C++ SFML Project - Automated Setup

This project provides a fully automated C++ SFML development environment for Windows with VS Code. Just press F5 and everything (MinGW, CMake, SFML) will be automatically installed and configured!

Features

• ✅ One-Click Setup: Press F5 to automatically install and configure everything
• ✅ No Admin Rights Required: All tools are installed to user directory (%USERPROFILE%\DevTools)
• ✅ Portable Installation: Works on any Windows machine
• ✅ Auto Build & Debug: Complete CMake build and debugging setup
• ✅ Cross-User Compatible: Uses environment variables for different users

Quick Start

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd SFML_Study

2. Open in VS Code:

   code .

3. Press F5 and wait for automatic setup:

   • MinGW (TDM-GCC) will be downloaded and installed
   • CMake will be downloaded and installed
   • SFML library will be downloaded and installed
   • Project will be built and executed automatically

That's it! The SFML window should open and you're ready to develop.

Project Structure

cpp-sfml-project
├── src
│   └── main.cpp          # Main application source file
├── scripts
│   ├── setup-mingw.bat   # Script to install MinGW
│   └── install-dependencies.bat # Script to install required dependencies
├── CMakeLists.txt        # CMake configuration file
├── .vscode
│   ├── launch.json       # Debug configuration for VS Code
│   ├── tasks.json        # Build tasks for the project
│   └── c_cpp_properties.json # IntelliSense configuration
└── README.md             # Project documentation

What Gets Installed Automatically

When you press F5, the following tools are automatically downloaded and installed to %USERPROFILE%\DevTools:

• MinGW (TDM-GCC 64-bit): C++ compiler toolchain
• CMake: Build system generator
• SFML 2.6.1: Graphics and multimedia library

All installations are:

• Portable (no registry changes)
• User-specific (no admin rights needed)
• Environment variable based (works for any user)

Manual Setup (Alternative)

If you prefer manual setup, run these scripts in order:

# 1. Install MinGW compiler
scripts/setup-mingw.bat

# 2. Install CMake and SFML
scripts/install-dependencies.bat

# 3. Set up environment variables
scripts/setup-environment.bat

# 4. Build project
cmake -G "MinGW Makefiles" -S . -B build
cmake --build build

# 5. Run executable
cd build && ./cpp-sfml-project.exe

Troubleshooting

"unable to start debugging. the value of midebuggerpath is invalid"

• This error occurs if gdb is not found in PATH
• The project automatically handles multiple installation paths
• If the error persists, restart VS Code after setup

Build folder doesn't exist

• The project automatically creates the build folder when needed
• CMake uses -B build flag to create the directory structure

Permission errors

• All installations use user directory (%USERPROFILE%\DevTools)
• No administrator privileges required

Usage

Once the project is built successfully, the application will open a window initialized with SFML. You can modify the src/main.cpp file to implement your game logic or graphical application features.

Contributing

Feel free to contribute to this project by submitting issues or pull requests. Your contributions are welcome!