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IDE & Debugging
ViewTouch contributors uniformly prefer CMake — a free, cross-platform family of tools designed to build, test, and package software.
- Platform Independent: Simple configuration files work across platforms
- Compiler Agnostic: Generates native makefiles and workspaces for any compiler environment
- Flexible: Choose your preferred development tools and workflows
NeroBurner recommends:
- QT Creator IDE - Full-featured C++ development environment
- SourceTrail - Cross-platform source explorer for C/C++
QT Creator can be configured to work with SourceTrail by adding the QT Creator plugin to SourceTrail.
- Default: GCC
- Alternative: Clang (for those preferring LLVM-based compilation)
QT offers comprehensive documentation for setting up debuggers of your choice.
Nicholas Turnbull uses Eclipse C++ Development Toolkit and shares this optimization:
"I've found that of all the possible IDEs for reviewing and debugging ViewTouch, Eclipse C++ Development Toolkit turns out to be ideal. I'd been laboriously recompiling it via the command line and eventually it just got too much of a drag. By adding the -g flag to the cmake build file, setting Eclipse's build command to 'make install' from the /build directory and pointing the Run command to /usr/viewtouch/bin, it's possible to actually both debug and install a live system interactively with everything in the proper directories. The graphical interface to gdb in Eclipse allows the precise object fields to be inspected and the events traced, which is a huge help."
- Add
-gflag to CMake build file for debugging symbols - Set Eclipse build command to
make installfrom/builddirectory - Point Run command to
/usr/viewtouch/bin - Use Eclipse's graphical gdb interface for object inspection and event tracing
With HiDef displays costing as little as $50-$60, every developer can easily set up a dual-monitor debugging environment:
- Monitor 1: Run the ViewTouch GUI
- Monitor 2: Run your preferred IDE and debugger
This provides simultaneous viewing of:
- 🎨 Live ViewTouch interface execution
- 🔍 Code execution and debugging
Some developers aren't using debuggers simply because they've never learned how. If debugging is a barrier, let's create an issue and provide a how-to guide for setting up dual-monitor debugging!
Relevant insights: About Debugging - 8 Things I Wish I Knew Earlier by Garret Polderman.
Sergii Pylypenko reminds everyone to use Valgrind for memory debugging.
Qt Creator integrates Valgrind code analysis tools for:
- 🔍 Detecting memory leaks
- 📊 Profiling function execution
- 🐛 Identifying memory-related bugs
Also recommended: cppcheck for static code analysis to catch potential issues before runtime.
| Tool | Purpose | Recommended By |
|---|---|---|
| CMake | Build system | ViewTouch contributors |
| QT Creator | Primary IDE | NeroBurner |
| SourceTrail | Code exploration | NeroBurner |
| Eclipse CDT | Alternative IDE | Nicholas Turnbull |
| Valgrind | Memory debugging | Sergii Pylypenko |
| cppcheck | Static analysis | Community |
Choose the tools that fit your workflow — ViewTouch development supports multiple IDEs and debugging approaches to accommodate different developer preferences and expertise levels.