0

Currently I use Eclipse on my Mac to develop with plain C++. However, I've been getting quite a few problems with it, but held back bc of my low disk space. Recently, I've freed a lot of disk space and wish to switch over to Xcode due to multiple advantages. But even after I freed like 30 gigs of space, I can't install the newest version avaliable of Xcode that is even larger than the entire Big Sur OS.

So, what is the best Xcode version for C++ development that preferably isn't that large?

Side question: What is the newest version of Xcode that has new features/a new feature for C++ development?

Aaron Liu
  • 101
  • 1
  • In general there is only one version of Xcode that can run on a particular version of MacOS and even when there are several they are all about the same size. – mmmmmm Jul 08 '22 at 10:46
  • @mmmmmm the first part is not true. The macOS version that can run the least amount of Xcodes is 10.3, it can run 4 versions, 1.0~1.5 . All the other versions can run over 4 versions, unless you count macOS 11 on ARM as a seperate version, in which case it can still run two distinct versions, 12.5~12.5.1. – Aaron Liu Jul 08 '22 at 11:02
  • 1
    OK it is a limited number - but in practice you want to be running the latest version that runs on an OS. – mmmmmm Jul 08 '22 at 11:09
  • but as I'd only use it for C++ development, a lot of updates are pointless while increasing the size of the app. – Aaron Liu Jul 08 '22 at 11:11
  • The difference of size in Xcode that runs on one OS is minimal - and the latest version includes the newer Clang which includes more C++ features. – mmmmmm Jul 08 '22 at 11:43
  • 1
    I would start with working out what C++ features you want and then see what Xcode version you want. However I would first fix your disk size - possibly move data onto external disks, – mmmmmm Jul 08 '22 at 11:45
  • See https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/370806/app-store-not-enough-disk-space-to-install-xcode for varying definitions of 'free space', in relation to Xcode install. – Tetsujin Jul 08 '22 at 11:59
  • @mmmmmm I already have the latest command line tools so C++ features are irrelevant. – Aaron Liu Jul 08 '22 at 12:58
  • You can download Xcode from Apple's developer website. If you have an external disk you could download directly to that, then extract to your internal disk. The downside is that you won't be getting updates through the App Store, though that doesn't seem like a big deal for you. A while back I was able to significantly reduce Xcode's size by deleting the iOS and iOS-derivative SDKs, but of course this requires it to be installed in the first place. – At0micMutex Jul 08 '22 at 16:14

0 Answers0