First project I'm doing with C++.
I was using Eclipse (for C++ obviously) for some hours. It sucks.
Switched to VS Code. All the editor tool you can dream of are in. But there's no way to configure the project (includes, build system, toolchains…).

"What a fool" I say, remembering there's Visual Studio Community… which is only for Windows.

So I'm currently using BOTH Visual Studio Code and Eclipse.
Why can't there be ONE good, full featured and free C++ IDE for Linux ?

Because Linux GUIs are generally so bad that Linux users still think vi is an editor?

@Fast-Nop always wondered what your preferred environment for development is man. I know you are a C developer. What are the stack you like to work in the most?

@Fast-Nop I'm using Ubuntu, not Arch. Furthermore all my 6 installed IDE look almost the same than their Windows version.

I'm using VS Code right now, knowing the GUI is similar to VS Community.
Microsoft are just lazy ass

@CodeTalker
That's because they all run on the JVM or Electron and as such, are also just as slow as on windows.

Okay so

Vs code is an EDITOR, you can download plugins to do stuff for you, including a button for running your makefile

Vs community (and eclipse) is an IDE, and it comes preconfigured with a bunch of crap including build tasks.

Have you tried the devstyle plugin for eclipse?

@metamourge Does Linux version of VS Code run on one of these ? I thought the GUI was compilation-based

@CodeTalker
VSC run on Electron.
I mean, that's even quite obvious.

@yellow-dog That's not my complaint, but thanks for telling me in case I didn't know.

The first (and last) plugin I installed for Eclipse is something with this name. We're talking about a plugin allowing to change the theme right ? If so, well, done. Eclipse is now beautiful, but still terrible.

Yeah, that. Whats your issue with eclipse, i always felt like it was a pretty good ide.

@metamourge Not that obvious for me at least, since it launched quite fast and doesn't hog much RAM in opposition to the only Electron-based editor I knew before it (think about the opposite of all the described behavior, you'll know what I'm talking about)

@yellow-dog Well, problems met with Eclipse so far
- The auto-completion system is very poor, and… really, pressing Ctrl+Space to bring the dialog on is a thing here ?! Because yeah, it doesn't show up as it should when entering the trigger keys (like '::', '->', etc.)
- I hate the keybinding here, also it seems to miss one feature I use quite often, the multi cursor.
- The include system is completely stupid. At least stupid enough to accept a system include but not recognize it's methods for instance. (Not sure you'll get this one since I don't have the right terms right now)

@AleCx04 I use Notepad++ for everything. I know there's no debugger, but it's a very rare exception that I need one even for other people's code.

For PC based programs, I sometimes use the renowned printf debugger, or in exceptional cases GDB right from the command line.

For embedded, it's debug info via e.g. serial interface or abusing some LED pin, sometimes with an oscilloscope. I can't remember when I last used an embedded debugger. Quite often, there is no debug port available anyway. I also like to read the compiler generated assembly listings to be sure what's going on.

In my job, I use commercial embedded IDEs, but only for the build. I hate them and would prefer build scripts, but that runs into licence management.

I'm heavily into static code analysis. Compiler warnings cranked to maximum and treating warnings as errors. CppCheck as free option, and Coverity Scan is free at least for OSS projects. For commercial stuff, CodeSonar is expensive, but IMO worth the money.

I would give CLion a chance, never tried it by myself but huge fan of IntelliJ. No C++ dev :)

@blubberfish I would definitly do the same, but it doesn't match one of my stated criteria: free. I also love IntelliJ stuff, but I can't afford to buy any of their IDE's license.

@CodeTalker oh didn't read this, if you are student they give away free licences. As far as I remember, you just need a mail address frome some school or university or something like that.

With the right extensions, VSCode can become a great replacement for an IDE. I dropped PyCharm for VSCode a while ago and haven't looked back. But then the Python code I write is usually relatively small (serverless functions and stuff like that) so I don't know if it works well as an IDE replacement for big projects.

@EmberQuill why did you change? License fees?

