Build multiple C++ files not working - Linux Mint - c++

Question

I am following a C++ tutorial, and the guy shows how to set up tasks.json to run multiple C++ files at the same time, link with timestamp:
https://youtu.be/8jLOx1hD3_o?t=4584
Now I installed the newest versions of all of the packages:
Change my tasks.json to be same as his:
{
"version": "2.0.0",
"tasks": [
{
"type": "cppbuild",
"label": "C/C++: g++-11 build active file",
"command": "/usr/bin/g++-11",
"args": [
"-g",
"-std=c++20",
"${workspaceFolder}/*.cpp",
"-o",
"${fileDirname}/rooster"
],
"options": {
"cwd": "${fileDirname}"
},
"problemMatcher": ["$gcc"],
"group": "build",
"detail": "compiler: /usr/bin/g++-11"
}
]
}
Try to compile and it does not work, error:
Starting build...
/usr/bin/g++-11 -g -std=c++20 "/home/elhan/ius/intro to programming/cpp/*.cpp" -o "/home/elhan/ius/intro to programming/cpp/rooster"
cc1plus: fatal error: /home/elhan/ius/intro to programming/cpp/*.cpp: No such file or directory
compilation terminated.
Build finished with error(s).
What might be the problem?
Working dir:

Answer 1

One of the arguments to your build command is
${workspaceFolder}/*.cpp
When variable substitution occurs, VS Code recognizes that there are spaces in your directory name, so the entire argument is enclosed in quotes to protect it from the shell. In the line after Starting build..., you can see the same thing happening with the argument specifying the output destination (which also has spaces after substitution), while the other arguments (with no spaces in them) are passed to the shell without quotes.
"/home/elhan/ius/intro to programming/cpp/*.cpp"
The quotes do indeed protect the argument from being processed by the shell, which is why it is interpreted as a single argument. At the same time, the quotes protect the argument from being processed by the shell, which is why the wildcard * is not expanded. And that's the problem.
If you pay attention to details, the video uses underscores instead of spaces to separate words in directory names. Follow suit, and rename your intro to programming directory to intro_to_programming.