Any good IDEs for basic C programming?

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+8 Q:

Any good IDEs for basic C programming?

Possible Duplicate:
What is the best IDE for C Development / Why use Emacs over an IDE?

I'm looking for a C IDE that I can use for my Computer Science class. An ideal IDE would feature a built-in compiler and debugger within the program, as Eclipse for Java, or Visual Studio for C#, already do.

Do any such IDEs exist, or am I being foolishly optimistic?

I'm looking for some way to avoid programming in notepad like I did last semester...

+6 A:

If you like Eclipse, there is the Eclipse CDT.

If you like Visual Studio, there is Visual C++ Express.

Kristopher Johnson 2010-09-02 18:39:30

Forgive my ignorance, but let's make sure I have this correct-- I can download a plugin (or whatever its actually called) that adds the ability to run, debug, and compile C programs into the version of Eclipse I already have (Helios, the latest)?

Raven Dreamer 2010-09-02 18:53:24

@Raven yes you can

Samuel_xL 2010-09-02 19:03:49

Last I checked, you still had to have your own toolchain (MinGW, Cygwin, etc.) with Eclipse CDT. I.e. the CDT isn't an all in one package as suggested.

Ioan 2010-09-02 19:56:41

It's true that Eclipse CDT doesn't include a toolchain, but as he was using Notepad to develop his C programs before, I assume he will be able to deal with that.

Kristopher Johnson 2010-09-03 11:12:42

You could try Dev c++, downloadable here: http://download.cnet.com/Dev-C/3000-2069_4-12686.html

Live 2010-09-02 18:39:59

why the downvotes?

Sanjay Manohar 2010-09-02 20:04:56

Agreed, why the downvote. Dev-C++ is a free IDE that comes with the MinGW compiler, which is a gcc compiler that produces binaries that are compatible with what Visual C produces.

bart 2010-09-22 09:46:58

Homepages: [MinGW](http://www.mingw.org/), [Dev-C++](http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html)

bart 2010-09-22 11:31:13

+3 A:

Both Eclipse (with the C/C++ Development Tooling plugin) and NetBeans (with the C/C++ Development plugin) are good.

Since you use Eclipse for Java, I would recommend starting there. I personally use NetBeans, but I think that it's important to use a tool you are comfortable with.

Thomas Owens 2010-09-02 18:40:11

+8 A:

There is at least one such IDE for windows: Visual Studio (or Visual C++ Express). If you can relax the 'built-in compiler' requirement, there's a whole truckload to choose from:

Eclipse (with C/C++ plugin and a gcc port, e.g. MinGW)
NetBeans (dito, and my personal favourite)
Code::Blocks
KDevelop (not sure if there's a windows version, probably not)

All of them are free (in the beer sense).

tdammers 2010-09-02 18:40:14

Why the downvotes?

Matteo Italia 2010-09-02 19:01:46

I have to wonder about this to... +1 just to help out, as the answer is good.

mathepic 2010-09-02 20:11:12

+1 for an informative answer. The SO FAQ says to downvote misinformation. I would guess though that the downvotes have come from people who simply disagree.

dreamlax 2010-09-02 23:36:14

@Matteo: Because he has Visual Studio in his answer. ;) I agree, +1.

musicfreak 2010-09-02 23:38:05

+1 GNU reference.

Shiftbit 2010-09-03 15:14:19

+1 A:

Pretty much and C++ IDE would also support C. Visual Studio Express has options which will flag non ANSI-C usage as errors or warnings, as does gcc under Eclipse IIRC.

Joel 2010-09-02 18:40:21

Can you describe these options? Unless its new in VS2010, I've always received hints and suggestions for non-ANSI C (and non-standard, Windows only C++) methods when using Visual Studio for C/C++ development.

Thomas Owens 2010-09-02 18:42:10

/Za to disable extensions (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0k0w269d.aspx); /TC to force compilation as C even with non-c file extension (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/032xwy55.aspx).

