How to run C and C++ code in VS code editor

 To run C and C++ code in Visual Studio Code (VS Code), you need to follow these steps:

1. Install VS Code and Extensions

• Download and install Visual Studio Code.
• Open VS Code and go to the Extensions view by clicking on the square icon in the sidebar or pressing Ctrl + Shift + X.
• Search for C/C++ and install the extension provided by Microsoft.
• Install Code Runner (optional but useful) to quickly run code snippets.

2. Install a C/C++ Compiler

• Windows: Install MinGW or MSYS2. You can download MinGW from MinGW-w64 or MSYS2.
  • After installation, add the compiler to your system’s PATH environment variable.
• macOS: Install the Xcode Command Line Tools by running xcode-select --install in the Terminal.
• Linux: Install GCC by running sudo apt update && sudo apt install build-essential (for Debian-based systems) or sudo yum groupinstall "Development Tools" (for Red Hat-based systems).

3. Set Up Your Compiler Path in VS Code (If Needed)

• Go to File > Preferences > Settings, search for C_Cpp: Default Compiler Path, and enter the path of your installed compiler.

4. Write C/C++ Code

• Create a new file with the .c or .cpp extension, for example, hello.c or hello.cpp.
• Write your C or C++ code in this file.

5. Configure Tasks for Building C/C++ Programs

• Go to Terminal > Configure Default Build Task... > C/C++: g++ build active file.

• This will create a tasks.json file in a .vscode folder within your workspace.

• Make sure the tasks.json file looks like this:

  json
  {
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
      {
        "label": "build",
        "type": "shell",
        "command": "g++",
        "args": [
          "-g",
          "${file}",
          "-o",
          "${fileDirname}/${fileBasenameNoExtension}"
        ],
        "group": {
          "kind": "build",
          "isDefault": true
        },
        "problemMatcher": ["$gcc"],
        "detail": "Generated task by VS Code"
      }
    ]
  }
  

6. Run the Code

• To build and run your code, press Ctrl + Shift + B to compile the code.
• Go to Terminal > New Terminal and type the following command to run the executable:

  pgsql
  ./filename   # Replace "filename" with your actual file name without the .cpp or .c extension.
  

• If you installed Code Runner, you can also right-click the editor and select Run Code to compile and run in one step.

Optional: Debugging

• For debugging, you need to install gdb (GNU Debugger) if it’s not installed already.
• In VS Code, go to Run > Add Configuration and set up a C/C++ debug configuration to use debugging tools like breakpoints, step-through execution, etc.

These steps should set you up to write, build, and run C and C++ code in VS Code efficiently.