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https://github.com/christiankuehnel/cpp-on-win

Tutorial for developing C++ on Windows using open source tools.
https://github.com/christiankuehnel/cpp-on-win

clang clangd cmake cpp cxx ninja vscode windows

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Tutorial for developing C++ on Windows using open source tools.

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README 

        

# Developing C++ on Windows 



This tutorial will walk you through installing and configuring widely used

C++ development tools on Windows.



## Tool Overview

We will be using these tools as they are widely used in open source development:

* [Cmake](https://cmake.org/) - as build management system

* [Ninja](https://ninja-build.org/) - as build system actually doing the building

* [LLVM](http://llvm.org/) - as compiler (clang) , linker (lld), debugger (lldb), 

  language server (clangd)

* [git](https://git-scm.com/) - as version control tool (e.g. to work on Github)



While not really required, I would recommend using an integrated development 

environment. IMHO this makes using all these tools much easier. In this tutorial,

we'll be using [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) from Microsoft (short VSCode). 

While not 100% open source, it has hughe ecosystem of extensions available and 

also works across many operating systems and languages.



## Installation

To make installation as easy as possible, we'll be using 

[Chocolately](https://chocolatey.org/) as package manager to install the tools 

we need: 



1. Install chocolately using admin rights follinging these instructions: 

   https://chocolatey.org/install



1. In a Powershell *with admin rights* run:

```choco install -y cmake ninja llvm git vscode git```

to install the tools we will need, the argument `-y` tells it to assume `yes`

on all questions during the installation. 



That's it.



## Configuring VSCode

Now that we have all the tools installed, we need to configure them. We will do

this by configuring a first project to see if everything is working.



1. Start Visual Studio Code and install these extensions:

   * [clangd](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=llvm-vs-code-extensions.vscode-clangd), 

     the C++ language server from LLVM.

   * [CMake Tools](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.cmake-tools), 

     to configure the builds from within VSCode

1. Disable the C++ Intellisense extension, it will interfere with clangd. 

  If there is a pop-up, decline it, even if VSCode keeps asking you over and 

  over again. We'll be using `clangd` instead.

1. On the "Welcome" screen of Vistual Studio Code select "clone repository..." 

  and enter `https://github.com/jameskbride/cmake-hello-world` as URL. Then pick

  a local folder where you want to store that project.

1. Allow Cmake to configure the project. When asked to select a "Kit" choose 

   "Clang". This will select clang & Co as your toolchain for this project.

1. To run something in VSCode, hit ` +  + 
`. This will open the 

   "Command Palette". Use the Command Palette to run the followingn commands:

   1. Run `> CMake: configure` to configure the build environment. The Terminal 

      will show you the log output of the CMake commands. If you see 

      `Generating done` in the log, the configure step was successful.

   1. Run `> Cmake: build` (or hit ``) to build the project. Again you will see

      the log output of the compilation in the Terminal. If your system is be using

      Ninja as builder, `The build completed with exitcode 0.` means that the build

      was successful.

   1. Run `> CMake: run without Debugging` (or hit ` + `). This will run

      your program in the Terminal and show you the console output. If you see the

      output `Hello, world!` your program was run successfully.



That's it. You just downloaded a project from Github, configured CMake, compiled

and linked the project and were able to run the resulting program.



## Running the debugger



1. Install the 

[CodeLLDB](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=vadimcn.vscode-lldb) 

extension from the marketplace.

1. Configure the target you want to debug:

```json

{

    "version": "0.2.0",

    "configurations": [

        {

            "type": "lldb",

            "request": "launch",

            "name": "Debug",

            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/",

            "args": [],

            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}"

        }

    ]

}

```

1. Start the debugger with ``. When asked which "environment" to use

   select `LLDB` from the list.



That's it, now you can debug your C++ project in VSCode. More information on

debugging in VSCode can be found in the 

[manual](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/editor/debugging).



## TODO: Unit testing 

using GTest