Programming in C++

Labs, Wednesday 10:40–12:10, SW2, Malá Strana, 2026

:email: Contact

:information_source: General Information

:calendar: Important Dates

:bangbang: Do not leave this until the last minute! Iteration takes time.

:test_tube: Individual Labs

Latest slides: pdf, pptx

Lab Date Goals Code Homework
01 30.09. Organization – –
02 07.10. Hello World, compilation, IDEs, vector – Simple Calculator (deadline 23.10.)
03 14.10. classes, methods, const-correctness, argument passing - ref/val – Matrix (deadline 30.10.)
04 21.10.      
:x: 28.10. Holiday: Den vzniku samostatného československého státu — —
05 04.11.      
06 11.11.      
07 18.11.      
08 25.11.      
09 02.12.      
10 09.12.      
11 16.12.      
12 06.01      

:white_check_mark: Merge Requests in GitLab

Always submit your solution through a Merge Request (MR). This allows me to review your code and provide comments.

  1. Create a separate branch, e.g, hw1-solution for your homework: git checkout -b hw1-solution
  2. Add you solution and push your new branch to Gitlab
  3. Open a Merge Request
    • Go to you Gitlab project in browser and click: Merge Requests/Create merge request.
    • Select Source branch: hw1-solution, Target Branch: master
    • Add a title, optional description, set @faltint as Assignee, and click Create merge request

AI usage

  • e-infra
    • Free access for students of MFF UK, sign in with your university account, would require approval
  • Microsoft 365 Copilot - Sign with your university account, e.g., xxxx@cuni.cz
  • Github Copilot - Need to sign to the students program to get free access and credits.

:trophy: Credit Project

See Credit Information Page for details.

Each individual step of the project should be submitted as a separate merge-request.

Deadlines

  • Schedule your individul deadlines for each phase of the projectand put it into Gitlab README.md file.
    • Create a merge request with your schedule and assign it to @faltint for approval.
  • Each step will require multiple iterations and feedback from the instructor. Therefore, it is important to schedule your deadlines accordingly and not leave them until the last minute.

Step 1:Project Proposal (e.g., 30.11. 23:59)

Do a quick research and propose a project idea.

Step 2: Technology demo - POC (e.g., 11.01. 23:59)

Demonstrate a working prototype of your project. The goal is to show that your project is feasible and that all the necessary technologies are available and can be integrated.

Create a merge-reguest in GitLab.

It must contain:

  • A short description of the demo, e.g., what it does and how it works.
  • Description of the required technologies and libraries that needs to be installed to run the demo, including their versions.
  • A build script, e.g., a cmake/script. (Worst case, a detailed manual how to build and run the demo.)

Step 3: Final Project Submission (e.g., 31.05. 23:59)

TBD

Framework for Finding a Project Idea

Understanding & Curiosity

  • What system or concept do you want to deeply understand?
    Examples: OS, compilers, networking, ML pipelines.
  • Is there a technology you’ve always wondered about internally?
    Examples: Blockchain, Docker, game engines.

Technology & Tools

  • What libraries or frameworks does your domain rely on?
    Examples: OpenMP, MPI, LLVM, TensorFlow.
  • Could you integrate multiple libraries for something new?

User-Centered Design

  • Ask peers: What tasks frustrate them?
  • Automate repetitive tasks or improve incomplete tools.

Innovation & Improvement

  • Combine two ideas into something new.
  • Implement a research algorithm practically.
  • Create interactive learning tools.

Scalability & Performance

  • Design for large data or parallel processing.
  • Optimize for speed, memory, or energy.

Social Impact & Accessibility

  • Improve accessibility for people with disabilities.
  • Make complex tools easier for beginners.

:computer: IDEs

VS Code

  • C/C++ (ms-vscode.cpptools) – debugger
  • CMake Tools (ms-vscode.cmake-tools) – configure, build, run
  • clangd (llvm-vs-code-extensions.vscode-clangd) – code completion and diagnostics
    • When asked, let it disable the IntelliSense of the C/C++ extension (the two conflict).

clangd – setting the C++ version

Create the file .clangd in the project root:

CompileFlags:
  Add: [-std=c++23]

Then restart the clangd server: View → Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) → clangd: Restart language server.

Tip: With CMake, you can instead add set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS ON) to CMakeLists.txt. clangd then reads the exact compiler flags from build/compile_commands.json and .clangd is not needed.

CMake – setting up the project

Also works for Visual Studio in Folder mode. Create the file CMakeLists.txt in the project root:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)
project(labtest CXX)

add_executable(my_prog source.cpp)

set_property(TARGET my_prog PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 23)
set_property(TARGET my_prog PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)

In VS Code: Command Palette → CMake: Select a Kit (choose your compiler) → CMake: Configure. Then build with CMake: Build (F7) or the Build button in the bottom status bar.

Debugging – program and arguments

Run → Add Configuration…, choose the template below and edit .vscode/launch.json.

Windows (MSVC) – template C/C++: (Windows) Launch:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "(Windows) Launch",
      "type": "cppvsdbg",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/Debug/my_prog.exe",
      "args": ["expr1.txt", "input1.csv", "output1.csv"],
      "stopAtEntry": true,
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
      "environment": [],
      "console": "externalTerminal"
    }
  ]
}

Linux (GCC + gdb) – template C/C++: (gdb) Launch:

{
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [
    {
      "name": "(gdb) Launch",
      "type": "cppdbg",
      "request": "launch",
      "program": "${workspaceFolder}/build/my_prog",
      "args": ["expr1.txt", "input1.csv", "output1.csv"],
      "stopAtEntry": true,
      "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
      "environment": [],
      "externalConsole": false,
      "MIMode": "gdb",
      "setupCommands": [
        {
          "description": "Enable pretty-printing for gdb",
          "text": "-enable-pretty-printing",
          "ignoreFailures": true
        },
        {
          "description": "Set Disassembly Flavor to Intel",
          "text": "-gdb-set disassembly-flavor intel",
          "ignoreFailures": true
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Tip: Instead of hard-coding program, you can use "${command:cmake.launchTargetPath}" – CMake Tools then fills in the path of the selected target (works on both Windows and Linux).

Visual Studio

Project mode (.sln)

Project → Properties → Configuration Properties → Debugging, set Command Arguments. Make sure Working Directory is $(ProjectDir).

Folder mode (CMake)

Use the CMakeLists.txt from above. Then Debug → Debug and Launch Settings for my_prog and edit launch.vs.json:

{
  "version": "0.2.1",
  "defaults": {},
  "configurations": [
    {
      "type": "default",
      "project": "CMakeLists.txt",
      "projectTarget": "my_prog.exe",
      "name": "my_prog.exe",
      "currentDir": "${projectDir}",
      "args": ["expr1.txt", "input1.csv", "output1.csv"]
    }
  ]
}