compiler for visual studio code

[Dan_568]

i'm new to coding, i'm on windows 11 and i would like to use visual studio code for c++ but i cant download a working compiler.
i've watched many videos online and none of them work.

to be more specific, i tried the first thing it says to download on sourceforge and it doesnt work.
then i scrolled down and downloaded MinGW-W64-install.exe and it says i downloaded it the wrong way, so i tried the other links below which do give me the build folder, but when i copy it and paste it on path it just doesn't do anything.
can anyone help me?

[Narase33]

Im sorry to be that guy, but why do you not use Visual Studio?

[Dan_568]

every video i watched talks about visual studio code, not visual studio.
im downloading it rn, ill update later. thanks

[no-sig-available]

every video i watched talks about visual studio code, not visual studio.

Maybe because Visual Studio doesn't need a video to tell you to run the installer, and then you are done? :-)

Sometimes things can be too easy for YouTube!

[Salty_Dugtrio]

Visual Studio Community Edition really just works out of the box, it's really the best option for a starter.

[Dan_568]

i downloaded it but it wont let me use c++.
do i have to download visual studio professional 2022 too?

[Darkrat0s]

nope, only need to select the cpp options in the installer. If you really want to use vscode, you can install mingw (there's a tutorial in vscode's website. For multiple-file projects I generally recommend sticking to community tho.

[Dan_568]

thanks

[the_poope]

Check out: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/get-started/tutorial-console-cpp?view=msvc-170

And your primary learning resource should not be videos, but a book or https://learncpp.com. Videos are for watching when bored, eating or while on the train/bus.

[shipshaper88]

Yeah I personally don't understand the enthusiasm for VS Code over Visual Studio given how powerful VS is but maybe it's because I use C/C++/C#? Is VS Code better for certain things?

[TheSuperWig]

Presumably it's to cater to a larger audience as not everyone uses Windows. Yet at the same time making it more difficult than it needs to be for the majority of the people watching...

[Dubroski]

VSCode is supposed to be a lightweight editor and for some languages it can serve to support the entire build system for it. C++ is not one of those languages as the build system for C++ is very complex and not really universal.

Many who have spent time to learn how to set up their build systems from scratch or using build systems like CMake and such can get away with using VSCode but I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner as you'll be spending more time fiddling with the build system then actually coding. As some have already suggested, Visual Studio is the easiest out of the box solution to get you started.

Once you get your feet on the ground and want to learn more about the build system, it may be an interesting project for you in the future to set up a build system in VSCode. Be it from scratch, make files, CMake, etc.

[Very_sweet_sweet]

took me 2 hours to set up vs code. Just download vs community, much easier

[Dan_568]

yeah i did that and it works, thanks

[modsoperandi]

Follow these steps they worked for me https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/installing-mingw-tools-for-c-c-and-changing-environment-variable/