In a previous article I have imported an example project. Now I want to compile and build it.

Traditionally, the build action inside VS Code is somewhat hidden. There is a keyboard shortcut, but recent additions to VS Code making the build action more accessible.

To build a project, you have multiple options.

CTRL+SHIFT+B

One standard way in VS Code is to use the CTRL+SHIFT+B:

This gives the actions to build or clean the project.

The output is shown for example in the Terminal:

Another place is the Output area for CMake/Build:

Toolbar Icon

Yet another way is to use the build icon in the bottom toolbar:

The same icon is present to build the selected project:

Context menu

The context menu on the project offers the same action, among others:

Build errors

Should the build fail with an error, then this is indicated in different places in VS Code. Check the ‘Problems’ in the bottom area, where you can double-click on the message to jump to the source location:

Command Line

As the project is CMake based, I can easily build project from the command line. In the output view I can see what command is used:

I can open the project folder with the integrated terminal:

and using the commands to build it:

cmake --build armgcc/debug --config debug --target all

or to clean the project:

cmake --build armgcc/debug --config debug --target clean

Summary

With this, I can compile and build projects. If you are looking for a more advanced way, check out the usage of build tasks. Next step is to debug the project.

Happy making 🙂

Links

• VS Code: Installation
• VS Code: Getting Started, literally
• VS Code: MCUXpresso Extension
• VS Code: MCUXpresso Installer
• VS Code: Import Example from MCUXpresso Repository
• NXP extension for Visual Studio Code: https://www.nxp.com/design/software/development-software/mcuxpresso-software-and-tools-/mcuxpresso-for-visual-studio-code:MCUXPRESSO-VSC
• Visual Studio Code for C/C++ with ARM Cortex-M: Part 3 – Build