Build from source

Use this path until verified prebuilt binaries are published. It compiles Rust Polars locally and can take significant time and disk space on the first run.

System compiler

Install the native compiler and linker for your platform before using mise:

Platform	Requirement
macOS	Xcode Command Line Tools (`xcode-select --install`)
Linux	GCC or Clang and the system development tools (for example, `build-essential` on Ubuntu)
Windows	Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools with Desktop development with C++

Mise installs the language toolchains below, but not these system components.

Install the tools

Install mise, clone the repository, then run:

mise trust
mise install
mise run setup
mise run native:build

mise.toml pins Dart 3.13.0, Python 3.12, and Rust 1.98.0. The Rust version matches rust-toolchain.toml.

Run the example

Choose the library produced for your platform:

Platform	Debug library
macOS	`target/debug/libdartaframes_polars_ffi.dylib`
Linux	`target/debug/libdartaframes_polars_ffi.so`
Windows	`target/debug/dartaframes_polars_ffi.dll`

On macOS, for example:

dart run example/series_arrow_head.dart \
  --library "$PWD/target/debug/libdartaframes_polars_ffi.dylib"

Use the matching path from the table on Linux or Windows.

Validate the native build

On macOS, set DARTAFRAMES_NATIVE_LIBRARY to the absolute library path and run:

DARTAFRAMES_NATIVE_LIBRARY="$PWD/target/debug/libdartaframes_polars_ffi.dylib" \
  dart test test/native_integration_test.dart test/io_relational_native_test.dart

Use the .so path on Linux. In Windows PowerShell:

$env:DARTAFRAMES_NATIVE_LIBRARY = (Resolve-Path target\debug\dartaframes_polars_ffi.dll).Path
dart test test/native_integration_test.dart test/io_relational_native_test.dart

This source-build setup is for contributors and early adopters. Once release binaries are available, ordinary applications will use Polars.native() and will not need mise or Rust.

Arrow interoperability API reference