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C/C++ GNU Global installs statistics

By Lin Chieh · VS Code Marketplace · Programming Languages

Intellisense for C/C++ using GNU Global

View on VS Code Marketplace Fresh · Oct 20, 2026

C/C++ GNU Global has 468,089 recorded installs on VS Code Marketplace, ranking #877 of 2,501 tracked listings.

Installs
468,089
Official API · Oct 20, 2026
7-day growth
—
Insufficient history
30-day growth
—
Insufficient history
90-day growth
—
Insufficient history
Rank
#877
Among tracked VS Code Marketplace listings

Rating: 4.00 / 5 from 4 ratings

About C/C++ GNU Global

C/C++ GNU Global

Provide Intellisense for C/C++ using GNU Global.

This extension is forked/rewriten from C/C++ Intellisense and is still preliminary. If you encounter any problems, please go to Github Issues for issue report and feature request.

Usage

  • This extension requires GNU Global (>=6.5). You can download the binary from Global website.

    For Ubuntu 18.04 (and after) user, you can install it via apt:

    sudo apt install global
    
  • Add the folder of global executable to PATH enviroment variable, or specify gnuGlobal.globalExecutable and gnuGlobal.gtagsExecutable configuration. (For users of windows, WSL is recommended.)

    {
        "gnuGlobal.globalExecutable": "C:\\global\\global.exe",
        "gnuGlobal.gtagsExecutable": "C:\\global\\gtags.exe"
    }
    
  • GNU Global is a tagging system. There's no language service running in the background. You need to press F1 and execute Global: Rebuild Gtags Database to generate tag files before you can use other features.

  • Specify the output encoding if you're using non-UTF8 Windows. You can find the supported encoding from https://github.com/ashtuchkin/iconv-lite/wiki/Supported-Encodings .

    Ex: Big5 for Traditional Chinese on Windows

    {
        "gnuGlobal.encoding": "Big5"
    }
    

For C++ Users

  • The author of GNU global deprecated the built-in C++ parser of GNU global since 6.6.5. Please refer to the release note of GNU Global. This extension is still useful for large C projects such as linux kernel source, but it seems that I need to find some other solutions for C++. Maybe plugin-parser of gtags.

Command

  • Global: Rebuild Gtags Database

    • Generate tag files for global by running 'gtags'.
    • Upon saving your code, this extension will try to update tags files incrementally by running 'global -u'. If the auto update didn't do well for you, you can manully run this command to rebuild all tag files.
    • You may want to add the tag files, which are GTAGS, GRTAGS, and GPATH, to your global gitignore setting.
  • Global: Show GNU Global Version

    • Show global verion by running 'global --version'.
  • Go to Definition (F12)

  • Find All References (Shift + F12)

  • Go to Symbol in File (Ctrl + Shift + O)

Configuration

  • gnuGlobal.encoding

  • gnuGlobal.autoUpdate

    • Controls whether global should automatically update the tags after file saved. Can be Enabled, Disabled and Default.
    • Default: disable autoupdate if GTAGS database size is larger than 50MB. It is recommended to disable this feature if the project is too large.
  • gnuGlobal.completion

    • Enable/disable auto-completion feature. Default is enabled.
  • gnuGlobal.gtagsForceCpp

    • Deprecated in GNU global 6.6.6. Do not set this variable if you are using plug-in parsers.
    • If this option is enabled, each file whose suffix is ".h" is treated as a C++ source file. You need to rebuild tags if you change this configuration. Default is disabled.
  • gnuGlobal.libraryPath

    • Used as the path to search for library functions. If the specified tags is not found in the project, this extension also searches in these paths.
    • Must be absolute paths.
    • 'Rebuild Gtags Database' doesn't rebuild the tag files for these libraries. You need to build tags for them individually.
    • Folder / Workspace setting will override user setting just like other configurations.
  • gnuGlobal.globalExecutable

    • Specify the path to the global. Default is 'global'.
  • gnuGlobal.gtagsExecutable

    • Specify the path to the gtags. Default is 'gtags'.
  • gnuGlobal.objDirPrefix

    • If objDirPrefix is set and objDirPrefix directory exists, gtags creates objDirPrefix/project_dir directory and makes tag files in it. Global will also try to search tag files in that directory.
    • This option is useful if you don't wan't to create tag files in your project directory.
    • Only support UNIX style filesystem so Windows is unsupported.
  • gnuGlobal.gtagSkipSymlink

    • Skip symbolic links while building tag files. It is useful if you have large project with lots of symbolic link.
    • Could be None, File, Directory or All. Default is None.
    • Requires GNU Global 6.6.3
  • gnuGlobal.debugMode

    • Log more information to debug this extension. Default is Disabled.
    • If this extension doesn't do well, please try to enable this config. You can find some error logs in Developer Tools (Help > Toggle Developer Tools).

