# How to set up a development environment for Clang on Ubuntu This guide explains how to install Clang and the LLVM toolchain on Ubuntu. Clang is a popular C and C++ compiler, and a part of the [LLVM project](https://llvm.org/). ## Install the default version of Clang To compile C and C++ code, you don’t need to install all of the LLVM tooling, just Clang itself. Each Ubuntu release has a designated default version of Clang, which can be installed by running: `dev@ubuntu:~$ ``sudo apt install clang` This installs the `clang` and `clang++` executables and the corresponding documentation. ### Alternative Clang versions To find which other versions have been packaged for your Ubuntu release, do a package search: `dev@ubuntu:~$ ``sudo apt search -n ^clang-[0-9]+` The output is a list of `clang` packages with explicit version numbers as part of their names, such as `clang-20`. You can install one of these the same way you would the default version, for example: `dev@ubuntu:~$ ``sudo apt install clang-20` #### NOTE To support parallel installations of multiple Clang versions without conflicts, packages other than the default do not install a `clang` nor `clang++` executable. Instead, they contain the explicit version number that you selected, such as `clang-20` or `clang++-20`. For the sake of stability, changing the default via a mechanism like `update-alternatives` is not recommended. ## C and C++ IDEs There are also a number of IDEs available for C and C++ programming on Ubuntu, all of which can be configured to use Clang as the compiler: [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) with [C/C++ Extension](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode.cpptools) : `sudo snap install code --classic` [CLion](https://www.jetbrains.com/clion/) : `sudo snap install clion --classic` [Qt Creator](https://www.qt.io/development/tools/qt-creator-ide) : `sudo apt install qt-creator` For developers who prefer a text editor to an IDE, you can set up `clangd` as an LSP server for your project. Install it with: `dev@ubuntu:~$ ``sudo apt install clangd` To configure the LSP, follow instructions in the official [`clangd` documentation](https://clangd.llvm.org/config). ## What next See the tutorial introducing the use of C/C++ and related tooling: [Develop C and C++ with Clang on Ubuntu](https://documentation.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-for-developers/tutorials/clang-use.md#use-clang).