Thread: Falling at the first hurdle

Hi,
I'm an absolute beginner (well, apart from doing some Basic programming many years ago).

At the moment I'm falling at the first hurdle – trying to compile C, using the Dummies guide (don't laugh, please!).
I'm reasonably proficient on a PC – I'm running Windows 7 64 bit. The author suggests using MinGW to compile C.
Downloaded and installed the compiler, opened a DOS window and the command “gcc goodbye.c -o goodbye” as per the authors instructions.


The first example in the book is:

Code:

 #include <stdio.h>
 

 int main()
 {
 printf(“Goodbye, cruel world!\n”);
 return(0);
 }

I used notepad, saved as text using ANSI, then tried to compile.
The errors thrown up are in the attached screenshot (not that I understand any of them yet).
For all I know maybe I haven't installed MinGW correctly?

You're using "smart quotes". You want

Code:

printf("Goodbye, cruel world!\n");

and not

Code:

printf(“Goodbye, cruel world!\n”);

@screwloose - I just posted a thread about how hard the exercises in k&r are and then saw this wonderful thread of yours that took all the frustration away lol, thanks.

Have you looked into CodeBlocks? It is a free compiler that works well with Windows (I think XP and on), and is really beginner friendly. Your program is fine I think, although I don't think you would have to put the value main is returning in parenthesis.

Isn't Mingw a debugger (a tool to help you figure out things wrong with you code)? It seems to be taking the words in the printf statement as variables..?

Hi,
So far I'm not doing very well at all.
I thought all the code I had copied from the Dummies book should be inside the code tag, but not according to your comment?
So why is only some of the code inside the code tag?

Copy and paste:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>


int main(void)

{

    printf("Goodbye, cruel world!\n");

    
    return 0;

}

Your Mingw compiler is working fine (as far as I can tell)

@Hodor- You are right, I was looking right at and missed it. You ninja posted me (is that what they call it on the internets still?)

@screwloose- was there more code you posted that didn't show up? hodor was talking about the type of quotes you were using with the printf function (not the quote of the stuff you posted between code tags), they caused it not to recognize the string, trying to pass the arguments as variables.
You can tell because it says that Goodbye is undeclared. Any time you get that error it is usually a variable you have forgotten to give a value to, or a case of mistaken identity like in this case.

Many thanks for all who replied to my OP regarding my first attempt at compiling C.

After a few hours I have solved my own problem!
I kept re-writing each line of code until it compiled correctly. Then on the erroroneous line, I changed one character at a time until I discover the error.
It was the speech marks (in the printf command) which caused the failure.
I had copied and pasted the very short program from elsewhere and that used those curly spechmarks - they look like 66 and 99 - and then I was doomed to failure.
Replacing them with the straight-type speechmark (vertical, no curls), then all is fine.

That now raises another question:
What is the name of the two different types of speechmarks, and how can I ensure I use the correct ones?
This only occurs when copying & pasting text, and I have to change every instance. If I type it manually using notepad, that doesn't cause a problem.

Thanks again for all the comments.