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C++ IDEs for Linux

Started by Vincent_M Feb 24, 2014 at 7:18 AM 34 replies 21.9k views

Original Post

Feb 24, 2014 at 7:18 AM

I'm developing a set of arcade games to put into an arcade machine I'm designing. I'm using Eclipse to develop everything, and it's got quite a few projects in the workspace: Engine, Launcher, Game1, Game2, Game3, etc. My Engine and all of the game projects are built as shared objects, and all projects use Engine as a dependency project as it handles all of the OpenGL/AL stuff under the hood. The problem is, I keep running into headaches with Eclipse on my Debian development computer:
-Vague/obscure errors (I keep getting "Error 1" with no further information whenever something happens in the Engine library)
-Some classes in the Engine project are unrecognized, even when they're in the same header/source files as recognized classes when calling them from projects outside of the Engine project
-Engine appears to rebuild itself every single time I make a change in any project, but the changes aren't always reflected, so I have to manually Clean/Refresh/Build each project

I think it's better to try a different IDE at this point. I went through a tricky episode trying to get Eclipse to play nice with the NDK so I could get a simple Hello World app to compile using my engine as a shared library for the OUYA. Does anyone have any recommendations?

TheComet

Feb 24, 2014 at 7:24 AM

I use Code::Blocks. The IDE on its own is already pretty nice, and the community has produced some awesome third-party plugins.

TheChubu

Feb 24, 2014 at 8:04 AM

QtCreator is pretty popular. Its a fully fledged C++ IDE and you get extra tools to work with Qt if you want to.

skwee

Feb 24, 2014 at 9:01 AM

Another vote here for QtCreator. Its by far the best IDE I've used for Linux. And don't be confused, "Qt" in the name does not mean it only works with Qt. You can write raw C/C++ with QtCreator as well.

Fiddler

Feb 24, 2014 at 9:04 AM

QtCreator is one of the best IDEs everywhere. It's second only to Visual Studio (and In some ways, it surpasses even Visual Studio.)

scniton

Feb 24, 2014 at 10:28 AM

My hands down favourite is KDevelop.
Before finding KDevelop I had tried:
* Code::blocks
* codelite
* QtCreator

I haven't looked back since switching to it.

TheComet

Feb 24, 2014 at 12:21 PM

KDevelop looks beautiful! This is the first time I've heard of it. Tell me, is it as "bloated" as Eclipse?

StijnBrouwer

Feb 24, 2014 at 2:15 PM

KDevelop looks beautiful! This is the first time I've heard of it. Tell me, is it as "bloated" as Eclipse?

Well, you need to install all the KDE libraries (which is a lot of crap you're barely going to use). But the thing itself is just native C++.

renega_666

Feb 24, 2014 at 2:35 PM

I would also vote for QtCreator. KDevelop is nice but not really suited to cross-platform development (not everyone wants to install the whole KDE on Windows)

TheComet

Feb 24, 2014 at 2:45 PM

I would also vote for QtCreator. KDevelop is nice but not really suited to cross-platform development (not everyone wants to install the whole KDE on Windows)

That's what CMake, Premake, QMake, etc. are for.

With that said, CMake and Premake don't support generation of project files for KDevelop or QtCreator, whereas they do support Code::Blocks.

Bregma

Feb 24, 2014 at 3:55 PM

Is this not an FAQ an more?

renega_666

Feb 24, 2014 at 4:12 PM

With that said, CMake and Premake don't support generation of project files for KDevelop or QtCreator, whereas they do support Code::Blocks.

Yes, because QtCreator and KDevelop support CMake projects natively, i.e. you don't have to generate anything. If you make changes in your CMakeLists.txt, those changes will be immediately reflected in the IDE.

rogerdv

Feb 24, 2014 at 4:19 PM

I vote for Code::Blocks. I have been using it for some years for everything I do.

scniton

Feb 24, 2014 at 4:24 PM

KDevelop looks beautiful! This is the first time I've heard of it. Tell me, is it as "bloated" as Eclipse?

