Getting started
Installing a C compiler
C programs are initially created as plain text files, saved with a “.c”
file extension. These can be written in any plain text editor such as
Windows’ Notepad application – no special software is needed.
In order to execute a C program it must first be “compiled” into
byte code that can be understood by the computer. A C compiler
reads the original text version of the program and translates it into
a second file, which is in machine-readable executable byte format.
If the text program contains any syntax errors these will be
reported by the compiler and the executable file will not be built.
One of the most popular C compilers is the GNU C Compiler
“GNU” is a recursive
(GCC) that is available free under the terms of the General
acronym for “Gnu’s Public License (GPL). It is included with almost all distributions
Not Unix” and it is of the Linux operating system. The GNU C Compiler is used to
pronounced “guh-new”. compile all the examples in this book into executable byte code.
You can find more
details at www.gnu.org. To discover if you already have the GNU C Compiler on your
system type gcc -v at a command prompt. If it is available the
compiler will respond with version information:
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When a C compiler is
installed the standard C If you are using the Linux operating system and the GNU C
library header files (listed Compiler is not available install it from the distribution disk or
on the previous page) online repository, or ask your system administrator to install it.
will also be installed.
If you are using the Windows operating system and the GNU C
Compiler is not already available you can download and install
the Minimalist GNU for Windows (MinGW) package, which
includes the GNU C Compiler, by following the steps opposite.
…cont’d
l 1 Launch a web browser and navigate to the MinGW
project page at http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw
l 2 On the MinGW project page, click on the Download
button to download the “Automated MinGW Installer”
– this is named similar to mingw-get-inst-xxx.exe
l
The MinGW installation
3 Double-click the downloaded Automated MinGW steps provided here
Installer and agree the License terms are correct at the time
of writing but may be
l 4 Accept the suggested installation location at C:\MinGW
then click the Next button to start the installation process
subject to change.
Refer to www.mingw.org
for the latest details.
Further download and
When installation has completed the GNU C Compiler installation assistance
executable can be found in the sub-directory at C:\MinGW\bin. is available via the
It is convenient to add this location to your system path so the Support link on the
compiler can be easily run from any directory on your system. MinGW projects page at
sourceforge.net.
l 5 Launch the Environment Variables dialog by clicking the
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System icon in Control Panel, then select the Advanced
tab and push the Environment Variables button
l 6 Find the Path variable then Edit the end of its statement
line to add ;C\MinGW\bin;
l 7 To test the availability of the GNU C Compiler, at a
command prompt type gcc -v then hit Return to see the
compiler respond with version information
Because C++ is an
extension of C any C++
development tool can
also be used to compile
C programs.
