We’re announcing a free early preview of CLion, which uses the ReSharper C++/Rider C++ language engine instead of the CLion "legacy" engine. The Preview build is available via our dedicated Toolbox App feed. At some point in 2024, depending on the results of the feedback collected, CLion Nova will be merged into CLion. Until then, the Preview build will be free to use and can be installed in parallel with your usual CLion (Classic) installation.

CLion Nova Explodes onto the C and C++ Development Scene

by Anastasia Kazakova

From the article:

The first C++ engine by JetBrains was designed for AppCode, our IDE for iOS and macOS developers. It was part of the IntelliJ Platform, initially written in Java and later also in Kotlin. The approach and the architecture of the engine serve many languages in IntelliJ-based IDEs well; however, this design turned out not to be the best fit for the C++ language specifically.

To more quickly align with the evolution of C++ and to separate the engine and IDE processes, a clangd-based engine was later added to CLion. Built on our custom branch of clangd, this engine detects any warnings and errors, shows them in the editor, and suggests quick-fixes, as well as performing highlighting, completion, and certain navigation actions. It’s also used for things like data flow analysis and MISRA checks. Meanwhile, CLion’s “legacy” engine is responsible for other code insight features like refactorings. You can see a detailed “list of responsibilities” in our CLion documentation.