GNU Global + ggtags and helm + helm+gtags

Question

Or, helm + helm-gtags.

What does "Or" imply as the alternative to the combination "helm + helm+gtags"?

Is the alternative

What are the relations between GNU Global and helm? Are GNU Global and helm alternatives to each other?

ggtags is a frontend of GNU Global, and is helm-gtags a frontend of helm?

What should I install according to the link?

Is it okay to install both combinations GNU Global + ggtags and helm + helm+gtags, and to use them both in the future?

Thanks.

campisano · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-21 15:54:46Z

Hope this clears up the confusion ..

Non-emacs software

GNU Global (gtags + global executables) - A software for generating tags, like Universal ctags. I actually use gtags for binary database generation but have configured it to use ctags as backend because ctags supports tag parsing for many more languages.

It is mandatory to install GNU Global if you want to use either of the below 2 packages.

ggtags - A front-end for accessing the gtags-generated tags.
helm-gtags - Another front-end for accessing the gtags-generated tags, but this one uses an alternative list-completion mechanism called helm. So you will need to install helm for helm-gtags to work (or it will be auto-installed if you use the Emacs package.el to install packages). If you haven't used helm, then it's safe to say that ggtags will work just fine for you.

GNU Global + ggtags
GNU Global + helm + helm-gtags
As ggtags and helm-gtags are independent, you can even have both of the above combinations installed and see what setup works the best for you.

thanks. In "have configured it to use ctags as backend because ctags supports tag parsing for many more languages", do you mean that ctags is better than gtags in all the cases? How do you configure gtabs to use ctags as backend? — Tim, Jul 9 '16 at 0:43
another question: what are the relations between ctags and GNU Global and gtags? — Tim, Jul 9 '16 at 1:27
Those are all very broad questions. I would suggest that you first read its manual online. This section of the manual explains how to build gtags with ctags configured as the backend. PS: Exuberant ctags is now Universal ctags. — Kaushal Modi, Jul 9 '16 at 4:25