How to set up C/C++ development environment in Eclipse

Last updated on November 26, 2020 by Adrien Brochard

If you are a C/C++ developer looking for C/C++ IDE to work with, you can consider Eclipse-based IDE. Eclipse boasts of an extensible plug-in system for customizing IDE to support various programming languages including Java, C/C++, etc. Eclipse CDT is one such plugin which converts Eclipse into a fully functional IDE for C/C++ developers.

Eclipse CDT has the following features to help developing C/C++ programs.

Standard make build, as well as managed build with various toolchains.
Source navigation tools such as type hierarchy, call graph and hyperlink navigation.
Code editor with syntax highlighting.
Source code refactoring and code generation.
Visual debugging tools.

In this tutorial, I will describe how to set up C/C++ development in Eclipse by installing Eclipse CDT.

I assume that you already have a working installation of Eclipse ready on your system.

First launch Eclipse, and go to Help → Install New Software menu.

Click on Add button to add a new repository. Fill in repository name, and specify the URL location of the repository as follows.

Eclipse 4.3 (Kepler): http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/releases/kepler
Eclipse 4.2 (Juno): http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/releases/juno
Eclipse 3.7 (Indigo): http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/releases/indigo
Eclipse 3.6 (Helios): http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/releases/helios
Eclipse 3.5 (Galileo): http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/releases/galileo

Enable checkbox for CDT Main Features and CDT Optional Features, and click on Next button.

Review the items to be installed. Finally, go ahead and install C/C++ development tools on Eclipse.

After installation, restart Eclipse.

To verify that CDT has been installed successfully, go to Help → About Eclipse menu, and check if Eclipse CDT icon is listed there.

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