Programming in C/C++ Within the Atom Text Editor [Mac OS]

This will be a quick walkthrough of setting up the Atom text editor to code in C/C++. Once setup, you will be able to write, compile, and run programs from within the Atom text editor. This guide assumes you have installed software before in a Mac environment and now how to move around the file system as needed.

First download and install Xcode on your system:

https://developer.apple.com/xcode/

After installing, open up Xcode for the first time. This will verify the program and finish the setup. You will also have to agree to the program terms which may involve running as root.

Next download and install the Atom text editor on your system:

https://atom.io/

After installing, open the program.

Click on Atom in the menu > Preferences.

Once the preferences page opens, click on Install on the left-hand

At the top there will be a search bar. Search for gpp-compiler.

Note: More info about gpp-compiler can be found here:

https://atom.io/packages/gpp-compiler

The results will up and it should be the first one in the list. Click install. After it installs. restart Atom.

Now code your first C/C++ program. When completed, right-click on the file in the tree view (left-hand side) and chose Compile and Run.

Your program will then compile using the tools already installed with Xcode and the terminal window should pop up to run your program. Figure 1 below shows a test Hello World! program written in C++ within Atom.

                                               Fig. 1: programming in c/c++ within Atom