Compilation and Execution of C Program
Once you have written the program you need to type it and instruct the machine to execute it. To type your C program you need another program called Editor. Once the program has been typed it needs to be converted to machine language (0’s and 1’s) before the machine can execute it. To carry out this conversion we need another program called Compiler. Compiler vendors provide an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which consists of an Editor as well as the Compiler.
There are several such IDEs available in the market targeted towards different operating systems. For example, Turbo C, Turbo C++ and Microsoft C are some of the popular compilers that work under MS-DOS; Visual C++ and Borland C++ are the compilers that work under Windows, whereas gcc compiler works under
Linux. Note that Turbo C++, Microsoft C++ and Borland C++ software also contain a C compiler bundled with them. If you are a beginner you would be better off using a simple compiler like Turbo C or Turbo C++. Once you have mastered the language elements you can then switch over to more sophisticated compilers like Visual C++ under Windows or gcc under Linux. Most of the programs in this tutorial (C Tutorial) would work with all the compilers.Wherever there is a deviation I would point it out that time.
Assuming that you are using a Turbo C or Turbo C++ compiler here are the steps that you need to follow to compile and execute your first C program…
(a) Start the compiler at C> prompt. The compiler (TC.EXE is
usually present in C:TCBIN directory).
(b) Select New from the File menu.
(c) Type the program.
(d) Save the program using F2 under a proper name (say
Program1.c).
(e) Use Ctrl + F9 to compile and execute the program.
(f) Use Alt + F5 to view the output.
Download the turbo c – A free C program editor
Click the below link to download the Turbo C IDE
IDE is nothing but Integrated Development Environment in which one can develop, run, test and debug the application.
Working with Turbo C
- The default directory of Turbo C compiler is c:tcbin. So to invoke the IDE from the windows you need to double click the TC icon in the directory c:tcbin.
- The alternate approach is that we can make a shortcut of tc.exe on the desktop.
- To type a program, you need to open an Edit Window. For this, open file menu and click “new”. A window will appear on the screen where the program may be typed.
- When the Edit window is active, the program may be typed. Use the certain key combinations to perform specific edit functions.
- To save the program, select save command from the file menu. This function can also be performed by pressing the [F2] button. A dialog box will appear asking for the path and name of the file.Provide an appropriate and unique file name. You can save the program after compiling too but saving it before compilation is more appropriate.
- The source file is required to be turned into an executable file. This is called “Making” of the .exe file. The steps required to create an executable file are:1. Create a source file, with a .c extension.
2. Compile the source code into a file with the .obj extension.
3. Link your .obj file with any needed libraries to produce an executable program
All the above steps can be done by using Run option from the menu bar or using key combination Ctrl+F9 (By this linking & compiling is done in one step). - In the Turbo C IDE, compiling and linking can be performed together in one step. There are two ways to do this: you can select Make EXE from the compile menu, or you can press the [F9] key
- If the compiler recognizes some error, it will let you know through the Compiler window. You’ll see that the number of errors is not listed as 0, and the word “Error” appears instead of the word “Success” at the bottom of the window. The errors are to be removed by returning to the edit window. Usually these errors are a result of a typing mistake. The compiler will not only tell you what you did wrong, they’ll point you to the exact place in your code where you made the mistake
- If the program is compiled and linked without errors, the program is executed by selecting Run from the Run Menu or by pressing the [Ctrl+F9] key combination.
- An Edit window may be closed in a number of different ways. You can click on the small square in the upper left corner, you can select close from the window menu, or you can press the Alt+F3 combination. To exit from the IDE, select Exit from the File Menu or press Alt+X Combination.
A word of caution!
If you run this program in Turbo C++ compiler, you may get an error — “The function printf should have a prototype”. To get rid of this error, perform the following steps and then recompile the program. Select ‘Options’ menu and then select ‘Compiler | C++ Options’. In the dialog box that pops up, select ‘CPP always’ in the ‘Use C++ Compiler’ options. Again select ‘Options’ menu and then select ‘Environment | Editor’. Make sure that the default extension is ‘C’ rather than
‘CPP’.
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