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Notes on C++ development with Emacs on Ubuntu Linux

Date: July 8, 2009  |   Tags: c_cplusplus, emacs, linux, ubuntu   |   3 Comments

Here are my notes on setting up an Emacs C++ development environment. I'm using GNU g++ (4.3.3), GNU make (3.81), GNU gdb (3.8-debian), and GNU emacs (23.0.92.1 built from CVS 2009-04-22) on Ubuntu Linux (9.04 Jaunty Jackalope).

Install tools

If you don't already have g++, make, and gdb, install them:

sudo apt-get install g++ make gdb

Create files

  • Create a project directory: 
    mkdir helloworld
  • Create a source file helloworld/hello.cpp: 
    #include <iostream>

int main(void) 
{
   char greeting[] = "Hello World!";
   std::cout << greeting << std::endl;
   return 0;
}
  • Create a makefile helloworld/Makefile: 
    # Makefile for GNU g++

CC=g++
CFLAGS=-g -Wall
all: hello

hello: hello.cpp
	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) -o hello hello.cpp

clean:
	rm hello

Compile within Emacs

See also: 32 Compiling and Testing Programs in the GNU Emacs manual.

  • Open hello.cpp in Emacs
  • M-x compile RET
    make -k RET

    Note: The default compile command is make -k. You can change the default command by setting the compile-command variable in your .emacs file.

  • Useful commands in the compilation window:
    • C-x `: Go to next error in the code
    • M-n: Go to next error message
    • M-p: Go to previous error message
    • RET: Go to the source code for the current error message

Run using Emacs shell

  • M-! ./hello RET

    You should see the output in the minibuffer.

Debug with gdb in Emacs

For more information see: 32.6 Running Debuggers Under Emacs in the GNU Emacs manual.

  • To show multiple debugging windows such as breakpoints, locals, etc., set the gdb-many-windows variable in ~/.emacs: 
    (setq gdb-many-windows t)
    Restart Emacs.

  • Start the debugger. While visiting helloworld/hello.cpp: 
    M-x gdb RET --annotate=3 hello RET
  • Set a breakpoint by clicking in the left margin at the desired location.
  • Run the debugger by typing run at the (gdb) prompt in the *gud-hello* buffer.
  • In the GUD buffer, use the following commands:
    • C-c C-s Step into
    • C-c C-n Stev over
    • C-c C-p Evaluate the expression at point.
    • C-c C-r Continue
    • C-c C-u Continue until current line

  • When finished, type quit at the (gdb) prompt.

Documentation:

References

  • Practical C++ Programming, 2nd Edition by Steve Oualine (2004)
  • Learning GNU Emacs, 3rd Edition by Debra Cameron et al. (2004)
  • Emacs: the Free Software IDE at the Linux Journal (2002)

3 Comments — feed icon Comments feed for this post


#1 Alex Ott commented on 2009-07-19:

Cedet and article about it - for more comfortable work with code

ECB - emac code browser


#2 Eliot commented on 2009-07-20:

Alex, Thanks for the links to Cedet and ECB. I had heard of ECB, but didn't look into it very thoroughly. It looks like it could be very useful. The code completion in Cedet looks especially interesting. Though Emacs' dabbrev-expand is quick and useful, sometimes I need something more robust. Maybe Cedet's code completion is what I need! I will check it out.


#3 jonathan commented on 2010-12-08:

why do you set c-basic-offset with 3? It is very awful.

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