# CDT Overview

The C/C++ Development Toolkit (CDT) is a set of Eclipse plug-ins that provide C and C++ extensions to the Eclipse workbench. For more information about Eclipse, see Workbench User Guide > Concepts > Workbench.

The full CDT provides a C/C++ IDE that simplifies many of the same tools that you can use from the command line. The CDT can also communicate with many external utilities and interpret their responses, for example:

- Build (such as make).
- Compile (such as gcc). For more information, see https://gcc.gnu.org.
- Debug (such as gdb). For more information, see https://sources.redhat.com/gdb/.

Note: while make, gcc and gdb are the examples used in the documentation, virtually any similar set of tools or utilities could be used.

The Stand-alone Debugger application is built from various Eclipse plug-ins from the CDT pertaining to Debug and Edit. Plug-ins associated with Build and Compile are not included. Though it is possible to edit files within the Stand-alone Debugger, any changes will require a rebuild which will have to be performed outside of the Debugger. If you want a full C/C++ IDE, then it is suggested to use the full CDT instead which incorporates the C/C++ Debugger within it.

### Additional information

For more information on the Eclipse CDT project, refer to https://www.eclipse.org/cdt/:

- Eclipse CDT Discussions: The place to ask questions about how to use the CDT.
- User FAQ: Provides answers to the most common questions about using the CDT.
- CDT on GitHub: This is the main source for information around CDT.

### License

The CDT is an open source project and is licensed under the Eclipse Public License.

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