C Compiler / IDE

[ATB]

Wanted to ask which IDE is easiest to use for programming in C

One reason I ask is that Ive used Quincy 2005 but it seems as if it might be antiquated. Im reading a book Beginning C and it says: The compiler you use should provide good support for the
current International Standard for the C language, ISO/IEC 9899:2011, commonly referred to as C11.

When editing in Quincy 2005 I get error messages, I recheck my code and even cut and paste from the book and still get error messages. One being when adding comments, this creates and error unless I only use /* comment */. From the book an option is:

/* Program 1.3 Another Simple C Program - Displaying a Quotation */
#include <stdio.h> // This is a preprocessor directive
int main(void) // This identifies the function main()
{ // This marks the beginning of main()
printf("Beware the Ides of March!"); // This line outputs a quotation
return 0; // This returns control to the operating system
} // This marks the end of main()

This does not compile using Quincy, but if I replace all comments with /*comments*/ instead of // it works.

Any help would be much appreciated. Ive installed codelite 7 but without a tutorial its no go for me. Im a "noob" obviously, any help much appreciated.

thank you

 

[ATB]

// Program 1.5 Another Simple C Program - Displaying Great Quotations
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
printf("\"It is a wise father that knows his own child.\"\nShakespeare\n");
return 0;
}

The output displays the following text:

"It is a wise father that knows his own child."
Shakespeare

This does not work with Quincy 2005 either.

Quincy is very easy to use otherwise. I am going to continue thru the entire book but am afraid I might not be able to continue at some point.

Any help suggestions appreciated. Id like to use a different compiler/ide which is current, also one that is fairly simple at the same time.

 

[rwillett]

Why are you using Quincy C?

There are professional grade free compilers available, Xcode if you fancy using an IDE or use the GCC range. The easiest to install is probably Xcode if you have a Mac, if you have a Linux box then the GCC stuff is pretty trivial to put on.

The stuff like // is for comments, its a recent innovation (My C coding goes back to 1982 so anything after about 1990 is recent) and simply says the rest of this line from the // to the end of the line is a comment.

The /* */ comment notation goes back as far as I can remember, which is quite some time (or perhaps only yesterday).

The standard program to compile for your very first C program is

#include <stdio.h>

main ()
{
printf("Hello World\n");
}

Note the lack of comments, my code is self documenting and obvious.

Note the lack of the return value from the main function. Not needed though an exit(0) might be better, unsure what Quincy C does with the return value from main.

Note the lack of arguments to the function main. Not needed.

C is a great language, however it will lull you into a false sense of security and then bite your bollocks off when you get something wrong. Treat it like a hungry rottweiller and you won't go wrong.

You can do all of this in Xcode, its not just for Objective C as well as the GCC compilers. I used to know most of the compilers for Unix and indeed have written a few compilers myself, but I'm out of touch now.

You have lots of options, I suspect Quincy C isn't one of them

Rob

 

[ATB]

Why are you using Quincy C?

You have lots of options, I suspect Quincy C isn't one of them

Rob

Thank you for the help. I should have mentioned, and this might be taboo considering the nature of this website, but Im using Windows 7. I need an easy to use (Im self taught / teaching myself) IDE for C.

Ill try Xcode if it runs on Win7, but yes I know you did say Mac.

I want to be able to go thru all the examples in the Beg C Programming book I downloaded. Quincy 2005 isnt working for that. I tried codeblocks, codelite, pelles c, I couldnt get them "up and running" after having installed them. Quincy is so easy to use, coeblocks, codelite, pelles c arent. Ive hit a wall so to speak with the book Im using because in order to continue I need to write code, build and execute none of which I can do, I do not understand how to use those compilers they are much more involved than Quincy.

If you come across any for windows please let me know, it would be much appreciated. Right now Im stuck where Im at, if I cant write code and compile I can not go thru the book Im using (ie end of learning). :

 

[rwillett]

That little piece of information on Windows 7 makes a massive difference.

There are still a large number of free C compiler that will work though and be more recent than the last hundred years.

http://cplus.about.com/od/glossary/a/compilers.htm

The Microsoft Visual Studio one comes with an IDE. Thats free apart from the registration.

The Borland one is a nice easy to use system with an IDE. I used that about 25 years ago

The GCC ones are professional grade but if all you are looking to do is learn C then I'd get the Visual Studio one and use that. Its got an IDE, its up to date (for what you want) and its free. Never used it myself and I would put a healthy caution against getting too deep into it as Microsoft has a nasty habit of 'extending stuff' to lock you in. However for learning it'll do fine.

Another option is to install Linux, either on bare metal or in Virtual Box on Windows 7 and use that. That gives you professional grade compilers, professional grade OS, ALL the tools you can ever need or want and its completely free including VirtualBox. IDE's are more tricky and I don't use an IDE preferring to use Emacs and my own workflow, but thats a difficult learning curve for a new learner. Something like http://www.codelite.org might work for you on Linux.

Any of these will get you going enough to compile Hello World and run it.

 

[ATB]

Pelles C has been working excellently for me

The book Ive been learning from as well rocks:
Beginning C, 5th Edition (Expert's Voice in C) 5th ed. 2013 Edition by Ivor Horton

I wanted follow up with this posting. It's been a goal of mine to learn to write code (still working on it). The book I am using is very well written and easy to understand/follow, and thorough. I wanted to share that for anyone interested.

If you want to learn to code in C and have no previous experience programming, this is an excellent book. Pelles C is an awesome IDE as well, its free and only 19MB (also conforms to the C11 standard).