Visual Studio Code 101 #4 : 7+ C/C++ extension in recommendation (Clang-Format)

VSC Series

Alex.hsieh
6 min readJun 26, 2022
Visual Studio Code 101 #4 : C/C++ extension in recommendation
Visual Studio Code 101 #4 : C/C++ extension in recommendation

Introduction
Story Series
Main Part on VSC extension
C/C++ Extension Pack on VSC extension
Summary

Introduction

Visual Studio Code is a powerful and free IDE and support 10+ language development and rich of marketplace that is managed by Microsoft official. In this story, we would share the experience on 100+ extensions, and cutting the best extensions for C/C++ extension that you can’t miss. Moreover, we recommend these extensions to speed your productivity up 30% and high efficiency on writing your code.

In this section “Visual Studio Code 101 #4 : 7+ C/C++ extension in recommendation”, we recommend you can refer the introduction C/C++ for Visual Studio Code, it show how to enable cross-platform C and C++ development on Windows, Linux, and macOS that including install extension, compiler, sample code, debugging, and remote development on container.

Finally, we are going to introduce useful extension, and we wish these extensions could help you speed up your working efficiency.

Main Part on VSC extension

C/C++ Extension Pack on VSC extension

Got your C/C++ perfect fit in VSCode IDE!!

Clang-Format

  • CodeName: xaver.clang-format
  • Description: Use Clang-Format in Visual Studio Code.
  • Given Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars
  • VSC Link: Link
  • Comment: You should use that. I use this extension to coding C++ with clang-format, however, I think that depend your teams’ coding style. It is a option.
  • Quick View:
Clang-Format extensions in Visual Studio Code
Clang-Format extensions in Visual Studio Code

C/C++ Extension Pack

  • CodeName: codezombiech.gitignore
  • Description: Popular extensions for C++ development in Visual Studio Code.
  • Given Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars
  • VSC Link: Link
  • Comment: You should use that. I use this extension to coding C++ and run utest in terminal. For me, this extension is C/C++ all in one package. Just download if you are the C/C++ developer. Don’t miss that.
  • Package: this extension include below items:
  • C/C++
  • C/C++ Themes
  • CMake
  • CMake Tools
  • Doxygen Documentation Generator
  • Better C++ Syntax
  • Remote Development Extension Pack
  • Quick View:
C/C++ Extension Pack extensions in Visual Studio Code
C/C++ Extension Pack extensions in Visual Studio Code

C/C++

  • CodeName: ms-vscode.cpptools
  • Description: C/C++ IntelliSense, debugging, and code browsing.
  • Given Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars
  • VSC Link: Link
  • Comment: You should use that. I use this extension to coding C++ and this extension adds language support for C/C++ to Visual Studio Code, including features such as IntelliSense and debugging.
  • Quick View:
C/C++ extensions in Visual Studio Code
C/C++ extensions in Visual Studio Code

C/C++ Themes

  • CodeName: ms-vscode.cpptools-themes
  • Description: UI Themes for C/C++ extension.
  • Given Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars
  • VSC Link: Link
  • Comment: You should use that. I use this extension to coding C++ and this extension adds language support for C/C++ to Visual Studio Code, including features such as IntelliSense and debugging.
  • Quick View:
C/C++ Themes extensions in Visual Studio Code
C/C++ Themes extensions in Visual Studio Code

CMake

  • CodeName: twxs.cmake
  • Description: CMake langage support for Visual Studio Code.
  • Given Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars
  • VSC Link: Link
  • Comment: You should use that. I use this extension to write my cmake file with language support. There feature such as snippets, code comments, completion lists are useful to quickly finish your cmake file.
  • Quick View:
CMake extensions in Visual Studio Code
CMake extensions in Visual Studio Code

CMake Tools

  • CodeName: ms-vscode.cmake-tools
  • Description: Extended CMake support in Visual Studio Code
  • Given Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars
  • VSC Link: Link
  • Comment: You should use that. I use this extension to write my cmake file. This extension provides the native developer a full-featured, convenient, and powerful workflow for CMake-based projects in Visual Studio Code.
  • Quick View:
CMake Tools extensions in Visual Studio Code
CMake Tools extensions in Visual Studio Code

Doxygen Documentation Generator

  • CodeName: cschlosser.doxdocgen
  • Description: Let me generate Doxygen documentation from your source code for you.
  • Given Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars
  • VSC Link: Link
  • Comment: You should use that. I use this extension to write my C++ document. This extension provides provides Doxygen documentation generation on the fly by starting a Doxygen comment block and pressing enter.
  • Quick View:
Doxygen Documentation Generator extensions in Visual Studio Code
Doxygen Documentation Generator extensions in Visual Studio Code

Better C++ Syntax

  • CodeName: jeff-hykin.better-cpp-syntax
  • Description: The bleeding edge of the C++ syntax.
  • Given Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars
  • VSC Link: Link
  • Comment: You can try that. I use this extension to better view on C/C++ files, but I think that dependent on you.
  • Quick View:
Better C++ Syntax extensions in Visual Studio Code
Better C++ Syntax extensions in Visual Studio Code

Remote Development

  • CodeName: ms-vscode-remote.vscode-remote-extensionpack
  • Description: An extension pack that lets you open any folder in a container, on a remote machine, or in WSL and take advantage of VS Code’s full feature set.
  • Given Ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars
  • VSC Link: Link
  • Comment: You can try that. I use this extension to run C/C++ program in container. For dev/itg/prd environment, if your infra team build the dockerfile for your, you can try develope in docker, too.
  • Quick View:
Remote Development extensions in Visual Studio Code
Remote Development extensions in Visual Studio Code

Summary

In this post, we recommend install the C/C++ Extension Pack extension to use C/C++ development, and cutting the best extensions that you should try. Again, we recommend these extensions to speed your productivity up 30% and high efficiency on writing your code.

  1. C/C++
  2. C/C++ Themes
  3. CMake
  4. CMake Tools
  5. Doxygen Documentation Generator
  6. Better C++ Syntax
  7. Remote Development Extension Pack

If you have any good idea or recommend VSC extension, please tell me!! Thank you.

Most of pictures are from each extension. They have the copyright.

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Alex.hsieh

SRE Manager at awoo. Love devops culture and python language!! Share to everyone for growing zero to hero. https://devops-with-alex.com