C/C++ code from IntelliJ IDEA (just as editor, not compiler)

Question

Can I use IntelliJ IDEA 2021.1.3 for C/C++ code? I do not need to compile the code, just need to write it down (so to use IntelliJ as editor).

I need kind of a plugin or code inspection for C/C++, does exist something like this?

For a .c file, IntelliJ IDEA does not know how to indent the code. I think is a plugin but for older versions of IntelliJ IDEA. I use IntelliJ IDEA for Java, Python and now I need also for C; I don't want to install another IDE (CLion).

Answer 1

There is currently no official standalone plugin for C/C++ editing available for IntelliJ IDEA regardless of the version. You can vote up this feature request to change it.

The only third-party plugin that ever provided a set of editing features for .c files was 'C/C++'. It existed back in 2015, but is long dead now and not available for installing in the recent versions of IntelliJ IDEA to prevent app crashes.

You could try installing a very old version of the IDE like 2016 or something, and the last available version of the abovementioned plugin. Could work, but no guarantees (and arguably not worth the hassle as outdated versions will have outdated bugs).