@blubberfish I do a lot more than Python development so I started using VSCode mostly for Terraform work, and then I installed the Python extension when I was working on an AWS Lambda function, so I could work with Python and Terraform in the same editor. And then I didn't even launch PyCharm for over a year, so I decided I didn't need it anymore.

@EmberQuill never googled, but IntelliJ Ultimate would be an alternative, they have plugins for nearly everything (no I'm not a selling guy from JetBrains :P).
Just worked with some IDE's over time from Eclipse, VSCode, Visual Studio, xCode {{smiley.angry}} and IntelliJ Ultimate (which combines all their products) is far the best, I've ever worked with. Never spent the 200 bugs a year better.

Most of the projects I work on are relatively small so a full IDE is kind of overkill. Even without an overabundance of plugins it still feels like overkill.

@EmberQuill Okay, I kinda got it :)

Vim + makefile

Emacs with vim keybindings. Learning curve is just insane, though

@CodeTalker if you're not able to get a student license... Please give me a hint... I would pay for it

It depends what you're doing and what you need. Netbeans is good and usable. Eclipse can be a pain in the ass but usable.
As for jetbrains - if you can get a student licence that's great. They have intellij idea community you could extend with plugins so it might work for you. There are EAP builds that expire after a month forcing you to install new versions but are not limited in functionality so clion might work for you. It's free in the sense they use tracking to gather data about usage, exceptions, crashes... which are sent to them. If that can work for you...
Whatever you choose don't fall into ide/editor hopping rabbit hole. Decide on the most important features, pick a few options and see how they work for you and how well you can use them in the course of several days per option. You'll never find absolutely perfect tool, they all have their nuances.

@nnee if you want to sell to people a product, but cant afford 200 for an IDE saving you so much anger... Your doing something wrong...

@blubberfish I have no clue what you meant.
200 can be too much for some. School kids, students, hobbyist... If you are not developing professionally and getting paid I can easily understand why people are reluctant to pay for it.

@nnee JetBrains is giving away license for free for educational purposes. So if you ever develop something cool, great & mind chaning you should be able to afford the license fee of 200 a year (and thats in Switzerland) , maybe its cheaper elsewhere.

KDevelop.

@blubberfish true. But not everyone is eligible for student lic. There are other options.

@nnee About Netbeans, that's the first IDE I had. Dropped it for basically the same reasons than Eclipse, minus the install errors, but plus the include system even more faulty. Like, it had no clue what iostream is — and of course everything compiler-related was installed.

@blubberfish As a student, I might be able to get a license, but I don't want to. If this is to get used to something free (or at least near to) then having to pay every year, that's not really what I want.

@CodeTalker you save so much time with a good IDE, if you don't wan't to pay for that, I will never buy whatever product you develop in future times

@blubberfish Well
- One teacher told me that most of the time, enterprises won't pay for an IDE subscription if free versions exist. After all, there's no small money save. So unless they let you work with your own stuff, which tends to be pretty rare, you'll have to stick around the free version.
I'm not completely sure of this claim, it's a 50-50 for me
- Between the time I lose my student status and the time I get a job I'll have really little income, which I won't spend in an editor. If it's to switch to something free for x time then go back it doesn't make much sense to me. Actually it's doable, but pretty uncomfortable.
- What truly disgust me is that I could stick with Visual Studio Community but because Microsoft are lazy they won't make a Linux version (it's not like I was the only one to complain ! https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/... )

@CodeTalker where are you studing, or better asking what teacher?!?
Never worked in a company which pays wages in IT but the 200 for the license are too much... If I would ever get at such a company... Run!!!

@blubberfish That's what I told myself actually.

But well I'll check if I could get CLion a try.

There is a Mac version of visual studio. But I’m not sure it includes C++. I fear it only does .Net core stuff.

Also, attention to NOT mix Visual C++ with C++. This error cost me a lot of time first time I tried “C++”

Will Visual Studio run with WINE ? I know Office did (Last tested about 8 years ago tho)

@NoToJavaScript I heard of the Mac version but I remember there were something wrong with it

Yep, I'm doing C++, not Visual, but thanks for the warning

I don't know, and I don't think I'll test now I found a better solution. Using CLion right now, my life is now changed.