Eclipse for Java and C/C++

I was recently talking with a fellow student about what is a good "All in one" application for developing Java and C/C++ programs in Linux. In the past I have used Xcode and Eclipse on Mac, and Visual Studio on Windows XP/7. I have started to really enjoy using Eclipse for learning Java, so I thought to try it with C++.

I became confused when I went to the Eclipse Downloads page because it looks like there are different versions of Eclipse for different languages. Which one do I choose if I want to use Eclipse for Java AND C/C++ ?

The answer is that you install one, and then you can install other languages as plug-ins.

Initially, it does not matter which version you download first (In my case, I had already installed the java IDE). Once you download it you install and open the program. Then you go to...

Help > Install New Software...

at the "Work with:" field select (using drop arrow on right) --All Available Sites--

This will reveal a list of install options organized in groups. In my case (since I had Java IDE installed already) I chose Programming Languages > Eclipse C/C++ Development Tools.

It's sort of like an Eclipse "Apps Store".

There is an option to "Hide items you have already installed".

Once I went through this process, I restarted Eclipse and went to File > New Project. C/C++ was now available as an option. I opted to create a C project and successfully compiled/ran "Hello World!" inside eclipse.

I did all the steps above using Eclipse on a Mac. I will be blogging about Eclipse on Linux once I get it to work.

Special thanks to bluefire @ freenode.net #eclipse for help figuring this out.