[Setup] C Language Development Environment

There are several ways to use C on Windows.

Method	Description
MinGW (gcc)	A lightweight compiler. You can easily compile and run code from the command line.
Visual Studio	Microsoft's integrated development environment. Suitable for large-scale development as well.

Installing MinGW

MinGW is a tool that makes GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) available on Windows.

1. Download the installer from mingw-w64.org.
2. After installation, add the MinGW bin folder to the PATH environment variable.
3. Run the following in Command Prompt to verify the installation.

gcc --version

If version information is displayed, the installation is complete.

On macOS, installing Xcode Command Line Tools makes gcc and clang immediately available. Run the following command in Terminal.

xcode-select --install

When a dialog appears, click "Install". After it completes, you can verify with the following command.

gcc --version

A C program follows this workflow: write source code → compile → run.

1. Create the source file

Use a text editor to create a file named hello.c with the following content.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {
    printf("Hello, World!\n");
    return 0;
}

2. Compile

Run the following in Terminal (or Command Prompt).

gcc hello.c -o hello

-o hello specifies the output filename. If omitted, the output will be named a.out (or a.exe on Windows).

3. Run

For macOS / Linux:

./hello

For Windows:

hello.exe

If Hello, World! is displayed, you're all set.

Option	Description
-o filename	Specifies the output filename.
-Wall	Enables all warnings. Useful for catching bugs early.
-g	Includes debug information. Use this when running with a debugger.
-std=c11	Compiles using the C11 standard. Makes the target standard explicit.

Example of compiling with warnings enabled.

gcc -Wall hello.c -o hello

As a beginner, it is recommended to always use -Wall when compiling. Warning messages will help you catch bugs.

If your terminal displays gcc: command not found, the compiler may not be installed, or the PATH may not be configured correctly. Follow the steps below to check and fix the issue.

For macOS

On macOS, installing Xcode Command Line Tools makes gcc available. Run the following command.

xcode-select --install

After installation, verify it.

gcc --version

For Linux / Windows (MinGW)

Check where the gcc command is located.

which gcc

If not found, check common installation locations.

ls /usr/bin/gcc
ls /usr/local/bin/gcc

Once you know the location of the command, add the PATH to your shell configuration file. First, check which shell you are using.

echo $SHELL

If /bin/zsh is shown, edit ~/.zshrc; if /bin/bash is shown, edit ~/.bashrc.

For macOS (zsh):

echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

For Linux (bash):

echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

For Windows (MinGW), go to "Advanced System Settings" → "Environment Variables" → "Path" and add the MinGW bin folder (e.g., C:\MinGW\bin or C:\mingw-w64\bin).