# Getting the source

## Downloading the Pandemonium source code

Before `getting into the SCons build system ( doc_introduction_to_the_buildsystem )`
and compiling Pandemonium, you need to actually download the Pandemonium source code.

The source code is available on `GitHub ( https://github.com/Relintai/pandemonium_engine )`
and while you can manually download it via the website, in general you want to
do it via the `git` version control system.

If you are compiling in order to make contributions or pull requests, you should
follow the instructions from the `Pull Request workflow ( doc_pr_workflow )`.

If you don't know much about `git` yet, there are a great number of
`tutorials ( https://git-scm.com/book )` available on various websites.

In general, you need to install `git` and/or one of the various GUI clients.

Afterwards, to get the latest development version of the Pandemonium source code
(the unstable `master` branch), you can use `git clone`.

If you are using the `git` command line client, this is done by entering
the following in a terminal:

```
    git clone https://github.com/Relintai/pandemonium_engine.git
    # You can add the --depth 1 argument to omit the commit history.
    # Faster, but not all Git operations (like blame) will work.
```

For any stable release, visit the `release page ( https://github.com/Relintai/pandemonium_engine/releases )`
and click on the link for the release you want.
You can then download and extract the source from the download link on the page.

With `git`, you can also clone a stable release by specifying its branch or tag
after the `--branch` (or just `-b`) argument:

```
    # Clone the continuously maintained stable branch (`3.x` as of writing).
    git clone https://github.com/Relintai/pandemonium_engine.git -b 3.x

    # Clone the `3.2.3-stable` tag. This is a fixed revision that will never change.
    git clone https://github.com/Relintai/pandemonium_engine.git -b 3.2.3-stable
```

There are also generally branches besides `master` for each major version.

After downloading the Pandemonium source code,
you can `continue to compiling Pandemonium ( doc_introduction_to_the_buildsystem )`.