I am somewhat frustrated that i could not find an IDE that fits my imaginations (Debian 10 user). Here's what i tried until now and why none of them really pleased me:

- Code::Blocks: frequently just crashes, has problems with my pc's config and does not display file contents correctly. Also, the display of directory structures is tricky and error prone, it is easy to put files in the wrong places. Good thing is it uses make. But due to the crashes it is not mine to use.

- Eclipse CDT. The one i use now. It is ok so far, only needs a restart 1 or 2 times a day, especially working with the real directory structure on disk and debugging with gdt is really creamy. But it is a huge pile of bloatware as it brings all that java stuff with it (around 600MB in all), and it brings its own project tools, make integration is buggy, which is a shame.

- Emacs. My opinion ? Computer science folklore. Unusable if you're not an oldtimer (which i am) with a mind like a memory chip (which i haven't). I am aware that now some fingers may be hovering over the downvote button now ^^. But i'd rather use sed than emacs.

- Codelight. Nice and lean, uses make. Very nice type ahead function. Haven't tried debugging because i can't figure out how to work with the directory structure. I don't want virtual directories and such, i want to work with the real structure my project has on disk, on pc or on notebook. And the project already has quite a few files, maybe a hundred. Am i supposed to build the directory by hand in virtual folders ? What if i change things ? Nope, i can't use an IDE that doesn't let me use the file system.

- QT creator. Being forced to say yes to another 600MB of stuff i don't need (clang and connected libs and stuff, but i use the gcc) drove me off.

So, if i wanted an IDE that uses gcc and gdt as a debugger, lets me work with the directory structure, doesn't bring too many extras plugins mods whatever, which ones would you guys recommend ? Cost free, i mean ...

Cheers ?

I like CodeLite IDE, it's a very simplistic environment and beautiful besides is easily configurable

CodeLite, that's what i meant ! Not Codelight. My code doesn't shine.

How can it be configured to use the directory structure of a project on disc and not these virtual workspaces, projects and virtual folders ? If i can figure that out i'll give it another try :-)

2 minutes ago, Green_Baron said:

CodeLite, that's what i meant ! Not Codelight. My code doesn't shine.

How can it be configured to use the directory structure of a project on disc and not these virtual workspaces, projects and virtual folders ? If i can figure that out i'll give it another try ?

I just create the folders manually, and then just imports their contents into my projects, the import option is in the context menu on the tree view

1 minute ago, dannbravo said:

I just create the folders manually, and then just imports their contents into my projects, the import option is in the context menu on the tree view

Yep, so did i in my test, but after my import everything was under src, it didn't copy the struture from disc. Everything is 107 files, tendency growing ...

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KDevelop also wants clang .... and other stuff. My desktop is xfce .... ?

6 minutes ago, Green_Baron said:

Yep, so did i in my test, but after my import everything was under src, it didn't copy the struture from disc. Everything is 107 files, tendency growing ...

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KDevelop also wants clang .... and other stuff. My desktop is xfce .... ?

Thats weird I usually do whatever structure I want to use and the import always worked for me.

I just create a test project to show you a example with random structure.

Ok ... thanks ! Will try out again tomorrow, looks like i overlooked a switch or so. CodeLite tickles me because its so lean and has not many dependencies.

As I always answer to this recurrent question, Kdevelop is the way to go on Linux if you want a full IDE. It is now mature. It provides so-called AppImages that run directly without needing to install Kde libraries, Qt, themes or whatever. Even without the AppImage, and even if you are on Xfce or Gnome, it will run as long as all dependencies are installed. Also, you don't need to use Clang (even if it uses it in the background as its C++ parser), cmake or so. So it will run well with gcc and autotools if you want.

If you don't feel well with it, Qt Creator and Visual Studio Code are other alternatives, the later is not a real full IDE (ie integrated builds will not be selectable and set the editor to the good file and line) but works well if you like to keep the way Visual Studio works.