gcc
I have a windows computer and I'm completely new to C programming. I was trying to install gcc but the instructions on the websites are too complicated for me. Someone also directed me to MinGw. What is the difference between the two? How to I get a compiler to work?
"mingw" is a "minimal Gnu For Windows", which is a set of changes to the original gcc tool chain to allow it to work on Windows. And that's most likely what you want.
So essentially, gcc and gcc-mingw would be the same thing if you want to develop in a Windows environment.
There is a "Cygwin" variant of gcc as well - cygwin is a much more complete set of tools to make a Windows system appear like a Unix/Linux system - you probably do NOT want this.
--
Mats
Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them!
Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.
How would I install MinGw then? Sorry, I'm trying :blush:
You will probably want an IDE (which is an editor and debugger interface to make life really easy on your development effort), so the best solution is probably to download Code::Blocks from here:
http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads/binaries
There are two choices, one "with" and one "without" mingw - you want the larger one "with". It comes with a nice installer that does everything you need for you.
--
Mats
Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them!
Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.
My brother says that I'm not allowed to use an IDE. I did install MinGW, so now do I just do the normal gcc "program.c" and stuff or is there another way. Also, I did not do the manual install.
Well, bring your brother over here and I'll give him a slap!Originally Posted by Poincare
Or at least ask him to give you a reasonable answer as to why you should not use an IDE. We do not believe in "learning to tie shoelaces with one hand" type exercises, which not using an IDE is.
Using "notepad" to edit files is a stupid way to write code, and you didn't start writing code 20 years ago (I presume), so you do not know from historics how to use Emacs or VI. You WILL need a "programmers editor", and the simplest version is the ones that come bundled with gcc-mingw.
--
Mats
Compilers can produce warnings - make the compiler programmers happy: Use them!
Please don't PM me for help - and no, I don't do help over instant messengers.
ok! So, now that I've already installed MinGW, and CodeBlocks without MinGW, then how do I configure it to work with MinGW? Also, just for my knowledge, how would I configure MinGW to work with the command line?
To configure MinGW to work from the command line, you would just need to change your path variable to include MinGW's bin directory. CodeBlocks allows you to choose which compiler -- go to settings and compiler, and there at the top is a drop-down list to choose from.
For a simple start just type the full path name for ggc mine is:=
C:\MinGW\bin
so
>C:\MinGW\bin\gcc cfile.c -o cfile.exe
should do something.
Then right click on mycomputer-properties - advanced - enviroment variables
and add C:\MinGW\bin; to the end of the path variable and then you can just type
>gcc cfile.c -o cfile.exe
And it will find it automatically.
Do I need to be admin to change the enviroment variable?
Yes, but there is a user specific path variable that you can modify.
Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Even though I set the path system variable (not the user one), it still won't work!
Should I try setting the path user variable?
EDIT: It doesn't work even if I set the user path variable either. Please help!
Last edited by Poincare; 01-20-2009 at 12:08 PM.
How does it not work? Are you sure that the path is correct? For good measure, you could restart your computer.
Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Can you compile if you specify the full pathname eg >C:\MinGW\bin\gcc?
That's all you need to do
I can do it if I go to the specific directory, but that gets pretty annoying after the second time! Please help! I really don't want to ask my brother. I think he wanted me to install CYGWin
