# Prerequisites

Before using mlpack in an application, it must be installed on the system.

 * [Installing mlpack](install.md): a guide to install mlpack.

 * [Cross-compilation setup](../embedded/supported_boards.md): use this guide if
   you plan to cross-compile mlpack C++ programs for another device.

Once mlpack is set up, you should start with the following resources:

 * [Quickstart](../quickstart/cpp.md): guide to get simple mlpack programs running
   in C++.

 * [Matrices and data](matrices.md): details about how data is expected to
   be represented in mlpack (via the Armadillo library).

If you wish to use mlpack's bindings to other languages, see the
[Bindings](bindings.md) page.