Yocto Programming with VSCode

VAR-SOM-MX8M-NANO - Yocto Programming with Visual Studio Code

This guide describes how to use Visual Studio Code (VSCode) to develop and debug applications on the VAR-SOM-MX8M-NANO.

C/C++ Application Development and Debugging using CMake

VSCode has C/C++ and CMake extensions that make it easy to develop, build, and debug C/C++ applications. Microsoft has a detailed guide for getting started with CMake on Linux.

This section will extend Microsoft's guide to support cross compiling for Variscite IMX8 Yocto images.

Setup Host Computer Environment

Install VSCode

$ sudo snap install --classic code

Install VSCode Extensions

To learn how to install and manage extensions using VSCode, please review Using extensions in Visual Studio Code

Instead, we will install the extensions using the command line:

$ code --install-extension ms-vscode.cmake-tools
$ code --install-extension ms-vscode.cpptools

Install required dependencies (tested with Ubuntu 20.04):

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt-get install build-essential gdb cmake
$ sudo snap install --classic code

Install Yocto Toolchain

To install the toolchain, follow Yocto Toolchain installation guide.

Build a "Hello World" CMake project using VSCode

Create an empty project directory and open VSCode:

$ mkdir ~/var-hello-world
$ cd ~/var-hello-world
$ source /opt/fsl-imx-xwayland/5.4-zeus/environment-setup-aarch64-poky-linux
$ code .

Open the VSCode Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and run the CMake: Quick Start command.

Enter a project name and select 'Create an Executable'. This will create a new "Hello World" CMake project.

Next, select a kit informing VSCode where the toolchain compiler is. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and run the CMake: Select a kit command and select aarch64-poky-linux

Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and run the CMake: Build command

Deploy the binary to the target device:

$ scp build/hello root@192.168.0.174:

Run the binary on the target device:

# ./hello 
Hello, world!