Cloud9 IDE and C Programming

Question

How can I write a C program in the IDE, cloud9? Whenever I start to write its showing errors, I even tried to change the file extension to ".C", but it doesn't work.

Does the cloud9 IDE support C programming?

Answer 1

Cloud 9 does support C ( and C++ ) using gcc and g++

gcc --version

(GCC) 4.4.7 20120313 (Red Hat 4.4.7-4)

You can use their integrated editor, but the run button still acts like it trying to execute Javascript, which is the default, and seems to be their the target audience.

They have a fine C hello world example -- http://support.cloud9ide.com/entries/23541348-C-hello-Cloud9

Typically I just maximize the terminal, and run vim ( they have 7.2 installed ), and it works just like any passable unix terminal. They also have gdb installed, if you need a debugger.

There are comparisons against installed compiler solutions, but that isn't what Cloud9 is competing against. Their own description is Google Docs for code, and that seems to pretty fairly accurate. It certainly isn't all things to all people, but it is a pretty amazing service.

With Cloud9 I can write code on my Chromebook without having to install a bunch of stuff to almost make Linux run on it. This would be a good solution for students, since it would allow them to work in a computer lab without needing any software installed. I have found that using github and c9, I can easily switch back and forth between c9 while I am remote, and a local setup when I am on a real computer.

Answer 2

Short answer

Yes Cloud9 does support C and C++ programming

Long Answer

Cloud9 has a varying level of support for different programming languages and frameworks.

1. Cloud9's ACE editor currently supports highlighting for about 60 programming languages including C/C++. The list is growing and you can get the full list from the "View -> Syntax" menu.

2. The editor has extensive support for JavaScript with error highlighting and code completion. It also has live syntax error checks for CSS, CoffeeScript, PHP, Python, JSON and Lua.

3. The run menu supports running

   • JavaScript (node.js)
   • Python
   • Ruby
   • PHP (using apache)

4. Each project is a unix sandbox with the standard tools like bash, make, gcc, vim, java SDK or perl installed. The terminal in Cloud9 is a full xterm compatible terminal emulator and you can use this to compile and run your C programs.

5. Cloud9 also has a package manager called c9pm which currently has about 120 packages. These packages include e.g. different versions of python and ruby, mono, lua or groovy.

6. In case you still need additional tools or libraries you can always download them to your workspace and compile and install them there.

As you see it is hard to draw the line of what is actually supported but usually you will have at least syntax highlighting in the editor and running from the console.

Answer 3

It claims support on the web page for "Javascript and Node.js applications as well as HTML, CSS, PHP, Java, Ruby and 23 other languages".

Yet it's very light on regarding details of those other languages. It does state that the editor, ACE, supports many different languages although whether that's natural languages or computer languages it doesn't specify. Additionally, an editor supporting a language is not the same as an IDE supporting it. It makes little sense having syntax coloring for C but no compiler.

Certainly C++ is possible as shown here but the fact that you simply use the editor then switch to a terminal session to compile the code seems to reduce the attractiveness of the so-called "IDE". It doesn't seem to give you anything you can't get from vim/gcc under Linux, or MinGW under Windows. It certainly isn't integrated in the sense that Visual Studio (even Express) or Code::Blocks is.

Regardless, the proper place for this sort of query is most likely on their support page here. I suspect they'd know more about what's supported than anyone here on SO.

Though I wouldn't be hopeful for a response. There's a very similar question asked back on Feb 28 which has still had no response. You have to wonder whether you want to entrust your precious code to a company that takes over four months to answer a simple support query.

In fact, to be brutally honest, I'm not sure I see the value proposition in using such a service. Given that you can get very good local IDEs already (for zero cost), the only possible advantage that springs to mind is collaboration. And, if you're working in a shop that has geographically dispersed developers, they'd probably have a fit if you told them you wanted to store your code where someone outside the company can get at it :-)

I'm not trying to turn you off the idea, just stating that (based on my experience), it doesn't seem as good as a substantial number of other solutions.