Help with the "C" command

Hey,
(ok first post....repetitive questions....just shoot me!)

This question is probably asked around 4 gzillion times, but well let me make that 4 gzillion and one.

Alright i've borrowed my friend's "C for dummies" and going through the first chapter. I run on a OS X and use Xcode for some odd reason.

So the book asks me to save something with .c extension then compile/link and then run.....now im confused!

is Xcode both the text writer for source code AND the complier/link AND the run/tester ?

and in that book they've skipped the part that i turn the coding into an actual app ( what extension in the first place?!). Regarding the actual running, (on windows at least) it talks about prompting the .c file with DOS i think, can Terminal on OS X do the same? i only use terminal for fancy navigation and move/add/copy/delete just for fun.


I'll be happy to get some help here :D

i just solved all of the problems, Xcode basically does everything and the prompting and running is via terminal

[SOLVED]

:D

XCode is an IDE. Basically a text editor with extensions that make it particularly well suited for developing software. It is possible for the IDE to be integrated with the compiler (you get a single point of interaction) but they are distinct pieces of software.

If you were working w/o an IDE, the steps for creating a simple executable would be as follows:
(1) Write the source in a text editor and save it with a .c extension, f.ex as myprog.c;
(2) Compile it from the Terminal, most likely using GCC as I believe that is the default compiler on MacOS, with the command: "gcc myprog.c". This will create an executable called a.out;
(3) Run the executable by typing "./a.out" at the Terminal.

In an IDE, I would expect that the menu item that would perform compilation is called "Build".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by msh

XCode is an IDE. Basically a text editor with extensions that make it particularly well suited for developing software. It is possible for the IDE to be integrated with the compiler (you get a single point of interaction) but they are distinct pieces of software.

If you were working w/o an IDE, the steps for creating a simple executable would be as follows:
(1) Write the source in a text editor and save it with a .c extension, f.ex as myprog.c;
(2) Compile it from the Terminal, most likely using GCC as I believe that is the default compiler on MacOS, with the command: "gcc myprog.c". This will create an executable called a.out;
(3) Run the executable by typing "./a.out" at the Terminal.

In an IDE, I would expect that the menu item that would perform compilation is called "Build".

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I partly understand but still thank you for the reply, i'll have to do more research on this