Using Eclipse for C programming?

Question

I want to examine and modify some open source programs written in C.

Is it sensible to use Eclipse for this purpose? If so, what plugins should I add? What "gotchas" should I be aware of?

If not, what FOSS C IDEs do you recommend for coding C on a linux box? Emacs, while undeniably powerful, is not to my taste (I'm more a mouser than a keyboarder.)

Answer 1

I have found netbeans to be a better ide for C/C++ then eclipse -- C/C++ is a first class citizen in the netbeans world. I am personally using geany these days.

Answer 2

Use Eclipse CDT, you can download Eclipse IDE for C/C++ here . Its not as mature as the Java IDE, and it can be a pain to set up a proper build system with it unless you're happy letting Eclipse handle your builds.

Answer 3

As you asked for alternative open source IDEs, I would recommend Code::Blocks for anything C/C++.

If you want to give it a try, download a nightly build (they don't really keep the "stable" version up-to-date). You can find instructions for installing on Linux in the respective forum thread.

IMO Code::Blocks is really nice because it's fast, portable and you can configure every detail of your project easily. There are also lots of plugins that can help you with development.

But if you're accustomed to Eclipse and like it so far, you should really use CDT because you get the same (nice) look-and-feel as with the other Eclipse development environments (Java, Java EE, Jython, Python, ...).