About
Computer Engineering and Science students may need a code editor for their coursework. For windows users, you can follow these steps to prepare your VS Code environment for C++ coding.
Environment
Windows
Steps
- Go to code.visualstudio.com and click Download. It will detect the build for your environment. It will download the .exe file.

- You can click the .exe. Do not adjust the destination location. For additional tasks, you can create a desktop icon for ease of use.

- Now, you will need a C++ compiler. It is recommended that you use MinGW. Click Download to get the installer.

- Click on the .exe file downloaded.

- This will open the installer and click "Install"

- Click Continue

- Click continue again if needed

- You'll be prompted to choose which packages to install. In this case, you'll need g++ to run .cpp files. It's recommended to choose base as well.

- Then, click Installation and Apply Changes

- Then, click Apply.

- Now, go to your search bar at the bottom of the screen, and type in This PC.

- Then, click Local Disk on the left side, and MinGW from the available folders.

- Click bin

- Right click on the navigator bar, and click copy address.

- Now, you can go to the search bar, type in environment variables and click environment variables.

- Click Environment Variables

- Then, click Path and Edit under system variables.

- Click new, paste the address we copied. Then, click Ok

- Open VS Code, and go to explorer. Click Open Folder.

- Right click in the white space, click new, then folder and name your folder. Then, click select folder.

- Go to extensions, find the C++ extension and install it

- Now, you can run a .cpp program. Go to explorer, and click ctrl+n to open a new file. Name it with your chosen file name, and the extension .cpp

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