# ide-cpp Installation Guide

# 1. Windows Installation Steps

Download Page (opens new window)

  • vs-code-ide-cpp-win32-x64.exe
  • ide-cpp-extensions.zip

# 1.2 Installing ide-cpp

  1. Double-click on the vs-code-ide-cpp-win32-x64.exe file to initiate the installation process.
  2. Once the installation is complete, you should notice the following icon on your desktop or start menu:
    Installation Complete Icon

# 1.3 Installing Extensions

  1. Extract the contents of the ide-cpp-extensions.zip file.
  2. You will find the following extensions inside:
├── ms-vscode.cpptools
│   ├── ms-vscode.cpptools-1.16.3@alpine-arm64.vsix
│   ├── ms-vscode.cpptools-1.16.3@alpine-x64.vsix
│   ├── ms-vscode.cpptools-1.16.3@darwin-arm64.vsix
│   ├── ms-vscode.cpptools-1.16.3@darwin-x64.vsix
│   ├── ms-vscode.cpptools-1.16.3@linux-arm64.vsix
│   ├── ms-vscode.cpptools-1.16.3@linux-armhf.vsix
│   ├── ms-vscode.cpptools-1.16.3@linux-x64.vsix
│   ├── ms-vscode.cpptools-1.16.3@win32-arm64.vsix
│   ├── ms-vscode.cpptools-1.16.3@win32-ia32.vsix
│   ├── ms-vscode.cpptools-1.16.3@win32-x64.vsix
├── ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack-1.3.0.vsix
├── PKief.material-icon-theme-4.28.0.vsix
├── VisualStudioExptTeam.vscodeintellicode-1.2.30.vsix
├── formulahendry.code-runner-0.12.0.vsix
├── jeff-hykin.better-cpp-syntax-1.17.2.vsix
├── ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers-0.300.0.vsix
├── ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh-0.103.2023062115.vsix
├── ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl-0.80.2.vsix
├── ms-vscode-remote.vscode-remote-extensionpack-0.24.0.vsix
├── ms-vscode.cmake-tools-1.15.18.vsix
├── ms-vscode.cpptools-themes-2.0.0.vsix
├── ms-vscode.remote-server-1.3.2023070609.vsix
├── twxs.cmake-0.0.17.vsix
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
  1. To install the ms-vscode.cpptools extension:

    • Launch the ide-cpp application.
    • Navigate to Extensions.
    • Click on the options (...) at the top right.
    • Select Install From VSIX.
    • Choose all the extensions that start with ms-vscode.cpptools.
    • The software will automatically select and install the appropriate version based on your operating system.
  2. For other extensions:

    • Repeat the above process but select all extensions except the ones starting with ms-vscode.cpptools.
  3. Setting up icons:

    • Choose the Material Icon Theme.
    • Navigate to Set File Icon Theme.
    • Select the desired icon theme.

# 1.4 Configuring ide-cpp

  1. Open the configuration file located at C:\Users\Administrator\.vside-cpp\argv.json in a text editor.
  2. Add the following lines:
   "enable-proposed-api": [
       "ms-vscode.cpptools",
       "ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers",
       "ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh",
       "ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl",
       "ms-vscode.remote-server"
   ]
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
  1. The final content of the file should look something like this:
{
	// Use software rendering instead of hardware accelerated rendering.
	// This can help in cases where you see rendering issues in VS Code.
	// "disable-hardware-acceleration": true,

	// Allows to disable crash reporting.
	// Should restart the app if the value is changed.
	"enable-crash-reporter": true,

	// Unique id used for correlating crash reports sent from this instance.
	// Do not edit this value.
	"crash-reporter-id": "c97e6d52-b6e4-4a63-8901-6018684d2ae6",

   "enable-proposed-api":["ms-vscode.cpptools","ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers","ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh","ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl","ms-vscode.remote-server"]
}
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
  1. For error checking:

    • Use the key combination Ctrl+Shift+P.
    • Enter Developer: Toggle Developer Tools in the prompt.

# 1.5 Testing Your Code

Before you start, ensure you have a compatible C++ environment installed, like mingw or cygwin.