Matteo Italia 2010-09-02 19:00:18

+2 A:

There's the Visual Studio Express C++ edition.

Yes it's C++ but it will compile C.

ChrisF 2010-09-02 18:41:31

+2 A:

You can develop with C in Visual Studio/Visual C++.

Gerald 2010-09-02 18:41:50

+1 A:

CodeBlocks is nice. http://www.codeblocks.org/

You can use the cygwin install to set up gcc and gdb. Then point CodeBlocks to the correct compiler and debugger paths. The documentation should be pretty straight forward, but I haven't messed with it in a while.

-Matt

mledbetter 2010-09-02 18:44:24

+3 A:

How about Code::Blocks or Visual Studio 2010 C++ Express?

Carlos 2010-09-02 18:45:40

Both of these have been suggested before in other answers.

ChrisF 2010-09-02 18:54:34

+11 A:

This will probably get me a lot of down votes, but I gotta do this...

Vim

This is not really an IDE, but it supports all kinds of plugins, for instance for gdb, autotools, etc. Effectively, making it an IDE.

polemon 2010-09-02 18:53:13

Using ctags with vim is also very useful.

bde 2010-09-02 20:04:58

+1 because vim is really powerful.

Octavian Damiean 2010-09-02 20:08:05

+1 Anyone who downvotes this hasn't tried Vim. Not to say its the _best_, but its hard to say its not _good_.

mathepic 2010-09-02 20:09:54

I spent some time trying out Vim, and while I like it, I wouldn't use it over a full-blown IDE such as Visual Studio for C coding. Maybe for dynamic languages like JavaScript or Python, but not for C. Visual Studio with Visual Assist takes the cake by far, IMO.

musicfreak 2010-09-02 23:40:58

Meh! The reason you risk getting down votes is you didn't suggest *emacs*, you heretic!

dmckee 2010-09-03 02:27:52

You could try Eclipse but I find it too bloated and slow.

I prefer good old Vim in combination with cscope/ctags. You can also build/fix code from Vim.
Vim also has support for most versioning software so you can simply checkout/checkin from Vim.

Paul Praet 2010-09-02 20:01:24

+1 A:

If you're just starting out with C programming you're going to benefit enormously from using just an editor and a shell versus a full IDE. I agree (heartily) with the notepad comment -- editing source code without syntax highlighting is one of the most painful things known to man -- but to what extent do you need an integrated debugger or versioning system?

That is to say: do you need your editor to include a debugger because you don't understand how to use it otherwise? The solution here isn't to find an Eclipse plugin, it's to read the man page for gdb and learn to use it. The same goes for version control -- look up an introduction to Git or Mercurial and learn how to use the command-line tools.

IDEs have their place in large projects, but if you don't understand the complexity that Eclipse (or whatever) is hiding from you then you won't know how to fix it when it breaks, or how to do something that the IDE can't handle for you.

Code::Blocks is a good minimal IDE for C/C++; SciTE is a nice syntax-highlighting editor. Install one of these, plus the cygwin tools to get a compiler, debugger, and profiler, and you've got a great, flexible development environment that can handle anything you'll need to write as part of your CS degree.

Doches 2010-09-02 21:08:51

Well, since nobody else said it: Emacs. It ships with gud-mode (grand unified debugger), a handy compilation mode, and several other useful things like tags support.

Never, ever program in notepad. Vi and its descendants will get you about as far. Whether they are better or not is a matter of religion.

Nathon 2010-09-02 23:29:12

There is no call to bash vim. People who use it well are able to get a lot done. They're just weird, that's all.

dmckee 2010-09-03 02:28:55

Who's bashing vim?

Nathon 2010-09-03 13:09:59

Uh...I think I misread you second paragraph. My fault.

dmckee 2010-09-03 17:43:45

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Any good IDEs for basic C programming?

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