Lesson 1.5. Which compiler to choose?
There are dozens of C compilers, but a few have become very popular. Compilers are usually intended for a specific target. For example, on PC, we will find Mingw for Windows and GCC for Linux. If you want to compile for an AVR microcontroller, you will have to use for example avr-gcc.
Compilers are often associated with development environments (IDE). Beginning developers even tend to mix the two. However, it is important to differentiate between the IDE which allows to write and edit the source code and the compiler which transforms it into an executable file.
Windows
Under Windows, the most popular development environments are :
- QtCreator usually associated with the MinGW compiler
- Code::Blocks usually associated with the MinGW compiler
- Visual Studio usually associated with the MinGW compiler
- Visual Studio Code usually associated with the MinGW compiler or Clang
If you want to install one of these IDEs, make sure that the compiler is installed before or at the same time. Otherwise you will have to set up the compilation manually, which is quite tedious.
Linux
Under Linux, things are a bit different because the GCC compiler is usually installed natively with the operating system. Any text editor allows you to write C code, then you just have to compile it on the command line. For more user-friendliness, it is possible to install one the following IDEs:
On line compilers
Although limited, there are some online C editors/compilers. The first two do not require the creation of an account, they are ideal for a quick test:
In this course, Replit is used, because it allows you to to insert, compile and execute C code in HTML pages. However, if you want to modify the codes (for doing the exercises for example), you have to create an account on Replit.
See also
- Learn C programming
- Lesson 1.1. History of C programming language
- Lesson 1.2. First program
- Lesson 1.3. Compilation
- Lesson 1.4. Preprocessor directives
- Lesson 1.6. Flowchart
- Lesson 2.1. Types and variables
- Lesson 2.2. Integers
- Lesson 2.3. Floating point numbers
- Lesson 2.4. Characters
- Lesson 2.5. Variables initialization
- Lesson 2.6. Ariane flight 501
- Lesson 3.1. Arithmetic operators
- Lesson 3.2. modulo
- Lesson 3.3. Operators and types
- Lesson 3.4. Type casting
- Lesson 3.5. Bitwise operators
- Lesson 3.6. Bitwise operators details
- Lesson 3.7. Shifting operators
- Lesson 3.8. Assignment operators
- Lesson 3.9. Increment and decrement operators
- Lesson 3.10. Comparison operators
- Lesson 3.11. Logical operators
- Lesson 3.12. Operator precedence
- Lesson 4.1. printf
- Lesson 4.2. scanf
- Lesson 4.3. putchar
- Lesson 5.1. Conditional branching (if...else)
- Lesson 5.2. Nested if and indentation
- Lesson 5.3. Checking intervals
- Lesson 5.4. Ternary Operator ?:
- Lesson 5.5. switch..case statement
- Lesson 5.6. Break keyword in switch..case
- Lesson 6.1. do..while loop in C
- Lesson 6.2. While loop in C
- Lesson 6.3. For loop in C
- Lesson 6.4. How to choose the right loop in C ?
- Lesson 6.5. Exercices on loops in C
- Lesson 7.1. Bit masking
- Lesson 7.2. Bit masking, how to clear a bit in C?
- Lesson 7.3. Bit masking, how to set a bit in C?
- Lesson 7.4. Bit masking, how to toggle a bit in C?
- Lesson 7.5. Bit masking, how to check a single bit in C?
- Lesson 7.6. Overview of bit masking
- Lesson 8.1. Basic syntax of C functions
- Lesson 8.2. Calling C functions
- Lesson 8.3. Void keyword
- Lesson 8.4. Return keyword
- Lesson 8.5. Variable scope
- Lesson 8.6. Global variables
- Lesson 8.7. Static variables
- Lesson 8.8. Random numbers in C
- Lesson 8.9. Mathematical functions in C
- Lesson 9.1. Syntax of C arrays
- Lesson 9.2. Array initialization
- Lesson 9.3. Multidimensional arrays
- Lesson 9.4. How C arrays are stored in memory?
- Lesson 9.5. Arrays and functions
- Lesson 9.6. Exercises on C arrays
- Lesson 10.1. Strings in C
- Lesson 10.2. Null terminated string
- Lesson 10.3. The string.h library
- Lesson 10.4. String and functions
- Lesson 11.1. Introduction to pointers in C
- Lesson 11.2. Syntax of C pointers
- Lesson 11.3. Dynamic memory allocation
- Lesson 11.4. Incrementing pointers
- Lesson 11.5. Pointers as function argument in C
- Lesson 12.1. Introduction to structures in C
- Lesson 12.2. Properties of structures in C
- Lesson 12.3. Structures and pointers
- Lesson 12.4. Structures and functions
- Lesson 13.1. Recursive functions in C
- Lesson 13.2. Depth of recursive functions
- Lesson 13.2. Mutual recursion
- Lesson 14.1. Additional exercises
