Using cppclean (with examples)

1: Run in a project’s directory

CODE:

cppclean path/to/project

MOTIVATION: Running cppclean on a project’s directory allows you to analyze the entire project and identify any unused code. This is useful for optimizing your codebase and reducing its size.

EXPLANATION:

• cppclean is the command to run cppclean.
• path/to/project is the path to the project’s directory that you want to analyze.

EXAMPLE OUTPUT:

cppclean:
  unused function: path/to/project/src/utils.cpp:42:16 testFunction()

2: Run on a project with headers in specific directories

CODE:

cppclean path/to/project --include-path=inc1 --include-path=inc2

MOTIVATION: When a project’s headers are located in multiple directories, you need to specify these directories to correctly analyze the project and identify any unused code.

EXPLANATION:

• cppclean is the command to run cppclean.
• path/to/project is the path to the project’s directory that you want to analyze.
• --include-path is an option to specify the directories where the project’s headers are located. You can specify multiple directories by using the --include-path option multiple times.

EXAMPLE OUTPUT:

cppclean:
  unused function: path/to/project/src/utils.cpp:42:16 testFunction()

3: Run on a specific file

CODE:

cppclean main.cpp

MOTIVATION: There may be cases where you only want to analyze a specific file instead of an entire project. This could be useful when making changes to a specific file and wanting to find any unused code within it.

EXPLANATION:

• cppclean is the command to run cppclean.
• main.cpp is the specific file that you want to analyze.

EXAMPLE OUTPUT:

cppclean:
  unused function: main.cpp:42:16 testFunction()

4: Run on the current directory, excluding a specific directory

CODE:

cppclean . --exclude=build

MOTIVATION: When analyzing the current directory, there may be certain directories that you want to exclude from the analysis. This can be useful when you have build directories or test directories that you want to skip analyzing.

EXPLANATION:

• cppclean is the command to run cppclean.
• . is used to specify the current directory.
• --exclude is an option to exclude specific directories from the analysis. You can specify multiple directories by using the --exclude option multiple times.

EXAMPLE OUTPUT:

cppclean:
  unused function: ./src/main.cpp:42:16 testFunction()