VS Code Setup Guide

May 20, 2026 · View on GitHub

Complete Setup Documentation

Your VS Code workspace has been configured with complete build, run, and test task management for the LibMan project.

📦 What's Configured

VS Code Configuration Files

  • tasks.json - 10+ build/run/test tasks
  • settings.json - Compiler & CMake config
  • launch.json - Debug configurations
  • extensions.json - 7 recommended extensions

Features Included

✅ Debug & Release builds
✅ One-click build + run
✅ Full GDB debugging support
✅ Test compilation & execution
✅ Pre-configured compiler paths
✅ Code analysis exclusions
✅ Parallel builds (-j4)
✅ CMake integration

🎯 Available Tasks

Compilation & Running LibMan (Ctrl+Shift+B)

  • Build Debug
  • Build Release
  • Run Debug
  • Run Release
  • Build & Run Debug
  • Build & Run Release

Tests (Ctrl+Shift+B)

  • Configure Tests
  • Build Tests
  • Run All Tests

CMake Configuration (Ctrl+Shift+B)

  • CMake: Configure Debug
  • CMake: Configure Release

Debugging (F5)

  • Debug LibMan (GDB)
  • Debug Tests (GDB)

⚡ Quick Usage

Build & Run

  1. Press Ctrl+Shift+B
  2. Select "Build & Run Debug"
  3. Press Enter

Debug

  1. Press F5
  2. Select "Debug LibMan (GDB)"
  3. App launches with debugger

Run Tests

  1. Press Ctrl+Shift+B
  2. Select "Tests: Run All Tests"
  3. Tests execute

🔨 Build Configuration

Compiler Settings

  • Compiler: MinGW 8.1.0 (32-bit)
  • Path: C:/Qt/Tools/mingw810_32/bin/c++.exe
  • C++ Standard: C++17
  • Debugger: GDB

CMake Settings

  • Generator: MinGW Makefiles
  • Build Directory: build/
  • Test Build Directory: tests/build/
  • Parallel Jobs: 4 (-j4)

Excluded Directories

From explorer and search:

  • build/
  • tests/build/
  • .deps/
  • capnproto/
  • capnp-install/
  • lstream/
  • coverage.* (coverage files)

📝 Configuration Files

.vscode/tasks.json

Contains all build and run tasks. Edit to:

  • Add new build configurations
  • Change compiler flags
  • Modify parallel jobs
  • Customize task behavior

.vscode/settings.json

Controls VS Code behavior. Edit to:

  • Change compiler path
  • Modify CMake settings
  • Adjust code analysis
  • Change editor formatting

.vscode/launch.json

Debug configurations. Edit to:

  • Change executable paths
  • Add debug arguments
  • Modify GDB settings
  • Add more debug targets

🎓 Getting Started

First Time

  1. Install ZLIB (see DEPENDENCIES.md)
  2. Configure CMake: Ctrl+Shift+B → "CMake: Configure Debug"
  3. Build: Ctrl+Shift+B → "Build Debug"
  4. Run: Ctrl+Shift+B → "Run Debug"

Regular Development

  • Build: Ctrl+Shift+B (use dropdown)
  • Debug: F5 (starts with automatic build)
  • Test: Ctrl+Shift+B → "Tests: Run All Tests"

🔧 Customization

Increase Build Speed

Edit .vscode/tasks.json, find build tasks, change -j4 to -j8:

"args": ["--build", "build", "--config", "Debug", "-j8"]

Use Different Generator

In .vscode/tasks.json, change "MinGW Makefiles" to:

  • "Ninja" (requires Ninja installed)
  • "Visual Studio 16 2019"

Change Compiler

Edit .vscode/settings.json:

"C_Cpp.default.compilerPath": "path/to/your/compiler"

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