In the writeup on IBM’s website about Eclipse and C/C++ development, Warsaw-based writer Pawel Leszek talked about making Eclipse the framework for creating applications in C.

Leszek specifically looks at equipping Eclipse with a set of plug-ins to make the environment into the nicely-equipped CDT a developer will need. He listed them and a summary of each one:

•  Primary CDT plug-in is the “framework” CDT plug-in.
•  CDT Feature Eclipse is the CDT Feature Component.
•  CDT Core provides Core Model, CDOM, and Core Components.
•  CDT UI is the Core UI, views, editors, and wizards.
•  CDT Launch provides the launch mechanism for external tools such as the compiler and debugger.
•  CDT Debug Core provides debugging functions.
•  CDT Debug UI provides the user interface for the CDT debugging editors, views, and wizards.
•  CDT Debug MI is the application connector for MI-compatible debuggers.

Getting the CDT up and running varies depending on the operating system of choice. Eclipse and Java SDKs would need to be installed and running properly. Linux users have GCC on their systems, so they are all set. Windows users will need to grab either Cygwin or the MinGW toolkit first.

Once the CDT components are installed, three new options will be available for projects: C (“Standard C Make Project”), C++ (“Standard C++ Make Project”), and “Convert to C or C++ Projects”. Eclipse can import existing source code through use of the File-> Import -> File System command.

Leszek noted how the CDT IDE recognizes C/C++ syntax. Eclipse will do syntax highlighting, code colorizing, and code formatting. The Outline window shows procedures, variables, declarations, and functions in the source code.

CDT also has code completion. The developer can update the code templates the assist function draws from, or add new ones as desired. Also, CDT maintains a local code history, so even if a developer is not using version control this will show local changes made in the source.

To build projects, CDT depends on GCC, GDB, and make. Leszek warned that “source code packages use the autoconf script for checking the build environment, so you need to run the configure command, which creates the “Makefile” before compilation.”

The Run menu in Eclipse provides the options needed to run and debug the application as needed. Options for running a project can be set for Run, such as profiles to run under, arguments to pass to the application, or environment variables.

Under Debug view, CDT adds functions for debugging C/C++ code. The developer can set breakpoints or watchpoints, and trace variables and registers according to Leszek. Overall there are plenty of features to make CDT an option to consider for those who want to try Eclipse out for C/C++ work.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

NetBeans made the C/C++ Pack available as an open source project.

The development pack replaces the cpp and cpplite modules that C developers would have used previously.

The development team plans to update the project about once a month.

“While the updates don’t have all of the functionality we’ll have when we release, they definitely have enough functionality for many uses,” they noted.

This IDE provides language-aware features in code completion and folding, and syntax highlighting.

Developers can import existing makefiles into the editor and work on those C/C++ projects from there.

A makefile wizard in the IDE helps developers bring in the already-created makefile. Users can specify compiler, pre-processor definitions, compile-time options, and define and manage targets/configurations.

A class browser is part of the environment, but a debugger is not yet, though the project noted that it is coming soon.

Since the editor has been built in pure Java, developers should have no problem getting to work on the three OS platforms already qualified by the project for it.

The project team did make an observation about compilers, and said, “The bulk of the testing has occurred with the compilers in the GNU Compiler Collection.” They are soliciting feedback on usage of the editor with other compilers, and plan to formally support more of them in the future.

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A few months after comparing C programming job openings to those for other languages, we’re taking a look at demand for C among those most widely discussed of Internet companies, the search engines.

Searching on Google’s Jobs site for C programming brought back 87 results in a variety of positions. Software engineering figured prominently, and results for positions like Linux system administration and data modeling also appeared in the list.

Yahoo job queries go through its Careers page. A search for C programming returned 206 results, with about 170 of them posted in the month of May.

One brand new opening calls for a senior software engineer to work on web search relevance. That posting is of particular interest now that eBay and Yahoo disclosed a partnership where increased inclusion of eBay’s paid and organic results in Yahoo Search will be a focal point for collaboration.

