Install gcc Compiler on Windows, gcc in Cygwin, Codeblocks, Compile, Run

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In order to write C programs on windows, Let us install Cygwin, GCC compiler and code::blocks.

For this tutorial, we are going to set the environment as shown below




Now, let us do this step by step.

Download Cygwin


For this tutorial, We are going to install Cygwin. Cygwin setup-x86_64.exe can be downloaded from https://www.cygwin.com/





Install Cygwin Packages

Run setup-x86_64.exe . Please follow the steps in the installation wizard







Please follow the steps to choose the packages wget, make, gcc-g++, debug, devel, libs, and utils for installation.





You can either click on setup-x86_64.exe using the UI to choose the utilities mentioned above or use the command line:

setup-x86_64.exe -q -P wget,gcc-g++,make,diffutils,libmpfr-devel,libgmp-devel,libmpc-devel

Download GCC

Download the GCC source code from one of the mirror sites listed in:
       https://gcc.gnu.org/mirrors.html

Choose a mirror

Install GCC

Copy the file to a specific folder and Extract the gcc using the following command

tar xzf gcc-9.3.0.tar.gz

Once the file is extracted, a new folder named gcc-9.3.0 will be created. Execute the following commands one by one

cd gcc-9.3.0

./contrib/download_prerequisites

Once the download prerequisites is complete, please create a subdirectory objdir and use cd to go into the directory

cd ..
mkdir objdir
cd objdir

Now, Execute the following command one by one to choose the languages to be supported by gcc. As shown below, 'configure' is used to set the configurations before doing the build. Please note that the command PWD points to the present working directory.

$PWD/../gcc-9.3.0/configure --prefix=$HOME/GCC-9.3.0 --enable-languages=c,c++

Build the source using the 'make' command. You can use make -j followed by to speed up the build process using multiple threads

 make -j4

make -j4 might take hours depending on the speed of the machine.

Sometimes, you may face issues while running the command mentioned above. In such cases,instead of make -j4, you might need to use make -j2 on older machines. Alternatively, On newer machines, you might need to use make -j8

the number used (j2, j4 or j8) depends on the number of threads that can be executed on the machine

Once the make command has completed successfully, execute the 'make install' command to copy the compiled code to various locations

make install

Set the Path

Set the path of the cygwin installation in PATH variable. If you have installed cygwin in the location "C:\cygwin64", then you can set PATH using the command prompt:

SET PATH=%PATH%;"C:\cygwin64\bin"

Install the IDE Code::blocks

You can install any of the popular IDEs, some of those being: Eclipse for C/C++, Code::Blocks, NetBeans, Geany, Visual Studio, Code. It is not mandatory to have an IDE. You can also use simple editors available for your OS. On Windows: You can use Notepad. Or You can download and use editors like Textpad.

If you are managing a large project in C, IDE would be of good help.

For this tutorial, we will be using Code::blocks. You can download Code::Blocks from:

 		http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads/binaries


Get the IDE ready


Once the IDE is installed, Open it and Go to Settings menu and click on Compiler



In the Compiler window, Choose GCC compiler. Click on 'Toolchaining' tab and type cygwin Installation bin location. For this tutorial, it is "C:\Cygwin\bin" and click on Ok.




Using Code::blocks, Create New File to Write a C Program

In Code:Blocks, on the left "Management" tab, click on Files tab and choose a Drive. Say "E:". Click on the drive name, right click and choose 'New file'.




In the dialog box that appears, type File name say 'Program1.c' and click ok. You can see the file created on the left side.



Click on the new file created and type your C program on the right editor. You can write the code with an error, so as to see how to handle errors



Using Code::blocks, Compile C Program

Click on 'compile' as shown below from the build menu



Compilation errors are display at the bottom.



Click on the error displayed and correct the issues in the editor and Save. Click on 'compile the file' from build menu.



Using Code:blocks, Execute C Program

Once code is compiled without any errors, you can find two additional files created with the same file name but with extensions '.o' for object file and '.exe' for executable file. In this case, it would be 'Program1.o' and 'Program1.exe'

Click to Zoom


That is All, You did it

Cygwin alternatives

For other GCC alternatives to Cygwin on various operating variants, please refer to https://gcc.gnu.org/install/binaries.html





C Compiler alternatives to GCC

There are too many C compilers in the market. In this tutorial, we will installed GCC compiler - one of the popular compilers for C and C++ programs/projects. Commonly used C Compilers are:

  • GNU GCC - Popular C++ compiler
  • Portable C
  • Intel C++ compiler
  • Microsoft VC++ - only for windows
  • Borland C++
  • Turbo C++ - not released after 1996

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Install gcc Compiler on Windows, gcc in Cygwin, Codeblocks, Compile, Run

<<Previous

Next >>




In order to write C programs on windows, Let us install Cygwin, GCC compiler and code::blocks.

