User talk:Merritt: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 15:19, 7 October 2021

Setting up an IDE for KDE Development

// Blurb about IDEs and choices

Visual Studio Code (VSCode)

VSCode is a very popular cross-platform, general-purpose, open source IDE. Thanks to its powerful extensions systems it supports many languages as well as deep customization options for themes, fonts, keyboard controls, and more.

Installing

VSCode is available as a deb, rpm, portable, and in the Arch User Repository.

https://code.visualstudio.com/Download

Extensions

Once VSCode is installed we need some extensions to enable support for the languages to work on KDE projects.

C/C++ Extension Pack - Enables support for C++ and CMake.

Qt tools - Enables some Qt support.

QML - Enables syntax highlighting for QML.

Optional:

Zeal is an application that allows browsing documentation offline.

Dash is a VSCode extension that enables a hotkey (Ctrl + H) to instantly open the item under the cursor in Zeal.

These paired together make looking up documentation while working on code very quick and easy.

Configuration

VSCode holds settings related to specific projects in the top-level project directory, in a hidden .vscode folder.

We will use Dolphin as an example of where to add our project configuration files:

settings.json

This config specifies the correct build directory.

Create the file settings.json at ~/kde/src/dolphin/.vscode/settings.json

Add the following to the new file:

{
    "cmake.buildDirectory": "${workspaceFolder}/../../build/dolphin"
}

c_cpp_properties.json

This config enables the correct settings to support C++, CMake & IntelliSense.

Create the file c_cpp_properties.json at ~/kde/src/dolphin/.vscode/c_cpp_properties.json

Add the following to the new file:

{
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Linux",
            "includePath": [
                "${workspaceFolder}/**"
            ],
            "defines": [],
            "compilerPath": "/usr/bin/gcc",
            "cStandard": "c17",
            "cppStandard": "c++17",
            "intelliSenseMode": "${default}",
            "compileCommands": "${workspaceFolder}/compile_commands.json"
        }
    ],
    "version": 4
}

.kdesrc-buildrc

Needed to enable LSP support:

In ~/.kdesrc-buildrc ensure these two options are in the global section and set to true:

    compile-commands-linking true
    compile-commands-export true

Working on a project

We work on a project in VSCode by opening it as a folder:

File -> Open Folder
Navigate to ~/kde/src/dolphin and press OK

Information

Along the bottom of the window are buttons to configure, build, run, debug, etc.

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
-==VSCode==
+==Visual Studio Code (VSCode)==
-// Blurb about VSCode
+VSCode is a very popular cross-platform, general-purpose, open source IDE. Thanks to its powerful extensions systems it supports many languages as well as deep customization options for themes, fonts, keyboard controls, and more.
-// Setup instructions
+===Installing===
-<!-- Add sections for QtCreator / KDevelop / Kate / etc as appropriate.. -->
+VSCode is available as a deb, rpm, portable, and in the Arch User Repository.
+https://code.visualstudio.com/Download
+===Extensions===
+Once VSCode is installed we need some extensions to enable support for the languages to work on KDE projects.
+# [https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.cpptools-extension-pack C/C++ Extension Pack] - Enables support for C++ and CMake.
+# [https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=tonka3000.qtvsctools Qt tools] - Enables some Qt support.
+# [https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=bbenoist.QML QML] - Enables syntax highlighting for QML.
+Optional:
+[https://zealdocs.org/ Zeal] is an application that allows browsing documentation offline.
+[https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=deerawan.vscode-dash Dash] is a VSCode extension that enables a hotkey (Ctrl + H) to instantly open the item under the cursor in Zeal.
+These paired together make looking up documentation while working on code very quick and easy.
+===Configuration===
+VSCode holds settings related to specific projects in the top-level project directory, in a hidden <code>.vscode</code> folder.
+We will use Dolphin as an example of where to add our project configuration files:
+====settings.json====
+This config specifies the correct build directory.
+Create the file <code>settings.json</code> at <code>~/kde/src/dolphin/.vscode/settings.json</code>
+Add the following to the new file:
+{{Input|1=<nowiki>
+{
+    "cmake.buildDirectory": "${workspaceFolder}/../../build/dolphin"
+}
+</nowiki>}}
+====c_cpp_properties.json====
+This config enables the correct settings to support C++, CMake & IntelliSense.
+Create the file <code>c_cpp_properties.json</code> at <code>~/kde/src/dolphin/.vscode/c_cpp_properties.json</code>
+Add the following to the new file:
+{{Input|1=<nowiki>
+{
+    "configurations": [
+        {
+            "name": "Linux",
+            "includePath": [
+                "${workspaceFolder}/**"
+            ],
+            "defines": [],
+            "compilerPath": "/usr/bin/gcc",
+            "cStandard": "c17",
+            "cppStandard": "c++17",
+            "intelliSenseMode": "${default}",
+            "compileCommands": "${workspaceFolder}/compile_commands.json"
+        }
+    ],
+    "version": 4
+}
+</nowiki>}}
+====.kdesrc-buildrc====
+Needed to enable LSP support:
+In <code>~/.kdesrc-buildrc</code> ensure these two options are in the global section and set to true:
+{{Input|1=<nowiki>
+    compile-commands-linking true
+    compile-commands-export true
+</nowiki>}}
+====Working on a project====
+We work on a project in VSCode by opening it as a folder:
+* <code>File</code> -> <code>Open Folder</code>
+* Navigate to <code>~/kde/src/dolphin</code> and press <code>OK</code>
+{{Info|Along the bottom of the window are buttons to configure, build, run, debug, etc.}}