In the next article we are going to take a look at CodeBlocks. It's about a integrated development environment (IDE) for programmers and developers. It brings with it predefined tools to develop Qt applications, plugins, console applications, etc.
CodeBlocks is a free IDE, open source, cross-platform built to meet the needs of its users. It is designed to be very extensible and completely configurable to the needs that developers may have. This is an IDE with all the necessary features, with a consistent appearance across different platforms.
This IDE has been built around a plugin framework. With this it has been achieved that CodeBlocks can be easily expand using a catalog plugins. Any kind of functionality can be added by installing / coding a plugin. For example, compilation and debugging of functionality is already handled by plugins.
CodeBlocks implements a bespoke construction system with very important characteristics: it will provide us with an ultra-fast generation of dependencies, it will allow us to build queues and parallel compilations are just some that I think should be mentioned.
Even though it is a fully functional IDE, does not support large projects very well. It can be difficult to handle large amounts of files through online repositories. This is why I think this IDE is less suitable for large projects than for example, Visual Studio.
CodeBlocks features
CodeBlocks is the comprehensive and free development environment, which has been developed with C ++ programmers in mind. This program will provide facilities and comforts when working with this type of language.
The IDE is based on the graphical interface platform wxWidgets. This means that it can be used freely on various operating systems, and that it is licensed under the GNU / GPL.
This application will detect compilers that we have installed in the system. Thus, it is possible to choose the one that is most suitable for each one for the task to be carried out. The compilation process is fast, given that the speed of the program is amazing.
Es compatible with twenty different compilers, including some as popular as: GCC, Microsoft Visual C ++, Tiny C, Digital Mars and Borland C ++. It is also equipped with a series of templates that will provide the comfort that is needed in this type of work. It is also possible to add plugins to be able to carry out a better development of your projects.
I do not want to finish naming some of the features of this program without mentioning that it provides users with a system of plugins to work with other programming languages. Features such as automatic code formatting or even small games integrated into the IDE can be added at any time by downloading the corresponding extension.
The rest that CodeBlocks offers is typical of any IDE self-respecting gives its users: the typical tabs, line numbering, syntax coloring, code autocompletion, intelligent indentations and a long etc.
Install CodeBlocks
To install CodeBlocks in Ubuntu you just have to launch the terminal emulator program (Ctrl + Alt + T) and execute the following command.
sudo apt install codeblocks*
The reason an asterisk is added at the end is because on Ubuntu (and maybe other distributions as well) CodeBlocks alone doesn't install all the necessary plugins and certain productivity features.
You can also follow the installation forms offered to us from their website for all platforms supported by the IDE.
Uninstall CodeBlocks
If the program does not convince you, you can always uninstall it by opening a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T) and typing the following command in it.
sudo apt remove codeblocks*
The latest version of this program is 16.01 and it was launched back in 2016. You can find more information about the program and how it works in the official documentation. The link shows the text in English, but you can also read it in German and French. All of them can be read in PDF, CHM and HTML formats.
This is the one I use regularly, although somewhat "tuned" because I program in Fortran (scientific reminiscences). It is a great IDE.