For this tutorial, we are going to set the environment as shown below




Now, let us do this step by step.

Download Cygwin


For this tutorial, We are going to install Cygwin. Cygwin setup-x86_64.exe can be downloaded from https://www.cygwin.com/





Install Cygwin Packages

Run setup-x86_64.exe . Please follow the steps in the installation wizard







Please follow the steps to choose the packages wget, make, gcc-g++, debug, devel, libs, and utils for installation.





You can either click on setup-x86_64.exe using the UI to choose the utilities mentioned above or use the command line:

setup-x86_64.exe -q -P wget,gcc-g++,make,diffutils,libmpfr-devel,libgmp-devel,libmpc-devel

Download GCC

Download the GCC source code from one of the mirror sites listed in:
       https://gcc.gnu.org/mirrors.html

Choose a mirror

Install GCC

Copy the file to a specific folder and Extract the gcc using the following command

tar xzf gcc-9.3.0.tar.gz

Once the file is extracted, a new folder named gcc-9.3.0 will be created. Execute the following commands one by one

cd gcc-9.3.0

./contrib/download_prerequisites

Once the download prerequisites is complete, please create a subdirectory objdir and use cd to go into the directory

cd ..
mkdir objdir
cd objdir

Now, Execute the following command one by one to choose the languages to be supported by gcc. As shown below, 'configure' is used to set the configurations before doing the build. Please note that the command PWD points to the present working directory.

$PWD/../gcc-9.3.0/configure --prefix=$HOME/GCC-9.3.0 --enable-languages=c,c++

Build the source using the 'make' command. You can use make -j followed by to speed up the build process using multiple threads

 make -j4

make -j4 might take hours depending on the speed of the machine.

Sometimes, you may face issues while running the command mentioned above. In such cases,instead of make -j4, you might need to use make -j2 on older machines. Alternatively, On newer machines, you might need to use make -j8

the number used (j2, j4 or j8) depends on the number of threads that can be executed on the machine

Once the make command has completed successfully, execute the 'make install' command to copy the compiled code to various locations

make install

Set the Path

Set the path of the cygwin installation in PATH variable. If you have installed cygwin in the location "C:\cygwin64", then you can set PATH using the command prompt:

SET PATH=%PATH%;"C:\cygwin64\bin"

Install the IDE Code::blocks

You can install any of the popular IDEs, some of those being: Eclipse for C/C++, Code::Blocks, NetBeans, Geany, Visual Studio, Code. It is not mandatory to have an IDE. You can also use simple editors available for your OS. On Windows: You can use Notepad. Or You can download and use editors like Textpad.

If you are managing a large project in C, IDE would be of good help.

For this tutorial, we will be using Code::blocks. You can download Code::Blocks from:

 		http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads/binaries


Get the IDE ready


Once the IDE is installed, Open it and Go to Settings menu and click on Compiler



In the Compiler window, Choose GCC compiler. Click on 'Toolchaining' tab and type cygwin Installation bin location. For this tutorial, it is "C:\Cygwin\bin" and click on Ok.




Using Code::blocks, Create New File to Write a C Program

In Code:Blocks, on the left "Management" tab, click on Files tab and choose a Drive. Say "E:". Click on the drive name, right click and choose 'New file'.




In the dialog box that appears, type File name say 'Program1.c' and click ok. You can see the file created on the left side.



Click on the new file created and type your C program on the right editor. You can write the code with an error, so as to see how to handle errors



Using Code::blocks, Compile C Program

Click on 'compile' as shown below from the build menu



Compilation errors are display at the bottom.



Click on the error displayed and correct the issues in the editor and Save. Click on 'compile the file' from build menu.



Using Code:blocks, Execute C Program

Once code is compiled without any errors, you can find two additional files created with the same file name but with extensions '.o' for object file and '.exe' for executable file. In this case, it would be 'Program1.o' and 'Program1.exe'

Click to Zoom


That is All, You did it

Cygwin alternatives

For other GCC alternatives to Cygwin on various operating variants, please refer to https://gcc.gnu.org/install/binaries.html





C Compiler alternatives to GCC

There are too many C compilers in the market. In this tutorial, we will installed GCC compiler - one of the popular compilers for C and C++ programs/projects. Commonly used C Compilers are:

  • GNU GCC - Popular C++ compiler
  • Portable C
  • Intel C++ compiler
  • Microsoft VC++ - only for windows
  • Borland C++
  • Turbo C++ - not released after 1996

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Next >>





strncat() - String n Concatenation        strlwr() - String Lower       

strncmp() - String n Compare       strncpy() - String n Copy