I have been programming in C++ for a very long time, and like a lot of us, I have an established workflow that hasn’t really changed much over time. With the exception of bare-metal programming for embedded systems, though, I have been developing for Windows that entire time. With the recent “enshittification” of Windows 11, I’m starting to realize that it’s going to be time to make the switch to Linux in the very near future. I’ve become very accustomed to (spoiled by?) Visual Studio, though, and I’m wondering about the Linux equivalent of features I probably take for granted.
- Debugging: In VS, I can set breakpoints, step through my code line-by-line, pause and inspect the contents of variable on-the-fly, switch between threads, etc. My understanding of Linux programming is that it’s mostly done in a code editor, then compiled on the command line. How exactly do you debug code when your build process is separate from your code editor? Having to compile my code, run it until I find a bug, then open it up in a debugger and start it all over sounds extremely inefficient.
- Build System: I’m aware that cmake exists, and I’ve used it a bit, but I don’t like it. VS lets me just drop a .h and .cpp file into the solution explorer and I’m good-to-go. Is there really no graphical alternative for Linux?
It seems like Linux development is very modular; each piece of the development process exists in its own application, many of which are command-line only. Part of what I like about VS is that it ties this all together into a nice package and allows interoperability between the functions. I can create a new header or source file, add some code, build it, run it, and debug it, all within the same IDE.
This might come across as a rant against Linux programming, but I don’t intend it to. I guess what I’m really looking for is suggestions on how to make the transition from a Visual Studio user to a Linux programmer. How can I transition to Linux and still maintain an efficient workflow?
As a note, I am not new to Linux; I have used it extensively. However, the only programming I’ve done on Linux is bash scripting.
There are IDEs for Linux as well and IMO it is unfair to compare IDE vs non-IDE workflows without also looking at the advantage in terms of automation, flexibility and the sheer endlessnes of customization options (e.g. through NeoVIM or Emacs).
You do not have to switch to Linux to get a hang of your Linux development though. Download a 30 day trial of CLion and develop a simple application that can be run in a Linux based container.
Regarding CMake, modern CMake not half as bad. CMake is also cross platform, you actually use it to generate your build files, your target could even be Visual Studio. For Linux it will most likely be a Makefile that you will then use to compile (with GCC or Clang) your code to objects which it will then link to create the binary.
There are also alternatives to CMake, namely Bazel and Meson, but I haven’t used them yet.
Once you get the hang of it, you will have a deeper understanding of the language and that will help you in the long run.
CMake will also allow you to use Conan, that makes dependency management even easier.