Setting up an IDE

Code::Blocks

This section is about setting up Code::Blocks for developing Wii U Homebrew using the devkitPPC toolchain.

Preparations

If you didn’t set up devkitPPC already, you may want to follow this tutorial. You should’ve installed the required libraries for plugin development by now as well. If not, check out this page.

Installation

Code::Blocks is a free IDE and can be downloaded here. Install it according to the Code::Blocks homepage.

Setting up the compiler

For Wii U homebrew we generally use custom makefiles but Code::Blocks still needs to have a valid compiler/toolchain set. Using this tutorial we are overriding an existing compiler setting. If you are using it for non Wii U projects, make sure to make a backup/copy of the settings.
Once you have opened Code::Blocks, you can access the compiler options menu via Settings -> Compiler... on the menu bar.

1. Select the GNU GCC Compiler for PowerPC (HighTec) in the dropdown menu.
2. Press Set as default
3. Click on the Toolchain executables tab.
4. Set Compiler's installation directory to the bin folder of your devkitPPC installation (on Windows this usually is C:\devkitPro\devkitPPC\bin)
5. Set C compiler to powerpc-eabi-gcc (on Windows powerpc-eabi-gcc.exe)
6. Set C++ compiler to powerpc-eabi-g++ (on Windows powerpc-eabi-g++.exe)
7. Set Linker for dynamic libs: to powerpc-eabi-g++ (on Windows powerpc-eabi-g++.exe)
8. Set Linker for static libs: to powerpc-eabi-ar (on Windows powerpc-eabi-ar.exe)
9. Set Make program to make (on Windows make.exe)
10. Save the settings by clicking on OK

An example configuration can be found here:

Next steps

Now you can turn any existing project into a Code::Blocks project by following this tutorial.

Alternatively, you can use the Code::Blocks template to create a new plugin project from the scratch. A tutorial for this can be found here.

CLion

CLion is a smart cross-platform IDE for C and C++ development.

Preparations

See the Code::Blocks preparations above.

Installation

You can download CLion here.

Setting up the compiler

In CLion you should setup a supported gcc like C/C++ compiler toolchain (not devkitPro!). For Linux this should be pre-installed. If not, you may want to follow this guide. On Windows you need to install something like WSL (recommended) or MinGW/Cygwin. Depending on which toolchain you chose, you need to configure it as the default toolchain in CLion under File -> Settings -> Build, Execution, Deployment -> Toolchains: Please note that this toolchain is only needed to provide code inspections on library functions. We’re of course still using devkitPro for compiling the plugin.

Beginning a project

You can now use the Code::Blocks template to open in CLion by going to File -> Open... and choosing the project’s root directory. Delete the windows_template.cbp file since it’s not needed.

Getting library code inspections

If you also want to get code inspections on wut or wups functions (highly recommended), you need to create a respective CMakeLists.txt to use CLion’s features to their fullest possible potential:

# We only use this CMakeLists.txt for CLion IDE support, not for building

# Set the minimum required CMake version
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)

# Set the project name
set(PROJECT_NAME "example_project")
project(${PROJECT_NAME})

# Set the C++ standard
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)

# Add extra include directories
if (WIN32) # When using a Windows compilation toolchain
    set(WUT "/c/devkitPro/wut/include")
    set(WUPS "/c/devkitPro/wups/include")
else () # When using WSL as toolchain
    set(WUT "/mnt/c/devkitPro/wut/include")
    set(WUPS "/mnt/c/devkitPro/wups/include")
endif ()

include_directories(${WUT})
include_directories(${WUPS})

add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME} src/main.cpp)

Please note that you may need to adapt the WUT and WUPS variable file paths if they are different than the ones specified above.

Compiling

Compiling is still done using the command line/terminal and running the make command. CLion has a built-in Terminal feature for this. Click on View -> Tool Windows -> Terminal to open a Terminal inside CLion:

Video tutorial

If you need some visual aid, I even created a video showing the whole plugin template and compilation setup here.