Calling the Eclipse C/C++ Development Toolkit (CDT) the best available for Eclipse, Pawel Leszek, gives a crash course on how to use the Eclipse platform in C/C++ development projects, over at IBM developerWorks.

“Because the Eclipse Platform is only a framework for developer tools, it doesn't support C/C++ directly; it uses external plug-ins for support. This article shows you how to make use of the CDT - a set of plug-ins for C/C++ development. The CDT Project is working toward providing a fully functional C/C++ Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for the Eclipse Platform. Although the project focus is on Linux, it works in all environments where GNU developer tools are available, including Win32 (Windows® 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP), QNX Neutrino, and Solaris platforms,” Pawel says.

Pawel goes on to give a brief overview of the CDT, with a complete list of CDT’s plug-ins and components. He then goes on to explain how to install and run the CDT, create new projects, key CDT IDE features, build and run projects, and debug C/C++ projects. The tutorial is supported by various screenshots and carefully explained code.