It runs much better than eclipse here. "Bloated" can be subjective, the only way you'll know for sure is to try it.

I would also vote for QtCreator. KDevelop is nice but not really suited to cross-platform development (not everyone wants to install the whole KDE on Windows)

The OP specifically asked for Linux and didn't mention cross-platform.
Furthermore, I don't think most people consider having to use different IDEs on different platforms a deal breaker.

DejaimeNeto

Feb 24, 2014 at 5:03 PM

I vote for Code::Blocks (with the optional community plugins), which I use for virtually all my gamedev needs.

However, I also use Geany to put together code snippets and make simple experiments due to its simplicity.
QtCreator is good if I want to use Qt, I never use it otherwise.
KDevelop is great, but if you are not using a KDE based distro you'll have to install almost 300mb of prerequisites (that probably won't be used anywhere else). Despite that, it is a really good IDE if you don't mind having to build through command line on other OSs (an absolutely easy process). Just remember, if you ever decide to uninstall KDevelop, run apt-get autoremove afterwards to (automatically) get rid of all those dependencies.

uglybdavis

Feb 24, 2014 at 6:03 PM

I'm currently using mono-develop, it's pretty awesome (though minimalistic)!

sudo apt-get install software-properties-common

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:keks9n/monodevelop-latest

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install monodevelop-latest

DejaimeNeto

Feb 24, 2014 at 6:11 PM

I'm currently using mono-develop, it's pretty awesome (though minimalistic)!

I also used mono-develop and it is pretty good, actually. But I recommend it only for those who will be using Mono or Monogame.
I always feel like it is lacking a little on the debug/profiling side...

Godmil

Feb 24, 2014 at 8:23 PM

I really want to like code::blocks, but every time I load up QtCreator everything just seems so much easier. (Though I've never been bothered to set up all my libs on it)

Ravyne

Feb 24, 2014 at 8:40 PM

I like Visual Studio on Windows, but I actually prefer not using an IDE on Linux.

I like VIM + CMAKE + make at console in a Linux environment, but admittedly using VIM is somewhat self-justifying as an exercise for me to learn VIM, which itself is a useful skill (its nice to know one good non-wysiwyg text editor because you're basically guaranteed to have access to it on any system you can imagine, even minimalist linux systems and often even embedded systems like routers, and/or when you SSH into a remote system). Once you configure CMAKE and generate a make file for your system, building from the shell is as simple as 'make build'. I like VIM as my non-wysiwyg editor, but some people like Emacs, its one of the great nerd holy wars.

If I wanted to be a bit easier on myself, I'd probably substitute SlickEdit in for VIM. It's got powerful shortcuts like VIM/Emacs, and is Linux/Mac/Windows cross-platform, but also offers a better wysiwyg/GUI experience than gVIM.

TheComet

Feb 24, 2014 at 10:42 PM

I like Visual Studio on Windows, but I actually prefer not using an IDE on Linux.

I like VIM + CMAKE + make at console in a Linux environment, but admittedly using VIM is somewhat self-justifying as an exercise for me to learn VIM, which itself is a useful skill (its nice to know one good non-wysiwyg text editor because you're basically guaranteed to have access to it on any system you can imagine, even minimalist linux systems and often even embedded systems like routers, and/or when you SSH into a remote system). Once you configure CMAKE and generate a make file for your system, building from the shell is as simple as 'make build'. I like VIM as my non-wysiwyg editor, but some people like Emacs, its one of the great nerd holy wars.

If I wanted to be a bit easier on myself, I'd probably substitute SlickEdit in for VIM. It's got powerful shortcuts like VIM/Emacs, and is Linux/Mac/Windows cross-platform, but also offers a better wysiwyg/GUI experience than gVIM.

I've always wondered, how do you effectively debug a program on the command line? Do you really use GDB on the command line? I can't imagine doing that without an IDE to show me variable watches, stack, memory dump, and disassembly.

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