> cmake --build . --target install --parallel $env:NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS --config Release
As an example, the complete build sequence for a VS PowerShell session might look like:
C:\Users\localuser\dncdbg> md build
C:\Users\localuser\dncdbg> cd build
C:\Users\localuser\dncdbg\build> cmake .. -G "Visual Studio 18 2026" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX="$PWD.Path\..\bin" -DDOTNET_DIR="C:\Program Files\dotnet" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
C:\Users\localuser\dncdbg\build> cmake --build . --target install --parallel $env:NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS --config Release