Clang

Background

Inconveniences with the current setup

I was using Neovim DAP with GDB for C debugging. Here’re some inconveniences during the debug process:

• needed fflush(0) for displaying standard output in the REPL (the small buffer below)
• Gemini’s suggested solutions for obtaining standard input sounded too complicated, like:

  • attaching GDB to an external TTY, or

  • from a certain file

    dap.configurations.c = {
      {
        name = "Launch with File Input Redirection",
        type = "gdb", -- or codelldb
        request = "launch",
        program = function()
          return vim.fn.input("Path to executable: ", vim.fn.getcwd() .. "/", "file")
        end,
        cwd = "${workspaceFolder}",
        args = { "<", "input.txt" }, -- Passes input.txt as standard input
      },
    }
    

Popularity of an alternative compiler

AI Learning Club’s C course’s introduction says that Clang often offers a quicker compilation and more informative error messages. As a result, I was feeling motivated to connect Neovim DAP to LLDB instead.