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Add to SafariWhen comparing CodeLite vs Code::Blocks, the Slant community recommends CodeLite for most people. In the question“What are the best IDEs for C++ on UNIX-like systems?” CodeLite is ranked 2nd while Code::Blocks is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose CodeLite is:
CodeLite is [actively developed](http://downloads.codelite.org/) with activity almost daily on [Github](https://github.com/eranif/codelite/pulse).
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro Rapid development cycle
CodeLite is actively developed with activity almost daily on Github.
Pro Cross platform
Works on Windows, OS-X and Linux.
Pro File Explorer-like workspace view
The workspace view, unlike other IDEs, is a reflection of the actual directory structure on the file system (with user filters applied).
Pro Easy to find installed compilers
The search for the installed compilers is quick, and it usually yields useful results on the very first atempt.
Pro Open source and free
CodeLite is licensed under GPL with source code available on GitHub.
Pro Modest memory footprint
CodeLite takes up about 50MB when loaded into memory with a workspace opened.
Pro A lot of useful plugins
CppCheck, DiffTool, Git, MemCheck (Valgrind support, Linux-only), SVN, and many other plugins extend the IDE functionality greatly!
Pro Lightweight
Pro Easy to use
Pro Simple Library import
Cons
Con Bland UI
The UI is fairly boring and has limited customization options.
There is a dark theme available, however it only applies to the editor. The surrounding windows and borders remain light.
You can see a collection of screenshots here.
Con Hard to set up
Con Not very feature rich
By default it's not much more than "What if Gedit had a compiler and a terminal built in?" (or: "What if Notepad had colour coding, auto indents, file structure, a compiler and a terminal built in?")
There are far more professional IDEs out there. This one is much too basic for any efficient use.
Con Slow navigation using mouse
In most IDE's, you can "goto declaration"/"implementation" by holding CTRL and left-clicking on an identifier or include directory. This does not work in Code::Blocks no matter what settings you have. Right-clicking will bring-up a menu that includes these "goto" options, but it's not instant and you'll be slowed down immensely depending on how often you have to do it.
Con Can get quite slow and doesn't look all that good
Con Setting up dark theme requires using system's own gui toolkit
Con Lots of functionality is encountered only in plugins
You can't change keyboard shortcuts, neither share themes with vanilla codeblocks, for example.
