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xcpp

Create a pre-configured VSCode C++ project with one command in Windows.

The generated multi-files C++ project uses g++ for compilation, and gdb for debugging. It also generates a Makefile and initializes Git.

Preparation

Configure mingw64

Download from: https://github.com/niXman/mingw-builds-binaries/releases

I chose x86_64-14.2.0-release-posix-seh-ucrt-rt_v12-rev0. You can Google the differences between versions if needed.

After downloading, extract the files and place them in a path without Chinese characters or spaces. My mingw64 path is E:/Environment/mingw64_14_2_0/bin.

Lastly, you may choose to add the mingw64 path (E:/Environment/mingw64_14_2_0/bin) to the system's Path environment variable.

Setup

Download the latest version of xcpp from the GitHub release page, extract it, and add the path to xcpp.exe to your environment variables.

Run the following command in the command prompt (an example mingw64 path: E:/Environment/mingw64_14_2_0/bin). The default configuration will be written to %appdata%\xcpp\config\config.toml:

xcpp store --std=c++20 --path <MINGW64_PATH>

You can then create a new C++ project directly by running xcpp new project_name.

Do not use paths with Chinese characters or spaces, and avoid using Chinese project names, as this may prevent proper debugging in VSCode.

You can also pass specific parameters (e.g., --std, --path) when creating a new C++ project. Command-line arguments take priority over the configuration file.

xcpp new hello_cpp --std=c++20 --path <MINGW64_PATH>

After successfully creating the project, you need to install the following C/C++ extensions in VSCode:

• C/C++
• C/C++ Extension Pack
• C/C++ Themes

If you see an error about missing tasks, simply restart VSCode.

If you run with RUST_LOG=info, you will see the log output. For example, in Git Bash:

RUST_LOG=info ./xcpp.exe new test1 --std=c++17 --path E:/Environment/mingw64_14_2_0/bin

Make sure to replace ./xcpp.exe and E:/Environment/mingw64_14_2_0/bin with the correct paths.

Usage Example (with mingw64 and xcpp PATH already configured)

Usage

Use xcpp.exe --help or xcpp.exe <SUBCOMMAND> --help to display help information.

USAGE:
    xcpp.exe <SUBCOMMAND>

FLAGS:
    -h, --help       Prints help information
    -V, --version    Prints version information

SUBCOMMANDS:
    clear    Delete the config file at `%appdata%\xcpp\config\config.toml`
    help     Prints this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)
    new      Create a new cpp project
    store    Store the config to `%appdata%\xcpp\config\config.toml`