C Programming/What you need before you can learn
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[edit] Getting Started
The goal of this book is to introduce you to the C programming language. Basic computer literacy is assumed, but no special knowledge is needed.
The minimum software requirements to program in C is a text editor, as opposed to a word processor. There are many text editors (see List of Text Editors), the most popular being vi, its clones (such as Vim), and Emacs. A text editor with syntax highlighting is recommended, as it can make code easier to read at a glance. Highlighting can also make it easy to spot syntax errors. Most programmers' text editors on Windows and Unix systems can do this.
If you choose to use a text editor, you will be required to have a C compiler. A compiler is a program that converts C code into executable machine code. [1]
Popular C compilers Include:
| Platform | License | Extra | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenWatcom | [1] | DOS, Windows, Netware, OS/2 | Open source | ||
| Borland C Compiler | [2] | Windows | Freeware | ||
| Microsoft Visual Studio Express | [3] | Windows | Freeware | light weight, powerful, and student friendly version of industry standard compiler | |
| Tiny C Compiler (TCC) | [4] | GNU/Linux, Windows | LGPL | Small, fast, newcomer-friendly compiler. | |
| GNU C Compiler | [5] | DOS, Cygwin (w32), MinGW (w32), OS/2, Mac OS X, Unix, | GPL | De facto standard. Ships with most Unix systems. |
Though not absolutely needed, many programmers both prefer and recommend using an Integrated development environment (IDE) over a text editor and compiler. An IDE is a program that combines a set of programs that developers need into one convenient package, usually with a graphical user interface. These programs include a compiler, linker, and text editor. They also typically include a debugger, a tool that will preserve your C source code after compilation and enable you to do such things as step manually through it or alter data in an attempt to uncover errors.
Popular IDEs Include:
| Platform | License | Extra | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDT | [6] | Windows, Mac OS X, Unix | Open source | A C/C++ plug-in for Eclipse, a popular open source IDE. | |
| Anjuta | [7] | Unix | GPL | A GTK+2 IDE for the GNOME desktop environment | |
| Little C Compiler (LCC) | [8] | Windows | Free for non-commercial use. | ||
| Xcode | [9] | Mac OS X | Free | Available on the "Developer Tools" disc with most recent-model Apple computers, or as download when registered (free) at Apple Developer Connection. | |
| Pelles C | [10] | Windows, Pocket PC | "free" | ||
| Dev C++ | [11] | Windows, Linux (alpha version only) | GPL | ||
| Emacs | [12] | Windows, Mac OS X, Unix | GPL | Powerful programmable editor. Both graphic and text use. Does everything you need. Information for MS Windows. | |
| Microsoft Visual Studio Express | [13] | Windows | Free | light weight, powerful, and student friendly version of industry standard compiler | |
| Code::Blocks | [14] | Windows, Linux, Mac OS X | GPL 3.0 | Built to meet the most demanding needs of its users, it is designed to be very extensible and fully configurable. |
On GNU/LINUX, GCC is almost always included automatically.
On Microsoft Windows, Dev-C++ is recommended for beginners because it is easy to use, free, and simple to install. However, Dev-C++ hasn't updated since February 22 2005.[2]
On Mac OS X, the Xcode IDE provides the compilers needed to compile various source files. Installing Xcode installs both the command-line compilers as well as the graphical IDE.
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Actually, GCC's(GNU C Compiler) cc (C Compiler) translates the input .c file to the target cpu's assembly, output is written to an .s file. Then as (assembler) generates a machine code file from the .s file. Pre-processing is done by another sub-program cpp (C PreProcessor).
- ↑ http://sourceforge.net/news/?group_id=10639
