I've decided to have a real go at developing with C++, I'm ok at the basic stuff, I know my if...else and my do......while e.t.c. My plan is to do a complete clean install of Dapper (as my system has been filled with junk) get serious and hopefully get to a stage where I can start to think of graphics API's and all the extra bits that I would need to get some sort of game project going.

I'm a devoted Gnome user and would prefer to use Anjuta, my aim is to set up Anjuta with everything Installed that I would need in future, (when I've tried running example code like SDL or OpenGL stuff, there's always libs e.t.c. that aren't there).

What will I need to install along with Anjuta itself that will ensure that any code I may write in future will have all it needs already installed? Can this be done from the Ubuntu repositories or will I need to download and install stuff manually? and how do I get Anjuta to 'see' these libs when they are installed? (I did download SDL and install it but couldn't get Anjuta to run with it).

As I said I'm a Gnome user but is there a better C/C++ IDE out there, I looked at Kdevelop but it seems way too complicated for my current needs and seems to push a user towards QT and KDE development. It looks like it's built for seriously big developments rather than the kind of thing I'll be having a go at. I've considered just using a text editor and compiling on command line but again how would I incorporate all the extra bits needed, If I write something in Gedit and it uses SDL, how do I compile it?

I think I've got a bit long winded about this but hopefully someone can make sense of this.

Thanks in advance

Eric

Hi Blastradius,

You cant really "ensure that any code I may write in future will have all it needs already", as different code needs, and uses different libraries (which is one of the reasons there are so many libraries). What you need to do there is think through what you want to develop, and identify the libraries you expect to use for it. If you find later you need another library, add it to the list. Besides, if you ever want to release your code, you will need to list its dependancies for any one else to have a hope of installing it.

Normally, there are two types of lib package, the lib itself, and a lib-dev package which has the headers/etc for development.

In terms of "seeing" the headers, when they are installed, make sure that the "include directories" setting in your choice of IDE is set up to include their installed location. You should be able to get this information in Dapper by querying the dev package properties in synaptic. You may need to set up the lib directories too.

Generally though, this is for the sake of the IDE performing code-completion and object browsing. To actually build your code, you will need a makefile, or to autogenerate one with automake, and you should learn the tool and syntax. The makefile would then build the code with the relevant libs and headers.

In terms of a choice of IDE, it really depends what you want. If you want heavyweight everything, then Eclipse+CDT may be a good choice. If you want light-weight, and very nearly everything anyway, I recommend SciTE. Anjuta and KDevelop are both fairly comprehensive, but like you say, they tend to push you towards GTK or QT only development. For me, it generally just comes down to what I am comfortable with.

Good luck, development can be both a very rewarding and very frustrating path. Persevere, and it is generally worth it.

Danny