VSCode C/C++ Development Setup for Windows (Run, Debug & IntelliSense)

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This short guide will enable you to run and debug your C/C++ projects/files in VSCode for Windows.

VSCode is now the favorite editor of many developers/programmers. But setting it up to run and debug some code (Like C++ and Java) is a hassle.

I’ll be enlisting two ways of setting up your VSCode for C/C++ development, so lets get on!

The two setups:

1. Using Chocolatey Package Manager & MingW for Windows
2. Without using Chocolatey (Vanilla MingW)

Note: Both parts can be setup either manually or by cloning the pre-configured files.

1. Using Chocolatey

The easy copy/paste method:

Go to Chocolatey VS Code C Development Setup and clone/download the repository onto your PC.

What it is?

A Visual Studio Code configuration that allows the .c/.cpp files to be compiled and the ‘.exe’ file to be executed, will be created with the same name as the base .c/.cpp file.

Prerequisites:

1. Chocolatey Package Manager for Windows Downlaod Chocoaley.
2. VSCode

How to get it working?

1. Install Chocolatey on Windows
2. Open Powershell/CMD (Admin) and run choco install mingw.
3. Once it is installed, clone the .vscode folder from this repo to your current C/C++ project directory.

And… You’re done.

Manual Setup

If you want to set it manually, follow the instructions:

1. Open the folder you have/want to begin the C/CPP project in VSCode.
2. Open Power Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and type ‘tasks’ and select ‘Tasks:Configure Task’. It will open the ‘tasks.json’ file in VSCode editor.
3. Replace all the code with the following code:

{            
     "version": "2.0.0",
     "tasks": [
         {
             "label": "echo",
             "type": "shell",
             "command": "g++",
             "args": [
                 "-g", "${fileBasename}", "-o", "${fileBasenameNoExtension}"
             ],
             "group": {
                 "kind": "build",
                 "isDefault": true
             }
         }
     ]
 }

4. Open Power Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) again and type ‘launch’ and select ‘Debug:Open launch.json’. It will open the ‘launch.json’ file in VSCode editor.

5. Replace all the code with the following code:

{
     "version": "0.2.0",
     "configurations": [
         {
             "name": "(gdb) Launch",
             "type": "cppdbg",
             "request": "launch",
             "program": "${workspaceFolder}/${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",
             "args": [],
             "stopAtEntry": false,
             "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
             "environment": [],
             "externalConsole": true,
             "MIMode": "gdb",
             "miDebuggerPath": "C:\\ProgramData\\chocolatey\\lib\\mingw\\tools\\install\\mingw64\\bin\\gdb.exe", //change this if you have a different installation folder.
             "preLaunchTask": "echo",
             "setupCommands": [
                 {
                     "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
                     "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
                     "ignoreFailures": true
                 }
             ]
         }
     ]
 }

6. Open Power Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) again and type ‘configurations’ and select ‘C/Cpp:Edit Configurations’. It will open the ‘c_cpp_properties.json’ file in VSCode editor.

7. Replace all the code with the following code:

{
     "configurations": [
         {
             "name": "Win32",
             "includePath": [
                 "${workspaceFolder}/**"
             ],
             "defines": [
                 "_DEBUG",
                 "UNICODE",
                 "_UNICODE"
             ],
             "compilerPath": "C:\\ProgramData\\chocolatey\\lib\\mingw\\tools\\install\\mingw64\\bin\\gcc.exe", //change this if you have a different installation folder.
             "cStandard": "c11",
             "cppStandard": "c++17",
             "intelliSenseMode": "clang-x64"
         }
     ],
     "version": 4
 }

These files will be created in a folder named ‘.vscode’ inside the project directory.

2. Without Chocolatey

The easy copy/paste method:

Go to VS Code C Development Setup and clone/download the repository onto your PC.

What it is?

A Visual Studio Code configuration that allows the .c/.cpp files to be compiled and the ‘.exe’ file to be executed, will be created with the same name as the base .c/.cpp file.

Prerequisites:

1. MingGW (As it is setup to work with MinGW on Windows)
2. VSCode
3. Add MinGW directory to ‘PATH’. (Google how to do it if you do not know)

How to get it work?

• Just get the .vscode folder cloned in your current C/C++ project directory.

And… You’re done.

Manual Setup

If you want to set it manually, follow the instructions:

1. Open the folder you have/want to begin the C/CPP project in VSCode.
2. Open Power Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and type ‘tasks’ and select ‘Tasks:Configure Task’. It will open the ‘tasks.json’ file in VSCode editor.
3. Replace all the code with the following code:

{            
     "version": "2.0.0",
     "tasks": [
         {
             "label": "echo",
             "type": "shell",
             "command": "g++",
             "args": [
                 "-g", "${fileBasename}", "-o", "${fileBasenameNoExtension}"
             ],
             "group": {
                 "kind": "build",
                 "isDefault": true
             }
         }
     ]
 }

4. Open Power Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) again and type ‘launch’ and select ‘Debug:Open launch.json’. It will open the ‘launch.json’ file in VSCode editor.

5. Replace all the code with the following code:

{
     "version": "0.2.0",
     "configurations": [
         {
             "name": "(gdb) Launch",
             "type": "cppdbg",
             "request": "launch",
             "program": "${workspaceFolder}/${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",
             "args": [],
             "stopAtEntry": false,
             "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
             "environment": [],
             "externalConsole": true,
             "MIMode": "gdb",
             "miDebuggerPath": "C:\\MinGW\\bin\\gdb.exe", //change this if you have a different installation folder.
             "preLaunchTask": "echo",
             "setupCommands": [
                 {
                     "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
                     "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
                     "ignoreFailures": true
                 }
             ]
         }
     ]
 }

6. Open Power Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) again and type ‘configurations’ and select ‘C/Cpp:Edit Configurations’. It will open the ‘c_cpp_properties.json’ file in VSCode editor.

7. Replace all the code with the following code:

{
     "configurations": [
         {
             "name": "Win32",
             "includePath": [
                 "${workspaceFolder}/**"
             ],
             "defines": [
                 "_DEBUG",
                 "UNICODE",
                 "_UNICODE"
             ],
             "compilerPath": "C:\\MinGW\\bin\\gcc.exe", //change this if you have a different installation folder.
             "cStandard": "c11",
             "cppStandard": "c++17",
             "intelliSenseMode": "clang-x64"
         }
     ],
     "version": 4
 }

These files will be created in a folder named ‘.vscode’ inside the project directory.

Now you can get your C/C++ project up and running with proper file names and debugging enabled.