Here are some sample codes:

C Code:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    printf("Hello, World\n");
    return 1;
}
1
2
3
4
5
6

Run Output for C Code:

[Running] cd "e:\code\cpp\cpp-study\cpp-study-vs-code\vs-code-c-hello\" && gcc c-hello-world.c -o c-hello-world && "e:\code\cpp\cpp-study\cpp-study-vs-code\vs-code-c-hello\"c-hello-world
Hello,World

[Done] exited with code=1 in 0.407 seconds
1
2
3
4

Code Test Result for C Code

C++ Code:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
    cout << "Hello, World" << endl;
    for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
        cout << i << endl;
    }
    return 0;
}
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Run Output for C++ Code:

[Running] cd "e:\code\cpp\cpp-study\cpp-study-vs-code\vs-code-c-hello\" && g++ cpp-hello-world.cpp -o cpp-hello-world && "e:\code\cpp\cpp-study\cpp-study-vs-code\vs-code-c-hello\"cpp-hello-world
Hello, World
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

[Done] exited with code=0 in 0.34 seconds
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Code Test Result for C++ Code

# 2. MacOS Installation Steps

For installation on MacOS, please refer to the Windows installation process mentioned above. The steps should be largely similar, with minor variations depending on the MacOS specifics.

# 3. Introduction to ide-cpp Extensions

# C/C++ Extension Pack

Cpp support Name: C/C++ Extension Pack Id: ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack Description: Popular extensions for C++ development in Visual Studio Code. Version: 1.3.0 Publisher: Microsoft VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack

Name: C/C++ Id: ms-vscode.cpptools Description: C/C++ IntelliSense, debugging, and code browsing. Version: 1.16.3 Publisher: Microsoft VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.cpptools

Name: C/C++ Themes Id: ms-vscode.cpptools-themes Description: UI Themes for C/C++ extension. Version: 2.0.0 Publisher: Microsoft VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.cpptools-themes

Name: CMake Id: twxs.cmake Description: CMake langage support for Visual Studio Code Version: 0.0.17 Publisher: twxs VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=twxs.cmake

Name: CMake Tools Id: ms-vscode.cmake-tools Description: Extended CMake support in Visual Studio Code Version: 1.14.34 Publisher: Microsoft VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.cmake-tools

Name: Better C++ Syntax Id: jeff-hykin.better-cpp-syntax Description: The bleeding edge of the C++ syntax Version: 1.17.2 Publisher: Jeff Hykin VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jeff-hykin.better-cpp-syntax

# Code Runner support

Name: Code Runner Id: formulahendry.code-runner Description: Run C, C++, Java, JS, PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby, Go, Lua, Groovy, PowerShell, CMD, BASH, F#, C#, VBScript, TypeScript, CoffeeScript, Scala, Swift, Julia, Crystal, OCaml, R, AppleScript, Elixir, VB.NET, Clojure, Haxe, Obj-C, Rust, Racket, Scheme, AutoHotkey, AutoIt, Kotlin, Dart, Pascal, Haskell, Nim, Version: 0.12.0 Publisher: Jun Han VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=formulahendry.code-runner

# IntelliCode support

Name: IntelliCode Id: VisualStudioExptTeam.vscodeintellicode Description: AI-assisted development Version: 1.2.30 Publisher: Microsoft VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=VisualStudioExptTeam.vscodeintellicode

# remote development support

Name: Remote Development Id: ms-vscode-remote.vscode-remote-extensionpack Description: An extension pack that lets you open any folder in a container, on a remote machine, or in WSL and take advantage of VS Code's full feature set. Version: 0.24.0 Publisher: Microsoft VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.vscode-remote-extensionpack

Name: Dev Containers Id: ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers Description: Open any folder or repository inside a Docker container and take advantage of Visual Studio Code's full feature set. Version: 0.299.0 Publisher: Microsoft VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers

Name: Remote - Tunnels Id: ms-vscode.remote-server Description: Connect to a remote machine through a Tunnel Version: 1.2.1 Publisher: Microsoft VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.remote-server

Name: WSL Id: ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl Description: Open any folder in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and take advantage of Visual Studio Code's full feature set. Version: 0.80.2 Publisher: Microsoft VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-wsl

Name: Remote - SSH Id: ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh Description: Open any folder on a remote machine using SSH and take advantage of VS Code's full feature set. Version: 0.102.0 Publisher: Microsoft VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh

# Theme support

Name: Material Icon Theme Id: PKief.material-icon-theme Description: Material Design Icons for Visual Studio Code Version: 4.28.0 Publisher: Philipp Kief VS Marketplace Link: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=PKief.material-icon-theme