With the exception of CMake and Python, we will want all of our tools and SDK files to exist in one folder on Windows. This guide walks you through an alternative way of installing the C/C++ toolchain for the Pico, using MinGW in place of the Build Tools for Visual Studio. The Raspberry Pi Pico getting started guide shows you how to do this, but I have issues with two parts: you need to install Build Tools for Visual Studio (around 6 GB) and you must run VS Code from within a Developer Command Prompt every time. Installing the toolchain is an arduous process, requiring multiple programs and manually modifying the Windows Path. On macOS, you need to use Homebrew to install the toolchain, which is only a few commands in the terminal. On Linux (specifically, most flavors of Debian), you can run a single script that will install everything for you. Raspberry Pi has a fantastic getting started guide for the Pico that covers installation steps for the major operating systems. This tutorial will show you how to install the Raspberry Pi Pico toolchain on Windows 10 for C and C++ development.

Visual studio code c on windows 10