Limitations

GNU global doesn't do any AST parsing, so the auto completion doesn't understand class members and etc.

Resources

GNU Global: https://www.gnu.org/software/global/

Repository: https://github.com/jaycetyle/vscode-gnu-global/

Enjoy!

Description from the VS Code Marketplace listing.

  • c
  • c++
  • cpp

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Charts

Images: 30d · 1y · all time · 1600×900 dark

Adoption over time

C/C++ GNU Global installs on VS Code Marketplace, last 90 days: 468,089 installs as of Oct 20, 2026.C/C++ GNU GlobalInstalls on VS Code Marketplace · Last 90 days468,089installs467.9K468K468K468K468K468K468.1K468.1K468.1KJul 22Aug 6Aug 21Sep 5Sep 20Oct 5Oct 20installsobservedarchived (Internet Archive)no observationsOct 16, 2026 – Oct 20, 2026 · 5 observations · Updated Oct…pluginstats.com
C/C++ GNU Global installs on VS Code Marketplace, last 90 days: 468,089 installs as of Oct 20, 2026.

7/30/90-day growth

C/C++ GNU Global installs growth on VS Code Marketplace: 7-day growth unavailable, 30-day growth unavailable, 90-day growth unavailable.C/C++ GNU GlobalInstalls growth on VS Code Marketplace468,089installs now7-day growthinsufficient historyInsufficient history30-day growthinsufficient historyInsufficient history90-day growthinsufficient historyInsufficient historyGrowth vs. nearest observation to each baseline date · Updated Oct 20, 2026pluginstats.com
C/C++ GNU Global installs growth on VS Code Marketplace: 7-day growth unavailable, 30-day growth unavailable, 90-day growth unavailable.

Ranking history

C/C++ GNU Global VS Code Marketplace ranking history: currently #877 (by installs).C/C++ GNU GlobalVS Code Marketplace ranking · by installs · Last 90 days#877current rank#875#876#877#878#879#880Jul 22Aug 6Aug 21Sep 5Sep 20Oct 5Oct 20rankOct 16, 2026 – Oct 20, 2026 · 5 observations · Updated Oct 20, 2026pluginstats.com
C/C++ GNU Global VS Code Marketplace ranking history: currently #877 (by installs).

Ratings over time

C/C++ GNU Global ratings on VS Code Marketplace, last 90 days: 4 ratings as of Oct 20, 2026.C/C++ GNU GlobalRatings on VS Code Marketplace · Last 90 days4ratings3.63.844.24.4Jul 22Aug 6Aug 21Sep 5Sep 20Oct 5Oct 20ratingsobservedarchived (Internet Archive)no observationsOct 16, 2026 – Oct 20, 2026 · 5 observations · Updated Oct…pluginstats.com
C/C++ GNU Global ratings on VS Code Marketplace, last 90 days: 4 ratings as of Oct 20, 2026.

Listing placement

All VS Code Marketplace2,501 listings · 126 pages · 1,251 shown · page 44, #17 (overall #877)
All VS Code Marketplace: every listing in installs order

Listing placement

Programming Languages792 listings · 40 pages · page 16, #20 (overall #320)
Programming Languages: every listing in installs order

Filled points are observed values; hollow points come from Internet Archive snapshots of the listing page. Dashed segments span periods with no observations — values between points are not interpolated.

Each band is one page of 20. Installs on a linear scale. Placement is projected from installs, so it can differ from the marketplace's own sort order. Hover a dot to see the listing.

Recent observations

Full history (5)
Recent installs observations for C/C++ GNU Global
Date (UTC)InstallsChange vs. previous
468,089+51
468,038+57
467,981+7
467,974+22
467,952—

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Data source

Install counts, average rating, and rating counts come from the public Visual Studio Marketplace gallery API. Installs are cumulative and exclude updates.

Listing: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jaycetyle.vscode-gnu-global. First seen Oct 16, 2026; last successful collection Oct 20, 2026. See the methodology.