Before choosing the right IDE for C, let’s get to know a little about what IDEs basically are. The IDE stands for Integrated Development Environment. While working on a short or a huge project, you may need to use a diverse range of functionalities like text editor, syntax highlighter, compiler, code auto-save, version control, debugger, and etc. Would it not be better if you get all these things in one place instead of downloading different software for different functionalities? That’s where the IDE comes! It will provide you an environment where a number of facilities will be integrated for your development work.
I guess you have a clear understanding on IDE.
Did you see “compiler” is bold in the first paragraph? I did it intentionally because before starting C programming, you need to have a minimum knowledge on compiler. Let me give a short intro to compiler
Just think compiler as a TRANSLATOR. So what language does the compiler translate? The answer is it translates a high-level programming language into a machine understandable laguage. Lets explain better:
printf (“Hello world”); —> COMPILER —> 0110100110001001011
High-level language Machine Language
See this, you have written a code to print Hello world using C language (If it’s not familiar to you, I will explain it in my next blog. So don’t worry!) But your computer does not know the language printf (“Hello world”);. It only understands 0 and 1. So to make your computer understand, the compiler translates your code written in C language into a language that your computer can understand, i.e, machine language.
So I am done with the basics. Let’s get into choosing a IDE for us.
There are number of IDEs available on the internet: Code::Blocks, Visual Studio, CLion, NetBeans, Eclipse etc. But I will choose Code::Blocks from the list. Let me demonstrate how you can download and make it usable on your PC.
Download the codeblocks-20.03mingw-setup.exe from the link if you are using windows. Then please follow the short video below
If you are using Linux OS, please take a look at this video.
I hope you have successfully installed Code::Blocks on your PC.
Thank you.