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VS Code is first and foremost an editor, and relies on command-line tools to do much of the development workflow. The C/C++ extension does not include a C++ compiler or debugger. You will need to install these tools or use those already installed on your computer.
Open your C++ code file in Text Editor, then use shortcut Ctrl+Alt+N , or press F1 and then select/type Run Code , or right click the Text Editor and then click Run Code in context menu, the code will be compiled and run, and the output will be shown in the Output Window.
For C and C++, select the Desktop development with C++ workload and then choose Install. When the installation completes, choose the Launch button to start Visual Studio. The first time you run Visual Studio, you're asked to sign in with a Microsoft Account. If you don't have one, you can create one for free.
There is a much easier way to compile and run C++ code, no configuration needed:
Ctrl+Alt+N, or press F1 and then select/type Run Code, or right click the Text Editor and then click Run Code in context menu, the code will be compiled and run, and the output will be shown in the Output Window.Moreover you could update the config in settings.json using different C++ compilers as you want, the default config for C++ is as below:
"code-runner.executorMap": {
"cpp": "g++ $fullFileName && ./a.out"
}
The build tasks are project specific. To create a new project, open a directory in Visual Studio Code.
Following the instructions here, press Ctrl + Shift + P, type Configure Tasks, select it and press Enter.
The tasks.json file will be opened. Paste the following build script into the file, and save it:
{
"version": "0.1.0",
"command": "make",
"isShellCommand": true,
"tasks": [
{
"taskName": "Makefile",
// Make this the default build command.
"isBuildCommand": true,
// Show the output window only if unrecognized errors occur.
"showOutput": "always",
// Pass 'all' as the build target
"args": ["all"],
// Use the standard less compilation problem matcher.
"problemMatcher": {
"owner": "cpp",
"fileLocation": ["relative", "${workspaceRoot}"],
"pattern": {
"regexp": "^(.*):(\\d+):(\\d+):\\s+(warning|error):\\s+(.*)$",
"file": 1,
"line": 2,
"column": 3,
"severity": 4,
"message": 5
}
}
}
]
}
Now go to menu File → Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts, and add the following key binding for the build task:
// Place your key bindings in this file to overwrite the defaults
[
{ "key": "f8", "command": "workbench.action.tasks.build" }
]
Now when you press F8 the Makefile will be executed, and errors will be underlined in the editor.
A makefile task example for new 2.0.0 tasks.json version.
In the snippet below some comments I hope they will be useful.
{
"version": "2.0.0",
"tasks": [
{
"label": "<TASK_NAME>",
"type": "shell",
"command": "make",
// use options.cwd property if the Makefile is not in the project root ${workspaceRoot} dir
"options": {
"cwd": "${workspaceRoot}/<DIR_WITH_MAKEFILE>"
},
// start the build without prompting for task selection, use "group": "build" otherwise
"group": {
"kind": "build",
"isDefault": true
},
"presentation": {
"echo": true,
"reveal": "always",
"focus": false,
"panel": "shared"
},
// arg passing example: in this case is executed make QUIET=0
"args": ["QUIET=0"],
// Use the standard less compilation problem matcher.
"problemMatcher": {
"owner": "cpp",
"fileLocation": ["absolute"],
"pattern": {
"regexp": "^(.*):(\\d+):(\\d+):\\s+(warning|error):\\s+(.*)$",
"file": 1,
"line": 2,
"column": 3,
"severity": 4,
"message": 5
}
}
}
]
}
Here is how I configured my VS for C++
Make sure to change appropriete paths to where your MinGW installed
launch.json
{
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"name": "C++ Launch (GDB)",
"type": "cppdbg",
"request": "launch",
"targetArchitecture": "x86",
"program": "${workspaceRoot}\\${fileBasename}.exe",
"miDebuggerPath":"C:\\mingw-w64\\bin\\gdb.exe",
"args": [],
"stopAtEntry": false,
"cwd": "${workspaceRoot}",
"externalConsole": true,
"preLaunchTask": "g++"
}
]
}
tasks.json
{
"version": "0.1.0",
"command": "g++",
"args": ["-g","-std=c++11","${file}","-o","${workspaceRoot}\\${fileBasename}.exe"],
"problemMatcher": {
"owner": "cpp",
"fileLocation": ["relative", "${workspaceRoot}"],
"pattern": {
"regexp": "^(.*):(\\d+):(\\d+):\\s+(warning|error):\\s+(.*)$",
"file": 1,
"line": 2,
"column": 3,
"severity": 4,
"message": 5
}
}
}
c_cpp_properties.json
{
"configurations": [
{
"name": "Win32",
"includePath": [
"${workspaceRoot}",
"C:/mingw-w64/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/7.2.0/include/c++",
"C:/mingw-w64/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/7.2.0/include/c++/x86_64-w64-mingw32",
"C:/mingw-w64/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/7.2.0/include/c++/backward",
"C:/mingw-w64/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/7.2.0/include",
"C:/mingw-w64/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/7.2.0/include/c++/tr1",
"C:/mingw-w64/x86_64-w64-mingw32/include"
],
"defines": [
"_DEBUG",
"UNICODE",
"__GNUC__=6",
"__cdecl=__attribute__((__cdecl__))"
],
"intelliSenseMode": "msvc-x64",
"browse": {
"path": [
"${workspaceRoot}",
"C:/mingw-w64/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/7.2.0/include/c++",
"C:/mingw-w64/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/7.2.0/include/c++/x86_64-w64-mingw32",
"C:/mingw-w64/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/7.2.0/include/c++/backward",
"C:/mingw-w64/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/7.2.0/include",
"C:/mingw-w64/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/7.2.0/include/c++/tr1",
"C:/mingw-w64/x86_64-w64-mingw32/include"
]
},
"limitSymbolsToIncludedHeaders": true,
"databaseFilename": ""
}
],
"version": 3
}
Reference：
C/C++ for VS Code
c_cpp_properties.json template
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