C++ IDE for Linux? [closed]

Initially: confusion

When originally writing this answer, I had recently made the switch from Visual Studio (with years of experience) to Linux and the first thing I did was try to find a reasonable IDE. At the time this was impossible: no good IDE existed.

Epiphany: UNIX is an IDE. All of it.¹

And then I realised that the IDE in Linux is the command line with its tools:

• First you set up your shell
  • Bash, in my case, but many people prefer
  • fish or
  • (Oh My) Zsh;
• and your editor; pick your poison — both are state of the art:
  • Neovim² or
  • Emacs.

Depending on your needs, you will then have to install and configure several plugins to make the editor work nicely (that’s the one annoying part). For example, most programmers on Vim will benefit from the YouCompleteMe plugin for smart autocompletion.

Once that’s done, the shell is your command interface to interact with the various tools — Debuggers (gdb), Profilers (gprof, valgrind), etc. You set up your project/build environment using Make, CMake, SnakeMake or any of the various alternatives. And you manage your code with a version control system (most people use Git). You also use tmux (previously also screen) to multiplex (= think multiple windows/tabs/panels) and persist your terminal session.

The point is that, thanks to the shell and a few tool writing conventions, these all integrate with each other. And that way the Linux shell is a truly integrated development environment, completely on par with other modern IDEs. (This doesn’t mean that individual IDEs don’t have features that the command line may be lacking, but the inverse is also true.)

To each their own

I cannot overstate how well the above workflow functions once you’ve gotten into the habit. But some people simply prefer graphical editors, and in the years since this answer was originally written, Linux has gained a suite of excellent graphical IDEs for several different programming languages (but not, as far as I’m aware, for C++). Do give them a try even if — like me — you end up not using them. Here’s just a small and biased selection:

• For Python development, there’s PyCharm
• For R, there’s RStudio
• For JavaScript and TypeScript, there’s Visual Studio Code (which is also a good all-round editor)
• And finally, many people love the Sublime Text editor for general code editing.

Keep in mind that this list is far from complete.

¹ I stole that title from dsm’s comment.

² I used to refer to Vim here. And while plain Vim is still more than capable, Neovim is a promising restart, and it’s modernised a few old warts.

My personal favorite is the CodeLite 2.x IDE.

see: http://www.codelite.org

The decision to use CodeLite was based on a research regarding the following C++ IDE for Linux:

• Eclipse Galileo with CDT Plugin
• NetBeans 6.7 (which is also the base for the SunStudio IDE)
• KDevelop4
• CodeBlocks 8.02
• CodeLite 2.x

After all I have decided to use CodeLite 2.x.

Below I have listed some Pros and Cons regarding the mentioned C++ IDEs. Please note, that this reflects my personal opinion only!

EDIT: what a pity that SOF doesn't support tables, so I have to write in paragraphs ...

Eclipse Galileo with CDT Plugin

Pros:

• reasonable fast
• also supports Java, Perl(with E.P.I.C plugin)
• commonly used and well maintained
• also available for other OS flavours (Windows, MacOS, Solaris, AIX(?))

Cons:

• GUI is very confusing and somewhat inconsistent - not very intuitive at all
• heavy weight
• Only supports CVS (AFAIK)

NetBeans 6.7 (note this is also the base for the SunStudio IDE)

Pros:

• one of the most intuitive GUI I have ever seen
• also supports Java, Python, Ruby
• integrates CVS, SVN, Mercurial
• commonly used and well maintained
• also available for other OS flavours (Windows, MacOS, Solaris)

Cons:

• extremly slow
• heavy weight
• uses Spaces for indentation, which is not the policy at my work. I'm sure this is configurable, but I couldn't find out how to to that

KDevelop4 (note: I did not much testing on it)

Pros:

• commonly used on Linux
• integrates CVS, SVN, Mercurial

Cons:

• the GUI looks somewhat old fashioned
• heavy weight
• very specific to the KDE environment

CodeBlocks 8.02 (note: I did not much testing on it)

Pros:

• reasonable fast

Cons:

• the GUI looks somewhat old fashioned (although it has a nice startup screen)
• the fonts in the editor are very small
• some icons (e.g. the debugger related icons starting/stepping) are very small
• no source control integration

CodeLite 2.x (note: this is my personal favorite)

Pros:

• the best, modern looking and intuitive GUI I have seen on Linux
• lightweight
• reasonable fast
• integrates SVN
• also available on other OS flavours(Windows, MacOS, Solaris(?))

Cons:

• no CVS integration (that's important for me because I have to use it at work)
• no support for Java, Perl, Python (would be nice to have)

1. Code::Blocks
2. Eclipse CDT

Soon you'll find that IDEs are not enough, and you'll have to learn the GCC toolchain anyway (which isn't hard, at least learning the basic functionality). But no harm in reducing the transitional pain with the IDEs, IMO.

A quick answer, just to add a little more knowledge to this topic:
You must definitely check out NetBeans. Netbeans 6.7 has the following features:

• C/C++ Projects and Templates: Supports syntax highlighting, automatic code completion, automatic indentation.
• It has a C/C++ Debugger
• Supports Compiler Configurations, Configuration Manager and Makefile Support (with a Wizard).
• It has a Classes Window, a Usages Window and a File Navigation Window (or panel).
• A Macro expansion view, and also tooltips.
• Support for QT development.

I think it's a perfect (and far better) Visual Studio substitution, and a very good tool to learn C/C++.

Good Luck!