Data Structure and Algorithm Design II

Development Environment

Xingang (Ian) Fang

Development Environment For C++

Xingang (Ian) Fang

Outline

  • Minimal requirements

  • Toolchain and environment

  • Command line environment (bash)

  • Local development environment

    • Linux Native

    • Windows WSL (Linux CLI)

    • Mac OS Native

  • Remote development environment (Optional in this course)

    • SSH Server (Linux CLI)

    • GitHub Codespaces (Web IDE with Linux Virtual Machine)

  • Traps and Pitfalls 🪤

    • MinGW / MSYS2 / Git Bash

    • Click-and-run single file project

TL; DR

  • Everyone

    • SSH server + VS Code in SSH remote mode 👍

    • GitHub Codespaces 👍

  • Windows users

    • Use WSL (Ubuntu preferred) + VS Code in WSL Mode 👍

    • 🚫 NO MinGW/MSYS2/Git Bash!!!!

  • Mac OS users

    • Install XCode command line tools

  • Linux users

    • Install tool-chain package like sudo apt install build-essential

Minimal requirements for C++ Development

An editor/IDE to edit the source code files

  • Visual Studio Code 👍

  • Other tools

A building environment to compile the source code files to applications or libraries

  • Access through command-line interface (CLI): usually bash

  • Core software: g++, make, git and valgrind

  • Other bash tools

Windows Users!

In the case that you do not want to follow the suggested workflow, you are on your own, but here are some suggestion to at least help you to avoid the most annoying conditions!

  • NEVER put your project in One Drive folder!

  • NEVER put your project under any directory that contains a space in its name!

  • AVOID MinGW/MSYS2/Git Bash!

  • Pay attention to line endings for any files you obtained from Windows apps.

  • NEVER download and unzip from GitHub. Use “git clone” instead. Guess what? Windows zip apps will mess up the line endings.

Tools and Environment

GNU make

  • A tool to automate the build process

  • A tool to manage dependencies between source files

  • Not worth the effort to master as there are better alternatives

  • Read more about make

git

  • a distributed version control system to manage pure text files including source code files

  • We use a small subset of its functionality as beginners

    • Backup versions of your work

    • Submit your work

  • Read more about git

Command-line Interface (CLI)

  • Command-line interface (CLI)

    • A text-based interface to interact with the computer

    • A shell program to interpret the commands

    • A terminal program to display the output

    • Counter part of GUI (Graphical User Interface)

  • bash CLI environment 👍

  • Why CLI?

    • Flexible - adjust parameters on the fly

    • Easy-to-use - easily automated no matter how complicate it is

    • Portable - same commands on different platforms

    • Efficient - less resource consumption

Mac OS Terminal

Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminal_%28macOS%29

Problems with GUI

  • GUI is great but not suitable to our needs

  • Imagine how you learn a new feature of Microsoft Office?

    • Find the right tutorial of the right version

    • Find the right button or menu item from hundreds of them

  • Hard to automate

  • Hard to learn

Simplified Microsoft Office Ribbon

Credit: MS Office Word has a new Simplified ribbon

Local Environment

A local development environment is recommended for this course.

  • Not the most convenient but worth your time to learn.

  • Come on! You are CS related major, right?

For Linux:

  • Install g++ and make from Ubuntu terminal

    • sudo apt update

    • sudo apt install build-essential git valgrind

  • Install Visual Studio Code

  • Do research on your own if you are using other Linux distributions

For Windows:

  • Install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS from Microsoft Store

  • Install Visual Studio Code from Microsoft Store

  • Install Terminal from Microsoft Store

  • Start an Ubuntu terminal

  • Install g++ and make in Ubuntu terminal (same as Linux)

Note: To install WSL in the classroom, you must use the Microsoft Store app

For Mac OS:

  • Install XCode Command-line Tools

  • run xcode-select --install in the terminal

  • valgrind not directly available on Mac OS

Remote Environment

Remote environment means to use a remote computer to perform the development. The whole toolchain is installed on the remote computer. It is useful when local environment is not available. For example, when you are using a Chromebook or a tablet.

  • SSH Server

    • From CS department

    • C++ Toolchain pre-installed

    • Handle files remotely

    • Best wth VS Code in SSH remote mode 👍

    • Read SSH instructions

  • GitHub Codespaces

    • An in-browser editor (VS Code) with a Linux virtual machine

    • Free hours for GitHub Classroom

    • Read the CodeSpace Overview

Traps and Pitfalls 🪤

  • MinGW / MSYS2 / Git Bash

    • A Windows port of g++ toolchain

    • g++ under MinGW is not compatible with g++ under Linux

    • Compatibility issues with make

    • Not recommended for this course

  • Windows line ending

    • Whenever you use software developed for Windows only on your files

  • Click-and-run feature

    • Extremely tricky to configure for modular project with make

    • Command line is way better!

    • Examples

      • JGrasp

      • Run and Debug button in VS Code

      • OnlineGDB

      • Eclipse