Visual Studio Code on Alemasone

Must-Have VS Code Extensions You Should Install Now

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 21:57:04 +0000

Having thirty extensions installed is a problem, not a configuration. Each one slows down startup, consumes memory, and can conflict with others. The ones you actually need can be counted on the fingers of two hands, and many things that required an extension years ago are now built directly into Visual Studio Code.

Before adding anything, look at what the editor already does: format on save, renaming symbols across the entire project, Git, terminal, find and replace with regular expressions, multiple cursors, Markdown preview, settings sync, JavaScript debugging in the browser, and bracket pair colorization. For those last three, until a few years ago, you needed Settings Sync, Debugger for Chrome, and Bracket Pair Colorizer: if you still have them, you can remove them.

How to Install C and C++ Compilers on Windows, Linux & macOS

Sat, 20 Jul 2024 11:22:37 +0000

On Linux and macOS, the compiler is installed with a single command. On Windows, the right way to do it today is MSYS2, which provides GCC via MinGW-w64 and handles updates automatically. The old SourceForge MinGW—the one with the Installation Manager you’ll see in many guides (including the first version of this one)—has been stagnant for years, only produces 32-bit programs, and should no longer be used.

A compiler transforms source code into an executable program. For C and C++, there are two main ones: GCC, around since 1987 and available everywhere, and Clang, which is younger, provides clearer error messages, and is the default on macOS. The latest version of GCC is 16, released in April 2026, which uses the C++20 standard by default for C++.