How to Configure Visual Studio Code for C++ Development

In this tutorial, I provide the configuration details to setup a simple, modern C++ development environment:

• Visual Studio Code as editor
• Microsoft C++ compiler (msvc)
• C++17
• UTF-encoding source code
• MS Windows 10 OS

Configure Steps

1. Install Tool-sets

1. Install Visual Studio Code (version 1.41.1)
2. Install C++ extension for VS Code (version 0.26.3)
3. Install Microsoft C++ compiler tool-set, i.e., install either of the following tools:
   
   • Visual Studio Community 2019 
   • Build Tools for Visual Studio 2019

2. Config C++ Project

1. create an empty folder, for example, called "project", this is used to store all files for a VS Code project
2. create an sub-folder called "debug" under "project" folder, this is used to store compiler producing files
3. create an sub-folder called ".vscode" under "project" folder, this is used to store VS Code config files
4. create 3 configure files of VS Code under "project/.vscode" folder:
• c_cpp_properties.json

{
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Win32",
            "includePath": [
                "${workspaceFolder}/**"
            ],
            "defines": [
                "_DEBUG",
                "UNICODE",
                "_UNICODE"
            ],
            "windowsSdkVersion": "10.0.18362.0",
            "compilerPath": "C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.23.28105/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe",
            "cStandard": "c11",
            "cppStandard": "c++17",
            "intelliSenseMode": "${default}"
        }
    ],
    "version": 4
}

Note:

• this configure file is for configuring compiler path and IntelliSense settings
• the value of "compilerPath" may be adjusted based on your installation options for MS C++ compiler tool-set accordingly
• the value of "cppStandard" is C++17, this configures VS Code source code editor accordingly

• launch.json

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "(msvc) Launch",
      "type": "cppvsdbg",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/debug/app.exe",
      "args": [],
      "stopAtEntry": true,
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}/debug",
      "environment": [],
      "externalConsole": false
    }
  ]
}

Note:

• this configure file is for configuring MS C++ debugger
• the executable file is configured as "app.exe", this may be adjusted based on your project needs accordingly

• tasks.json

{
  "version": "2.0.0",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "label": "msvc build",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "cl.exe",
      "args": ["/EHsc", "/Zi", "/std:c++17", "/utf-8", "/Fe:", "app.exe", "../*.cpp"],
      "options": {
        "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}/debug"
      },
      "group": {
        "kind": "build",
        "isDefault": true
      },
      "presentation": {
        "reveal": "always",
        "focus": true
      },
      "problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
    },
    {
      "label": "clean build",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "del",
      "args": ["/Q", "*"],
      "options": {
        "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}/debug"
      },
      "group": "build",
      "presentation": {
        "reveal": "always",
        "focus": true
      },
      "problemMatcher": "$msCompile"
    },
    {
      "label": "run build",
      "type": "shell",
      "command": "app.exe",
      "options": {
        "cwd": "${workspaceRoot}/debug"
      },
      "dependsOn": [
        "msvc build"
      ],
      "group": {
        "kind": "test",
        "isDefault": true
      },
      "presentation": {
        "reveal": "always"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Note:

• this configure file is for configuring build instructions, including build/clean/run tasks
• the executable file is configured as "app.exe", this may be adjusted based on your project needs accordingly
• quick explanation for the compile arguments of "msvc build" task:
• /EHsc - specify the exception handling mode
• /Zi - produce a debug build with symbols
• /std:c++17 - enable C++17 standard-specific features and behavior explicitly, preferable than /std:c++latest due to long-term maintenance
• /utf-8 - set source and execution character sets to UTF-8
• /Fe: - specify the executable file name

Work with C++ Project

1. start "Developer Command Prompt for VS 2019", this is required for msvc
2. from the developer command prompt, navigate into the folder "project", and start VS Code under the folder "project"

> cd project
> code .

3. create a C++ source code under the folder "project" with VS Code, for example, let's create the following sample C++ source code "helloworld.cpp"

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main() {
 cout << "Hello, world!" << endl;

 return 0;
}

4. compile C++ code by either one of the following methods:
   • press the shortcut key: ctrl + shift + b
   • run tasks: msvc build
   Note:
   • The executable file "app.exe" will be generated by msvc under the subfolder "debug" if everything works properly
   • different methods to run task in VS Code:
     • press the shortcut key: F1 to access the command palette of VS Code, and then choose the desired task to run
     • press the shortcut key: ctrl + shift + p to access the command palette of VS Code, and then choose the desired task to run
     • through the menu of VS Code: terminal > run task, and then choose the desired task to run
5. compile C++ code and then run the executable file with a single task:
   • run tasks: run build
6. start debugging:
   • press the shortcut key: F5 to access the debugger GUI of VS Code
7. clean up all of last build generated files:
   • run tasks: clean build

References

• [VSCode] C/C++ for Visual Studio Code (2019)
• [VSCode] Configure VS Code for Microsoft C++ (2019)
• [VSCode] Launch configurations (2019)
• [VSCode] Integrate with External Tools via Tasks (2019)
• [Microsoft] MSVC - Compiler Options (2019)