Setting up C Environment in Visual Studio Code: Resolving ‘Launch: Program Path Does Not Exist’ Error

When setting up an embedded C development environment using Visual Studio Code (VSC), if you encounter the error “Can’t compile code ‘launch: program does not exist'”, the solution is as follows:

1. Place the following three files, launch.json, settings.json, tasks.json, in the project directory\.vscode.

launch.json:

{
    // Use IntelliSense to learn about possible attributes.
    // Hover to view descriptions of existing attributes.
    // For more information, visit: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=830387
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "(Windows) Launch",
            "type": "cppvsdbg",
            "request": "launch",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",
            "args": [],
            "stopAtEntry": false,
            "cwd": "${workspaceFolder}",
            "environment": [],
            "console": "externalTerminal"
        },
        {
            "name": "(Windows) Attach",
            "type": "cppvsdbg",
            "request": "attach",
            "processId": "${command:pickProcess}"
        }
    ]
}

settings.json:

{
    "files.associations": {
        "*.tcc": "cpp",
        "cctype": "cpp",
        "clocale": "cpp",
        "cstddef": "cpp",
        "cstdint": "cpp",
        "cstdio": "cpp",
        "cstdlib": "cpp",
        "cwchar": "cpp",
        "cwctype": "cpp",
        "exception": "cpp",
        "initializer_list": "cpp",
        "iosfwd": "cpp",
        "iostream": "cpp",
        "istream": "cpp",
        "limits": "cpp",
        "new": "cpp",
        "ostream": "cpp",
        "streambuf": "cpp",
        "type_traits": "cpp",
        "typeinfo": "cpp"
    }
}

tasks.json:

{
    "version": "2.0.0",
    "tasks": [
        {
            "label": "build myfile",
            "type": "shell",
            "command": "g++",
            "args": [
                "-std=c++14",
                "-g",
                "-o",
                "${fileBasenameNoExtension}.exe",
                "${fileBasename}"
            ],
            "group": {
                "kind": "build",
                "isDefault": true
            }
        }
    ]
}

2. compile the program:

gcc hello.c -o hello.exe

3. In VSC, File -> Open Folder, then click [Run] and select (Windows)Launch to proceed.

reference:

.vscode

Can’t compile code “launch: program <program_path> does not exist “