How to generate a C++ executable file on Clion (using Ubuntu) - c++

Question

I'm currently learning C++ and I'm working on a small project. I was wondering how I can generate an executable of my project. I'm not sure how to do it, I'm using Ubuntu 20.04
I've googled it but I can not find any instructions on how to do it.

Answer 1

Well. If you are using CLion, you can just create a new project, and check the CMake file that CLion generate. Something like this:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)
project(Test)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
add_executable(Test main.cpp)
And in that file there was a line with a function called add_executable, in that function you set first the exe name and then the source files. And just run the project in CLion. By default CLion create a directory calle "cmake-build-debug" where the exe file are located.
If you want to add more libraries, change the binaries source directory and more. You will need learn CMake. Also you can use CMake standalone whiteout CLion, you just need install it sudo apt-get install cmake and use then in the terminal.

Answer 2

Expanding over #Steback's answer:
First, a clarification: an executable file is a file that can be executed by the system. It (roughly) contains assembly commands. Under Windows executable files are marked with an .exe extension. Under linux, they are usually extension-less.
To generate an executable file from C / C++ code you ("only") need a C/C++ compiler. A default / pre-installed one on Ubuntu is gcc / g++ (whereas on Windows you need to actively install one).
CLion is an IDE and (exactly like any other IDE) can run the compiler for you. IDE (stands for Integrated Development Environment) is a program which incorporates (minimally) a text/code editor, a compiler and a debugger (all of which it invokes normally via command line, just as you can do yourself).
CLion is an advanced (and excellent) IDE. In CLion, the way you specify how exactly it should invoke the compiler is via the CMake language (not to be confused with the unix tool make which chiefly only knows to run commands conditionally on file modified date).
CMake code should be placed in a file named CMakeLists.txt in the project root directory (sometimes CLion creates this file for you automatically). A minimal cmake project looks like
# Specify cmake language version to use for this file
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)
# Specify any name for the project
project(NameYourProject)
# A name for your executable file and the code files needed to build it
add_executable(YourExecutableName source_file1.cpp somefolder/source_file2.cpp header_file.h)
Of course this is just a very minimal example. The CMake language is a powerful language to specify build processes, with cross-platform support. You can look it up / learn it someday.
When giving the "build" command to CLion it will now do two things:
use the cmake tool to generate a set of commands for gcc/g++ (this is called "cmake configure" + "cmake generate") - according to what you wrote in CMakeLists.txt
run the generated commands to hopefully build your executable.
As a beginner, you may be better off first trying to run the compiler yourself via the command line to see what it does. You can also opt for a different IDE (e.g. CodeBlocks, eclipse, Dev C++) where you specify what you need the compiler to do via a GUI and not via CMake (although CMake is arguably more convenient).

Answer 3

I'm using Dev C++. When I run and compile it, it automaticcally generate a .exe file. Just install it and open ur file with it and compile it. Should work good.