Collapse All Levels Collapse Top Level Expand Top Level Expand All Levels
News Articles Recipes Beginner's Guide to C++ Lists
@hackingcpp RSS Feed About Privacy Home
    Beginner's Guide
    First Steps
    Input & Output
    Custom Types – Part 1
    Diagnostics
    Standard Library – Part 1
    Function Objects
    Standard Library – Part 2
    Code Organization
    Custom Types – Part 2
    Generic Programming
    Memory Management
    Software Design Basics

    C++ Development Setup C++ Development Setup Dev. Setup

    Tools

    Advice: start with a text editor + command line compiler

    But… once you know how the C++ build process works and how to use a compiler on the command line, you should consider switching to an IDE for bigger projects.

    Code Editors & IDEs Editors/IDEs

    Visual Studio Code is probably one of the best choices for beginners today. It has a nice UI, offers some basic IDE features like completion and jumping to definitions and there is even a VIM plugin that is highly configurable.

    Visual Studio Code

    editor with some IDE features

    Linux Setup   Windows+WSL Setup

    		  
    VIM

    very powerful editor – takes some learning

    can be used inside the terminal

    		   
    Qt Creator
    		IDE – quite beginner-friendly   
    Embarcadero Dev-C++
    		IDE – beginner-friendly; quick & painless setup
    Microsoft Visual Studio
    		IDE – can be overwhelming for beginners  
    JetBrains CLion
    		IDE – can be overwhelming for beginners   

    Windows ⇒ WSL

    If you use Windows 10, I highly recommend using the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) which essentially gives you a full-fledged Linux command line.

    Most learning resources, especially in the C++ world assume a Linux environment. If you want to pursue a career in software development you will definitly need to familiarize yourself with Linux anyway.

    Command Line Interfaces CLIs

    In case you have never worked with a command line interface you should really start to learn some basics. It doesn't take much to create folders, move/copy/delete files and compile and run your first, simple C++ programs.

    Compilers

    gcc/g++  

    The default in the GNU/Linux world and very mature.
    Ubuntu / Windows + WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)
    $ sudo apt install -y g++
$ sudo apt install -y build-essential
    Windows without WSL
    Mac OS X
    $ brew install gcc

    clang/clang++ clang  

    Ubuntu / Windows 10 + WSL
    $ sudo apt install -y clang++
$ sudo apt install -y build-essential
    Windows without WSL

    Microsoft Visual Studio MSVC  

    Browser-Based Compilers Web

    Compiler Explorer
    • run code through many different compilers
    • great for quick tests
    • lots of compilers with lots of different versions, also with experimental features
    • offers several popular libraries
    • great text editor with multiple cursors, VIM mode, dark mode, …
    • shows nicely annotated assembly code
    Wandbox
    • run code through different compilers
    • great for quick tests
    • console input & output window
    Beginner's Guide / First Steps
    Hello World

    Related …

    Last updated: 2021-02-28

    Comments…