GCC Compiler

gcc <https://gcc.gnu.org/> is a popular compiler compilation for C/C++ on Linux. It is also available on Windows either via minGW <http://mingw-w64.org/doku.php> or Cygwin <https://sourceware.org/cygwin/>.

Install GCC on Linux (Ubuntu)

GCC may come preinstalled on Linux. Check your installed version, if any:

$ gcc -v

  1. Update or install your GCC compiler:

    $ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential gdb

Install GCC on Windows

GCC comes bundled in mingw-w64, which is a still maintained, advanced version of the original MinGW project. For convenience, we will use MYSYS2 <https://www.msys2.org/> to install mingw-w64.

  1. Go to https://www.msys2.org/ and download the installer and follow the installation steps.

  2. Open a C:\mysys64\mysys2.exe to open a MYSYS2 shell.

  3. Run these commands to install the base packages:

    $ pacman -Syu

    $ pacman -Su

  4. Run this command to install the build tools including GCC:

    $ pacman -S --needed base-devel mingw-w64-x86_64-toolchain

  5. Next, add the .mingw64bin directory within you MYSYS2 installation to your PATH variable.

  6. Open a new command window and try to run:

    $ g++ --version
$ gdb --version

    Hint

    G++ is the compiler of GCC used for C++ source code and GDB is a debugger, capable of debugging C++ code.

Build & Debug C++ in Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code supports GDB <https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/> for debugging C++ code.

Make sure, the C/C++ extension is installed.

In a new folder, create a *.cpp file and add some content.

Open Terminal / Configure Default Build Task and choose g++.exe as compiler (e.g. C:\mysys64\mingw64\bin\g++.exe on Windows or /usr/bin/g++``on Linux), which will create the file ``.\.vscode\tasks.json, defining your build parameters.

To build a file, select it, the choose Terminal / Run Build Task…, which will trigger the build, which eventually puts an *.exe file of the same name into the same directory. You can execute the file by running:

$ my_file.exe

from the output directory.

In order to debug a file, first we create a configuration for it. Select Run / Add Configuration and select GDB/LLDB and next up again g++ as the compiler (pointing towards the MinGW G++ compiler e.g.``C:mysys64mingw64bing++.exe``).

This will create the new file .\.vcode\launch.json and start the debugging in a new Terminal window.

Further details: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/cpp-debug https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/cpp/config-mingw