![]() |
Writing C on Windows
In order to write C on any platform, you need a text editor and a C compiler. In addition, some sort of shell system and Compiler, etcEach of these systems is free for download. However, they are all somewhat complicated to download, install, and configure. You should probably budget a couple hours for reading the help documentation and learning what needs to be done for your chosen system. MinGW (Mingw32 - "Minalist GNU-Win32")Free, with no license problems (as per Cygwin). However, provides no POSIX layer or other 3rd party runtime DLLs. Download: Go to the Download page. Dowload the .exe file for "MinGW". If no such package is listed under the Current distributions, look under Previous. This wizard will then download and install the other packages you need.
You can also get MSYS, which provides a simpler, less-featured Cygwin fork
that provides a very simple Unix-like system for running
DJGPP
Simpler than MinGW, this port of the gcc compiler produces 32-bit Dos applications. (Dos applications still run under Windows. If you need it, there exists a RSXNTDJ add-on that allows for Win32 applications too.) This will be sufficient for the programs we're writing in this class. It also provides a basic Download: Use the Zip Picker to figure out what zips you need to download (probably 7 to 10 files).
CygwinProvides UNIX utilities and libraries for Windows. Provides a POSIX layer (through a 4 meg DLL) for your programs. (This is not needed for this class, but may be handy later for networking and other projects.) Because it compiles this GPL library into your output, all products you release must be under the GPL license (you must make your source code available, etc.).
Download: There is a link to a Windows Services for Unix looks to be a Windows copy of Cygwin functionality, and might be worth looking into. Other Options
IDEsTextpadTextPad is a great, customizable editor for writing code in any language. For small projects, it's all you really need. You can download a shareware version to try it. I found it well worth its $25 (then) pricetag. EclipseEclipse is great for writing Java code. But it can also a extended through various plugins to be an IDE for any language, including C/C++. Eclipse itself is written in Java, so while it takes a long time to start up, it can be used on nearly any platform. Download: Go to the Downloads page and get the latest Eclipse SDK. You can also find the CDT C/C++ IDE plugin there too. Configuration notes:
Other OptionsRemember, you don't need a whole separate program in order to write C code. You just need a text editor that will let you save plain text. You can use notepad, wordpad, MS office, MS edit, or your other favorite editor. You may also find other IDEs, either free or for cost, that you prefer. |
~ztomasze Index :
TA Details : ICS212 : C on Windows http://www2.hawaii.edu/~ztomasze |
Last Edited: 30 Sept 2005 ©2005 by Z. Tomaszewski. |