We can write the C program code in any of the text editors. But the program should be saved as a file with .C extension. But we need a compiler to run the C program. Here we are discussing how to setup IDE to compile and run C programs.
Compile and Run C Programs in Your Computer
A Compiler is like a translator that translate your C program into a language that your computer can understand. A Compiler is needed to check your program code and translate the code to assembly language. An Assembler converts this code in assembly language to the machine code.
So, we need a text editor, compiler and an assembler to run write, compiler and run the C program. An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) does all these jobs for us. It acts as both text editor, compiler and displays the output for us. You can write and run a C program by just installing one software called IDE.
IDEs for C Programming
Following are the most popular free IDEs for the C programming.
- Microsoft Visual Studio Community Edition
- Code Blocks
- Dev C++
- Turbo C++
As you are a beginner in C programming we recommend you to use the Code Blocks. You can download the Code Blocks from here.
There are many Online C Compilers which helps you to run C program without installing an IDE in your Computer. Online C Compilers will work in mobile devices also. We use Online GDB C Compiler in our C Programming tutorial.