Setting Up a C++ Compiler

To run C++ you need a compiler that turns source code into an executable. This lesson shows how to install GCC, Clang or Visual Studio, compile from the terminal with the right options, and pick an editor.

The main compilers

Compiler	Command	Typical platform
GCC	`g++`	Linux; also Windows via MSYS2 or WSL
Clang	`clang++`	macOS (default); Linux; Windows
MSVC	`cl`	Windows, through Visual Studio

On most Unix-like systems the command c++ runs the default C++ compiler. Note the ++: compiling C++ with gcc or clang (the C drivers) leaves out the C++ standard library and gives confusing link errors.

Installing

Linux

# Debian, Ubuntu
sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential     # g++, make and friends

# Fedora
sudo dnf install gcc-c++ make

macOS

xcode-select --install               # Apple Clang

Windows

Visual Studio Community with the "Desktop development with C++" workload — a full IDE and compiler, the most common choice on Windows.
WSL — run wsl --install, then follow the Linux steps for exactly the environment used in this course.
MSYS2 — provides g++ and a Unix-style terminal for native Windows programs.

Check the version

g++ --version
clang++ --version

This course's C++20 code needs GCC 11 or newer, Clang 16 or newer, or Visual Studio 2022. The C++23 lesson needs GCC 14 or Clang 18 for features such as std::print.

Compiling and running

Save this as hello.cpp:

C++ hello.cpp

#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << "Hello from my own computer!\n";
}

g++ -std=c++20 -Wall -Wextra -pedantic hello.cpp -o hello
./hello

Output

Hello from my own computer!

Option	Meaning
`-std=c++20`	Use the C++20 standard (some compilers still default to C++17)
`-Wall -Wextra -pedantic`	Enable the important warnings
`-o hello`	Name the executable
`-g`	Include debugging information
`-O2`	Optimise for speed (for releases)

With MSVC, the equivalent is cl /std:c++20 /W4 /EHsc hello.cpp in a "Developer Command Prompt".

Editors and IDEs

Visual Studio Code with the C/C++ or clangd extension — light and popular.
CLion — a full IDE built around CMake (lesson 49).
Visual Studio — the standard IDE on Windows, with an excellent debugger.
Xcode on macOS, Qt Creator, or any editor plus a terminal.

Online compilers

Compiler Explorer (godbolt.org) compiles and runs C++ in the browser with any compiler version — great for quick experiments and for seeing the machine code your C++ turns into. Add -std=c++20 to the compiler options.

Try it yourself

Install a compiler, save this program as main.cpp, and compile it with warnings on.

Output

7 apples shared by 3 friends: 2 each, 1 left over

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