Eclipse Locally & Vim Remotely
On Eclipse; for sophomore students in Computer
Science at VUB.
VUB, Belgium, Computer Science, Eclipse, C++,
Object-oriented, Modeling, OO, CDT
Overview
If you don't hate IDEs, then you
owe yourself a look at
Eclipse.
I won't get involved in the editor wars --if you don't know, don't ask.
But I think Eclipse is, among other things, a feature-rich C++ platform
offering features like incremental compilation, continious build,
easy-to-use debugger and so on.
I've decided to use it as my local development
environment next to Vim & Make that I'll be using while working on the server
remotely.
This guide is split into two parts:
Part
I: describes the installation process; and
Part
II: briefly covers usage.
Happy Hacking!
Download & Install
Eclipse Downloads are available at:
It would be interesting to download the Eclipse
Modeling Tools distribution, which
already includes the plugins we might need for
experimenting with the UML editor.
Select your operating system and platform to proceed with the download.
Screenshot: Eclipse Modeling Tools distribution
Install Eclipse by extracting the archive you just downloaded. GNU/Linux
users can install it under /opt.
$ cd /opt
$ sudo tar zxvf eclipse-modeling-...-linux-gtk.tar.gz
Try to create a shortcut depending on your graphical environment for
easier launch of Eclipse in the future.
Once you launch Eclipse, you'll be prompted to choose a workspace. This
is where your project files are stored. Something like
~/ws/eclipse would be
appropriate.
By installing new plugins we can adapt Eclipse to include
new functionalities we need. Here we're going to add the required
plugins for setting up a C/C++ IDE.
Installing CDT: the Eclipse C/C++ Subproject
Go to: Help > Software
Screenshot: Where to install new plugins
When the wisard shows up, go to Install
Software tab and then click
on Add Site.... Enter the following
URL in the input field.
http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/releases/ganymede
Screenshot: Add CDT Repository
You have just added a new repository, which Eclipse can use to retrieve
new plugins and their future updates. Now, check the button beside
the newly added repository and click on
Install....
Screenshot: Select and Install CDT Components
Proceed to install the selected plugins by following the steps
suggested by the wisard and then finish the installation.
Usage
Start a new C++ project by clicking on
File > New > C++ Project
Screenshot: Start a New C++ Project
When the wisard appears, make sure that you select the right environment.
Screenshot: New C++ Project Wisard
In case you're using a version control system, you should first check
out your source code and while the focus is on the project in the
file browser, click on File > New >
Convert to a C/C++ Make Project.
Once the project is created, you should add your source files to
the project. That is,
files, *.C, Makefile, etc.
Build Your Project
CDT perfectly understands Makefiles and you
should be able to build your project without any adaptations as the
default targets are called. You could however right-click on your
project and then on Properties to check the
build settings of your project.
Screenshot: C++ Project Build Settings
Run Your Project
In order to run an executable that has been generated by the compiler,
right-click on the executable and then click on
Run As followed by Run
Configurations....
Screenshot: C++ Project Run Configuration
Now, right-click on C/C++ Local Application
and the on New.
Screenshot: C++ Project New Run Configuration
Your run settings might look like the following screenshot.
Screenshot: C++ Project Run Settings
Debug Your Project
Eclipse provides an excellent environment for debugging. It uses
the magnificant GDB but the power is due to the
fact that it provides the developer with visual
control over the code
and the evolution of variables.
If the you're able to run your project, you could start debugging
as easily as clicking on the Debug button.
Screenshot: C++ Projet Debugger
Intended Audience
This document is specifically written for sophomore students in Computer
Science at VUB.
Suggestions
I look forward to your
comments and
suggestions. If you wished this document
were in a wiki, for instance, please feel free to
nod.
Platform
Computing platform on which the instructions in this document are tested:
OSGNU/Linux (Ubuntu Hardy)
Eclipse3.4.1
Linux2.6.24-21
Machine Hardwarei686
Version Control
By using a version control system, you can easily maintain an up-to-date
version of your code on the remote server provided by the university.
I use Subversion, which works quite well with Eclipse but other systems could also be used.
Note that, if you don't care about keeping your code under a
version control system, you can still sync your code with the server
by using rsync.