Create a C++ Project with Visual Studio Code

Let’s see how to create a new project in C++ using Visual Studio Code, how to run it, and debug it.

Once we have VS Code installed, the compiler, and the extensions installed, we create a new folder for the project (to better organize your project) and open this folder in VS Code with File > Open Folder.

Now we create a new C++ file by clicking on File > New File (or pressing Ctrl+N), named main.cpp (for example).

In this file, paste this code.

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello, world in C++ from LuisLlamas.es!" << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

You now have a very simple program. Now let’s run it 👇.

Run the code

From VSCode

To launch our code from Visual Studio Code, we press F5. The first time a dropdown will appear to choose the debugger.

Select C++ (GDB/LLDB) and another dropdown will appear to choose the configuration.

Here we choose C/C++ g++ build and debug active file and (finally) the program will run.

In the Terminal tab, you will see the output of the program (which includes a command with several lines). And at the end, the message in the output.

Hello, world in C++ from LuisLlamas.es!

Congratulations, you now have VSCode configured to work with C++ 🎉.

From the terminal

Alternatively, if you want to compile manually, you could do it like this. First, we compile the code using GCC with the following command:

g++ hello_world.cpp -o hello_world

Now it will create an executable file, which we can run (of course, because it’s executable 😆)

hello_world.exe

./hello_world

Configuring build and run tasks

The configuration of VSCode for building and debugging is based on two files tasks.json and launch.json, which are saved in the project folder (in the subfolder .vscode).

The Tasks.json file

The tasks.json file is used to define automated tasks that you can execute within VSCode.

By going through the previous process, it will have created one that looks something like this:

{
   "version": "2.0.0",
   "tasks": [
	   {
		   "type": "cppbuild",
		   "label": "Compile C++",
		   "command": "g++",
		   "args": [
			   "-fdiagnostics-color=always",
			   "-g",
			   "${file}",
			   "-o",
			   "${fileDirname}/${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe"
		   ],
		   "group": {
			   "kind": "build",
			   "isDefault": true
		   },
		   "problemMatcher": ["$gcc"],
		   "detail": "Compiles the current C++ file"
	   }
   ]
}

In this configuration, it currently does:

• Compiles the current file
• Generates an executable in the same folder.

Some of the parameters we can adjust are:

Launch.json file

The launch.json file is used to configure the debugger in VSCode. At first, this step is optional (we will use it when we want to set advanced parameters in the debugger).

To do this, we go to Run > Add Configuration…. It will create an empty launch.json file. We can add configurations by clicking on the Add Configuration... button.

The file will look something like the following:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "(gdb) Launch",
            "type": "cppdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "program":  "${fileDirname}\\${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${fileDirname}",
            "environment": [],
            "externalConsole": false,
            "MIMode": "gdb",
            "miDebuggerPath": "gdb",
            "setupCommands": [
                {
                    "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
                    "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
                    "ignoreFailures": true
                },
                {
                    "description": "Set Disassembly Flavor to Intel",
                    "text": "-gdb-set disassembly-flavor intel",
                    "ignoreFailures": true
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}

For it to work, you will need to adjust the parameters.

"program": "enter program name, for example ${workspaceFolder}/a.exe",

"program":  "${fileDirname}\\${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",

Some of the parameters in the Launch.json file are: