Getting Started
Prerequisites
You will need to have the following installed on your computer:
If you do not have any of these installed, please follow the instructions below.
Installing C++
Windows
Scoop (for the simple minded)
This is the simplest way to install C++ on Windows. Scoop is a command-line package manager for Windows. It is similar to Homebrew on macOS.
First of all, install Scoop. Open a PowerShell window as administrator and run the following command:
Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
Invoke-RestMethod -Uri https://get.scoop.sh | Invoke-Expression
Then, install the Scoop Extras:
scoop bucket add main
Finally, install msys2:
scoop install msys2
Then, open a new PowerShell window and launch the UCRT64 environment:
ucrt64
You can now finally install the C++ compiler:
pacman -Syu && pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-gcc
You may also just head to the MSYS2 website and download the installer although Scoop can also be useful for installing other packages in the future.
Visual Studio
If you are using Visual Studio, you can install the C++ compiler by installing Visual Studio. You can download Visual Studio here.
macOS
Homebrew
If you are using Homebrew, you can install the C++ compiler by running the following command:
brew install gcc
You may also opt to use the LLVM compiler instead:
brew install llvm
Xcode
If you are using Xcode, you can install the C++ compiler by installing Xcode. You can download Xcode here.
Linux
Debian-based distributions (e.g. Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc.):
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential
Red Hat-based distributions (e.g. Fedora, CentOS, etc.):
sudo yum groupinstall 'Development Tools'
TIP
If you encounter errors with yum
, see this Stack Exchange post.
Arch-based distributions (e.g. Arch Linux, Manjaro, etc.):
sudo pacman -Syu --needed base-devel
openSUSE systems:
sudo zypper install -t pattern devel_basis
TIP
openSUSE users may also install the package using YaST.
Installing a Code Editor or IDE
VS Code
Head to the VS Code website and download the installer.
TIP
You may also refer to your system's package manager for installing VS Code.
CLion
Head to the CLion website and download the installer.
Do note that CLion is not free and you will need to purchase a license to use it. You may also apply for a free student license here.
Vim
Should usually be pre-installed on most systems. If not, refer to your system's package manager for installing Vim.
Installing a Terminal
Honestly if you need this you need some help.