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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-13T08:06:16+00:00

My goal is to hop on to C++ programming language by doing a homework

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My goal is to hop on to C++ programming language by doing a homework project on linux mint and learn some linux & c++ at the same time.

I intend to write a small desktop application to show current network traffic ( like DU meter in windows). I have following questions:

  1. I noticed in mint there is an application called ‘System Monitor’ which also shows network history with info and graph like current download/upload of data and speed. Is it a good idea to get started by looking at the code for this ? how can I find the code for same in mint and dig into it ? pls help with some steps here if possible.

  2. what tools do I need here for writing c++ application for/in linux mint ?

  3. Which GUI library to use ( like in c# winforms , it offers user controls as part of GDI lib) on linux mint what do we have that offers user controls like window/button/panel/etc ?

  4. Links to beginner level tutorials will be helpful.

  5. Hoping NOT to re-invent the wheel completely here. Would love to re-use some lib that do the network traffic part, ideas ?

PS: i know this post reads ‘wanna be’ – I am really excited to kickstart with some c++. Will rephrase this post with more precise questions.Hunting in the dark at this point being a c# developer totally spoiled by windows.

Thanks in Advance!!! for tips on this…

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    The mint distribution is based on Ubuntu/Debian, so I assume that my Ubuntu approach also works on mint.

    First

    you need some tools, libraries and headers:

    # install the standard toolchain (g++, make, etc.)
sudo aptitude install build-essential

# install the build dependencies for a desktop based networking tool
sudo aptitude  build-dep gnome-nettool

    Optionally

    because you mentioned the system-monitor – it might be helpful to build the gnome-system-monitor from source:

    # install the build dependencies for gnome-system-monitor
sudo aptitude  build-dep gnome-system-monitor

# get the sources for the gnome-system-monitor
mkdir example
cd example
apt-get source gnome-system-monitor

# build the gnome-system-monitor
# note: you might have a different version. But I'm sure you get the idea ;-)
cd  gnome-system-monitor-2.28.0
sh configure
make

    Finally

    you need something to develop and debug. A lot of unix developers recommend emacs or vi(m). But my personal opinion is that you should start with a “modern” GUI based IDE.

    here’s a collection of some commonly used IDEs:

    • Eclipse with CDT
    • NetBeans
    • Code::Blocks
    • Anjuta (was this used to develop the gnome-system-monitor ?)
    • CodeLite (which is my personal favorite)

    see also: discussion on SOF regarding “the best” C++ IDE for Linux

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