Best Sublime Text Plugins for C/C++ Developers

By On Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Sample C++ codeAlthough most C/C++ developers use popular integrated development environments like Visual Studio, versatile code editors like Sublime text is also taking its place among professional C++ programmers. By default, you get basic syntax highlighting while writing C++ code in this popular code editor. But, there are several powerful and feature-packed plugins one can use to enrich the C++ code writing experience within Sublime Text. Some of these add-ons are targeted for C code while other packages cover both C and C++ code. You can combine two or more plugins to tweak and customize the environment as per your requirements. All these extensions are open source and can be fine-tuned quite easily after forking on GitHub. I've thoroughly tested these C/C++ packages in Sublime Text 3 and found them working seamlessly without any issues. Most of these extensions also work fine on Sublime Text 2 without any issues. So, if you're a coding ninja, do take advantage of these powerful C/C++ extensions.

Sample C++ codeSublime Text Packages for C/C++

C++ Starting Kit - This plugin covers C, C++ and C++ 11 with enhanced syntax highlighting supporting all the latest standards. It also includes customizable syntax definition for C++ code facilitating fine-tuning the highlighting for the personalized environment. It also has a powerful feature that allows you to define custom build sequence for g++ compilers making it one of the best plugins for professional C++ developers. It also includes a nice bundled color scheme theme for the C/C++ code which can easily override the current theme (if required) within your code editor.

C Improved - Though the name suggests that it includes features related to C but that's not truth. It includes support for C++ and Objective-C as well. If you write complex multi-line macros in your code, this extension parses and highlights them accurately for better readability. Hardcore programmers working with Linux kernel code will be impressed by this add-ons ability to format and highlight such code in the best possible way. The same feature is also supported for Windows drivers source code. Its another handy feature highlights only standard functions calls to make them stand out in code.

C++11 - As the name implies, this plugin is a complete package for correct syntax highlighting for C++11 code base. It's lightweight and works perfectly with large and complex code. If you only work with C++11, you must use this plugin for better code readability. It can work both with version 2 and 3 without any issues. Since this extension entirely works on its own, it has no dependency on other plugins to make it work smoothly. You can combine this plugin with other relevant extensions to further customize the coding environment. This flexible and powerful plugin is worth a try.

Cpp​Builder - Developers who use GNU Make system for compiling and building their C++ projects will find this add-on extremely useful. Once installed and configured, this plugin can automatically create a project folder for you along with the required Makefile to build and run the application. It has several handy keyboard shortcuts to speed up the file making and building process. Through the universal project settings file, you can completely customize the project building process to match your needs. It can be used for a large project as well as for a single C++ file. I've tested it with ST3 on Linux.

CMake​Snippets - This is yet another powerful and flexible plugin for professional developers working on large projects with CMake project building environments. It provides handy snippets, shortcuts and several other features to let you build configuration and build files for large projects. Since this extension has no support for syntax highlighting of CMake files, one must install an additional plugin to get that feature. It supports code snippet completion for several popular tool chains easing the build process. Do once try it if you regularly use CMake build system for your projects.

Clang Format - This is one of my preferred Sublime Text plugins for beautifying the C or C++ code. Its syntax highlighting system is based on Clang format which is further enhanced to give you better readability and code scanning experience. It includes several keyboard shortcuts as well as a command palette for quickly accessing various options and features. This plugin is only available for ST3 and works on almost all popular platforms. Users can also customize the entire formatting styles through a single settings file giving you enough flexibility to make it behave as you want it to.

C++ Snippets - If you eat and breathe C++, this plugin is a must. It includes lots of handy and commonly used C++ snippets to speed up the coding process. Available for both ST2 and ST3, it is one of the widely used C++ plugins for Sublime Text. It also has detailed documentation which helps you take full advantage of the plugin's functionality. Once you get hang of this plugin, you'll never try any other option. It also includes handy preprocessor snippet shortcuts to quickly add these macros in your code. If you're using this powerful package, do share your experience with us about its innovative usage.

C++Namespace​Tool - And last but not the least, this handy Sublime Text extension allows you to tame C++ namespace usage. For very large projects, namespace usage can be often confusing for new developers. This plugin helps you correctly refactor namespaces to easily control the code base. It has both keyboard shortcuts as well as context menu options to easily insert correct namespace declarations in the file. Developers can also customize both keyboard shortcuts as well as the context menu to access frequently used options in an easy way. It is available both for ST2 and ST3.