Code::Blocks: Free IDE for C/C++ and Fortran on Debian.

Code::Blocks is an open-source integrated development environment that supports multiple compilers, including GCC, Clang, and Visual C++. It was developed in C++ using wxWidgets like the GUI toolkit. Using a plugin architecture, its capabilities and features are defined by the provided plugins. It is oriented toward C, C++, and Fortran.

Code::Blocks is a free, open-source, cross-platform C/C++ and Fortran IDE designed to meet the most demanding needs of its users. It is designed to be highly extensible and fully configurable.

Built around a plugin framework, Code::Blocks can be extended with plugins. Any type of functionality can be added by installing or coding a plugin. For example, event compilation and debugging functionality is provided by plugins.

Because Dev-C++ is an IDE for C and C++ and is built in Delphi, the idea and need arose to create an IDE based on the appropriate languages: C and C++. This motivated Code::Blocks.

Code::Blocks is licensed under the GNU General Public License and is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS, and has been ported to FreeBSD, OpenBSD2, and Solaris.

Characteristics

Highlights:

• Open source! GPLv3, no hidden costs.
• Cross-platform. Runs on Linux, Mac, Windows (uses wxWidgets).
• Written in C++. No interpreted languages or proprietary libraries required.
• Extensible through plugins

Compiler:

• Multi-compiler support:
  • GCC (MingW / GNU GCC)
  • MSVC++
  • clang
  • Digital Mars
  • Borland C++ 5.5
  • Open Watcom
  • …and more
• Very fast custom build system (no makefiles needed)
• Support for parallel compilations (using your CPU's additional cores)
• Multi-objective projects
• Workspaces to combine multiple projects
• Dependencies between projects within the workspace
• Import MSVC projects and workspaces (NOTE: Assembly code is not yet supported)
• Import Dev-C++ projects

Scrubber:

• GNU GDB Interfaces
• Also supports MS CDB (not all features)
• Full breakpoint support:
  • Code breakpoints
  • Data breakpoints (read, write, and read/write)
  • Breakpoint conditions (break only when an expression is true)
  • Breakpoint ignorance counts (break only after a certain number of visits)
• Display local function symbols and arguments
• User-defined observations (support for observing user-defined types via scripting)
• Call stack
• Disassembly
• Custom memory dump
• Switching between threads
• View CPU logs

Interface:

• Syntax highlighting, customizable and extensible.
• Code folding for C, C++, Fortran, XML, and many more files.
• Tabbed interface
• Code completion
• Class Navigator
• Smart Sangria
• One-key swapping between .h and .c/.cpp files
• Open file list to quickly switch between files (optional)
• Customizable external “tools”
• Managing task lists with different users

And many more features provided through plugins!

Installing Code::Blocks on Debian 12, MX-Linux 23.2

First, make sure you have the software necessary to compile and debug programs.

1. Install the compiler.

$ sudo apt-get install build-essential

2. Install the debugger.

$ sudo apt-get install gdb

The xterm program is an X Window System terminal emulator for Code::Blocks

$ sudo apt install xterm

You will need to install wxWidgets to use Codeblocks

Install wxSmith graphics library development files

$ sudo apt-get install wxsmith-headers

3. Install the wxWidgets library.

$ sudo apt-get install libwxgtk-gl3.2-1 libwxgtk3.2-1 

4. 4. Install the wxWidgets development packages. (This is used to develop your own wxWidgets applications.)

$ sudo apt-get install libwxgtk3.2-dev

5.(OPTIONAL) Install the wxWidgets documentation.

$ sudo apt-get install wx3.2-doc

To install the full Codeblocks IDE we enter this command

$ sudo apt-get install codeblocks codeblocks-contrib

Installing Code::Blocks on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

First, make sure you have the software necessary to compile and debug programs.

1. Install the compiler.

$ sudo apt-get install build-essential

2. Install the debugger.

$ sudo apt-get install gdb

The xterm program is an X Window System terminal emulator for Code::Blocks

$ sudo apt install xterm

You will need to install wxWidgets to use Codeblocks

$ sudo apt install wxsmith-headers

3. Install the wxWidgets library.

$ sudo apt-get install libwxgtk3.0-4

4. 4. Install the wxWidgets development packages. (This is used to develop your own wxWidgets applications.)

$ sudo apt-get install libwxgtk3.0-dev

5.(OPTIONAL) Install the wxWidgets documentation.

$ sudo apt-get install wx3.0-doc

Codeblocks is packaged in separate Debian packages and the packages are archived together in one file. tar.gz.

1. Download the tar.gz file to your computer at https://www.codeblocks.org/downloads/binaries/ and extract the files to an empty directory

$ tar xvf codeblocks_*_amd64_stable.tar.xz

2. Install all packages at the same time.

$ sudo dpkg -i *.deb

To install Code::Blocks from this PPA, open a terminal and type:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:codeblocks-devs/daily
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install codeblocks codeblocks-contrib

Installing Code::Blocks on Fedora 39/40

We open a console and execute the following command.

$ sudo dnf install codeblocks codeblocks-contrib

Install CodeBlocks from the command line on Arch

We open a terminal and execute the following command.

$ sudo pacman -Syu codeblocks

Summary

Code::Blocks, the full-featured IDE you need, with a consistent look, feel, and feel across all platforms, for programming in C/C++ and Fortran on Linux and developing open source software.