The Steps to Installing Eclipse for C++ on Your Computer

Installing Eclipse to do C++ development on any operating system involves several steps:
  1. Make certain a C++ compiler, debugger, and make are installed on your system. If not, install them.
  2. Make certain the folder containing your C++ compiler is in < your PATH variable. If not, modify the PATH variable to include that folder.
  3. Install the Eclipse IDE for Java developers.
  4. Install CDT, the C++ plugin for Eclipse.
  5. Test your installation.

Windows

Click here for video instructions leading you through these steps for Eclipse 3.6 (Helios) and CDT 7.0.1 on a Windows XP system. The steps should be very similar for subsequent versions. At the conclusion of each video, use your browser's Back button to return to the list of videos.

CDT creates 32-bit binaries, which the 64-bit version of Eclipse has trouble launching, so until further notice, be sure that you install a 32-bit version of Eclipse, even if you have a 64-bit computer. (This may require a 32-bit version of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).)

MacOS

On a MacOS system, these steps are very similar, except that you can get the GNU C++ compiler, debugger, and make by installing Xcode:
  1. You should first quit iTunes and iTunesHelper (e.g., quit iTunes normally; then use the Terminal command killall iTunesHelper to terminate iTunesHelper) because these interfere with installing Xcode.
  2. If you then install Xcode (free from the Apple Store), it will install the GNU C++ compiler, debugger, and make on your computer. The installation wizard should update your PATH variable (step 2) for you, if necessary.
  3. The remaining steps (3, 4, and 5) are very similar to those shown in the installation videos for Windows.
If you are comfortable with the MacOS command-line and want a newer version of the GNU compiler, you can get one using the MacPorts package manager. MacPorts has over 13,000 free and open-source programs for your mac, so I would encourage you to learn to use it.
CS > 112 > Resources > Installing Eclipse
This page maintained by Joel Adams.