Well after a long time, here comes the third entry to our blog!
Many of us are amazed with the wonders of programming, which makes us attracted towards learning it! And most of us starts with C as it is one of the most widely used and also it is very strongly typed. We are surprised to see how simple it is to get started. And here will try to make it even more simpler!
So here we go!
Well we need an editor to type codes, a compiler to compile them with respect to the operating system, a debugger to debug the errors in the code, and many more tools. However we can save ourselves from the agony of maintaing so many tools by getting an IDE.
So, IDE ie an Integrated Development Environment, is a software that comes with an integrated environment that contain all the tools that we need for compiling our programs.
As i myself is a beginner in programming world, i highly recommend Code::Blocks- IDE, which is free and open source IDE with many interesting features.
Code::Blocks is available in two versions
1) Stable version: A version which is the most stable, and released officially with an installer.
2) Nightly version: The latest developed version with new plugins and many new features than the stable version, a candidate to become the next stable version.
I recommend the nightly version as it has many new features and is almost stable.
Installation Guide:
Part 1:
Download the TDM-GCC compiler here.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/tdm-gcc/files/TDM-GCC%20Installer/tdm-gcc-4.6.1.exe/download
Open the exe you just downloaded.
Click run. Select CREATE. After that from the dropdown menu select MingW stable C/C++ and click next.
After a few seconds, MingW Compiler will be downloaded to your system.
Part 2:
Download Code::Blocks nightly version from here: (latest JAN 08 release)
Compiler:
http://prdownload.berlios.de/codeblocks/CB_20120107_rev7678_win32.7z
DLL Files:
http://prdownload.berlios.de/codeblocks/wxmsw28u_gcc_cb_wx2812_gcc452-TDM.7z
http://prdownload.berlios.de/codeblocks/mingwm10_gcc452-TDM.7z
You will need 7-zip tool to extract the archives. You can get it for free from
HERE. Make sure to extract all the three files in
one folder.
Congratulations. You just downloaded the compiler. But yet it wont compile. Being an IDE, it requires a compiler pre installed in the system. Allthough installing compilers can be a headache, but then what are we for! :)
Part 3:
Now Run the codeblocks.exe from the folder to which you extracted the compiler. Go to settings>compiler and debugger> click reset to defautlts>OK>OK.
It should tell you that it has detected the C:/MinGW32 directory.
Thats all, now you are ready to go.
Hello World!!! :)
(Post Installation Guide - Coming Soon)