michaeldello-cplusplus

Working examples demonstrating design principles and pattern based solutions using modern C++

Docker

Local Development

Docker build and VSCode Dev Container specs are under the containerization folder.

Symbolic linkage at the top level selects which container to use locally.

Build the Docker image with:

docker build -t cpp_dev .

Run the Docker container with:

docker run --rm -it --name cpp_dev_container -v $(pwd):/app cpp_dev

Develop and/or execute within Docker container in VSCode by selecting Reopen in Container if prompted (VSCode should detect devcontainer file included in this project).

Use in GitHub Actions

To use the Docker container in GitHub actions:

1. Authenticate Docker with GitHub Container Registry

   echo YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN | docker login ghcr.io -u YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME --password-stdin

2. Build and tag the Docker image from the Dockerfile

   docker build -t ghcr.io/YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/cpp-dev:latest .

3. Push the image to GHCR

   docker push ghcr.io/YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/cpp-dev:latest

4. Use/Pull the container image in GitHub Actions

   docker pull ghcr.io/YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME/cpp-dev:latest

Notes:

1. The container will need to either be public, or if private, be made accessible by the repository

Build Code

From the root directory in Docker container:

cmake -B build
cmake --build build
./build/run_cpp_examples

To clean the build, remove the build folder

rm -rf ./build

Alternatively, when working in VSCode and attached to the running container, the .vscode/tasks.json config allows building using:

Cmd + Shift + B

... and Clean and/or Rebuild options are available using:

Cmd + Shift + P (then search for Clean or Rebuild)

Debug Using GDB

From the root directory in Docker container:

cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
make clean
make    gdb build/run_cpp_examples
(gdb) break main
(gdb) run
(gdb) step
(gdb) print <some variable>
(gdb) continue
etc...
(gdb) quit

Debug Using VSCode

Install Extensions:

1. C/C++ Extension
2. Remote - Containers
3. CMake Tools

Build the code.

The .vscode/launch.json file will be detected by VSCode when you select Run and Debug (or press F5).

Select Docker C++ Debug.

Unit Testing

Catch2 is used because:

1. It integrates well with CMake
2. It is a header-only dependency model
3. Nothing extra to install
4. Nothing extra to compile
5. Portable

Inside the container, after building the code, run the unit tests:

cd build && ctest --verbose

Directing this to a file to make it available for archiving is advisable

cd build && ctest --verbose > unit_test_results.txt

Debugging Unit Tests requires building with debug symbols in CMakeLists.txt

set(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE Debug)
set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "-g")

... then building for Debug

cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build

Static Code Analysis

Install cppcheck and cpplint (Debian Container)

apt update && apt install -y cppcheck cpplint