Microsoft has so many facets of its business that looking for search jobs with the company required a little tweaking on its Career search page. We searched for C/C++/C# since a number of Microsoft’s positions list those programming skills in that way.

Also, we limited the search to Windows Live, MSN Search, and the specialized MSN services Local Search, Desktop Search, and Premium Search; we also included Microsoft AdCenter due to the closely linked nature of contextual advertising to search relevance.

Only six of Microsoft’s 52 listed positions were posted in May, two for MSN Local Search and the rest for Windows Live. Microsoft may not be eager to add headcount before the end of its fiscal year; the company did force 1,000 of its global contract staff to take an unpaid week off work.

Ask.com lists a number of open positions in engineering/information technology. Nineteen of those jobs reference C programming, with three posted in May.

Two of Ask’s three May positions will involve traveling east instead of west, with openings in their Piscataway, NJ facility. The job seeker who ends up there should take the opportunity to ask James Jeude and Tomasz Imielinski when System Crash will be playing another live gig.

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For everyone who has memorized the contents of the Dennis Ritchie and Brian Kernighan tome “The C Programming Language,” or even the recently released Peter Prinz and Tony Crawford opus “C in a Nutshell,” may be excused to go pick up wings and beverages for tonight’s NCAA men’s basketball games.

Still reading? Ok. We’re going to touch on some references C programmers should find useful. After digging around the Internet a bitok, after doing a search on Delicious for C programming information, a number of good resources crawl on their ones and zeroes into the browser.

The list of quick reference cards on Jialong He’s website at Arizona State U not only contains a link to a two-page C card, but links to references for several other topics.

These are useful to programmers who, through the acknowledgement of their wizardry, are assumed to know everything about technology. Not that they don’t, but programmers are busy people.

Being asked to divine the mysteries of Sendmail five minutes before lunch can ruin a programmer’s otherwise benign mood. Instead of giving the querent a wholly justified beating, a link to the Sendmail reference card can be provided instead.

A variety of reference material for experienced programmers resides at CPPReference.com. The site includes references for C/C++, the standard C library, and a C++ standard template library.

Also, links to lists of all the C functions or C++ functions returns a hyperlinked list of those functions. An explanation of each function can be found from its link.

The CSharpFriends website provides a syntax reference card for Microsoft’s answer to Java, C#. And on Harding University’s website, several contributors created comparison sheet for VB.net and C#, and Java and C#.

Of course, there is always the library or the bookstore, for those who prefer to keep a reference at hand. Having a couple of bookmarks to online references can help one get past a problem quickly, especially if you are working at a remote site and really need to dig deeper into a particular function.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.

The language is quite popular and with more than thirty years of use, is as durable as any language out there. The language is prized for both its portability and its efficiency. This book covers a lot of ground with the C programming language.

As Prinz and Crawford observe in their book, “The key characteristics of the C language are the qualities that made it suitable for implementing the Unix operating system: source code portability, the ability to operate ‘close to the machine’ and efficiency.

“Because C was expressly designed for system programming it is hardly surprising that one of its major uses today is in programming embedded systems,” they add. “At the same time, however, many developers use C as a portable, structured, high-level language to write programs such as powerful word processors, databases, and graphic applications.” Their new book fills a gap in the market for volumes dedicated to C. “Although compilers now have nearly full support for the 1999 standard, textbooks and references have remained behind the times,” Crawford notes.

“‘C in a Nutshell’ provides concise tips, techniques, examples, and practical advice,” adds Prinz. “This will allow advanced developers to maximize their capabilities. Furthermore it includes a compact introduction to the language and its key functions This makes it ideal for less experienced C developers or those who want to start writing code right away.”

Following a format similar to the highly successful “C++ in a Nutshell,” Prinz and Crawford’s new book provides everything programmers need. The book is divided into three parts. The first describes the C language in the strict sense of the term; the second describes the standard library, and the third describes the process of compiling and testing programs with the tools in the popular GNU software collection.

Prinz says “I wanted to write a clear, well structured, and complete exposition of the language, including the enhancements in the C99 standard.”

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John Stith is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.