How to Compile a C Program Using the. This wikiHow teaches you how to compile a C program from source code. This should return the version number of the C.

Visual Studio includes a command-line C++ compiler that you can use to create everything from basic console apps to Universal Windows Platform apps, Desktop apps, device drivers, and .NET components.

In this walkthrough, you create a basic, 'Hello, World'-style C++ program by using a text editor, and then compile it on the command line. If you'd like to try the Visual Studio IDE instead of using the command line, see Walkthrough: Working with Projects and Solutions (C++) or Using the Visual Studio IDE for C++ Desktop Development. Uninstall license manager ansys student install.

In this walkthrough, you can use your own Visual C++ program instead of typing the one that's shown, or you can use a Visual C++ code sample from another help article.

Prerequisites

To complete this walkthrough, you must have installed either Visual Studio and the optional Desktop development with C++ workload, or the command-line Build Tools for Visual Studio.

Visual Studio is a powerful integrated development environment (IDE) that supports a full-featured editor, resource managers, debuggers, and compilers for many languages and platforms. For information on how to download and install Visual Studio, including the free Visual Studio Community edition, and to include support for C/C++ development, see Install C++ support in Visual Studio.

The Build Tools for Visual Studio installs only the command-line compilers, tools, and libraries you need to build C and C++ programs. It's perfect for build labs or classroom exercises and installs relatively quickly. To install only the command-line tools, look for Build Tools for Visual Studio on the Visual Studio Downloads page.

Before you can build a C or C++ program on the command line, you must verify that the tools are installed, and that you can access them from the command line. Visual C++ has complex requirements for the command-line environment to find the tools, headers, and libraries it uses. You can't use Visual C++ in a plain command prompt window without doing some preparation. Fortunately, Visual C++ installs shortcuts for you to launch a developer command prompt that has the environment set up for command line builds. Unfortunately, the names of the developer command prompt shortcuts and where they're located are different in almost every version of Visual C++ and on different versions of Windows. Your first walkthrough task is finding the right one to use.

Note

A developer command prompt shortcut automatically sets the correct paths for the compiler and tools, and for any required headers and libraries. You must set these environment values yourself if you use a regular Command Prompt window. For more information, see Set the Path and Environment Variables for Command-Line Builds. We recommend you use a developer command prompt shortcut instead of building your own.

Open a developer command prompt

1. If you have installed Visual Studio 2017 or later on Windows 10, open the Start menu and choose All apps. Scroll down and open the Visual Studio folder (not the Visual Studio application). Choose Developer Command Prompt for VS to open the command prompt window.

   If you have installed Microsoft Visual C++ Build Tools 2015 on Windows 10, open the Start menu and choose All apps. Scroll down and open the Visual C++ Build Tools folder. Choose Visual C++ 2015 x86 Native Tools Command Prompt to open the command prompt window.

   You can also use the Windows search function to search for 'developer command prompt' and choose one that matches your installed version of Visual Studio. Use the shortcut to open the command prompt window.

2. Next, verify that the Visual C++ developer command prompt is set up correctly. In the command prompt window, enter cl and verify that the output looks something like this:

   There may be differences in the current directory or version numbers, depending on the version of Visual C++ and any updates installed. If the above output is similar to what you see, then you're ready to build C or C++ programs at the command line.

   Note

   If you get an error such as 'cl' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file,' error C1034, or error LNK1104 when you run the cl command, then either you are not using a developer command prompt, or something is wrong with your installation of Visual C++. You must fix this issue before you can continue.

   If you can't find the developer command prompt shortcut, or if you get an error message when you enter cl, then your Visual C++ installation may have a problem. Try reinstalling the Visual C++ component in Visual Studio, or reinstall the Microsoft Visual C++ Build Tools. Don't go on to the next section until this works. For more information about installing and troubleshooting Visual C++, see Install Visual Studio.

   Note

   Depending on the version of Windows on the computer and the system security configuration, you might have to right-click to open the shortcut menu for the developer command prompt shortcut and then choose Run as administrator to successfully build and run the program that you create by following this walkthrough.

Create a Visual C++ source file and compile it on the command line

1. In the developer command prompt window, enter md c:hello to create a directory, and then enter cd c:hello to change to that directory. This directory is where your source file and the compiled program are created in.

2. Enter notepad hello.cpp in the command prompt window.

   Choose Yes when Notepad prompts you to create a file. This step opens a blank Notepad window, ready for you to enter your code in a file named hello.cpp.

3. In Notepad, enter the following lines of code:

   This code is a simple program that will write one line of text on the screen and then exit. To minimize errors, copy this code and paste it into Notepad.

4. Save your work! In Notepad, on the File menu, choose Save.

   Congratulations, you've created a C++ source file, hello.cpp, that is ready to compile.

5. Switch back to the developer command prompt window. Enter dir at the command prompt to list the contents of the c:hello directory. You should see the source file hello.cpp in the directory listing, which looks something like:

   The dates and other details will differ on your computer. If you don't see your source code file, hello.cpp, make sure you've changed to the c:hello directory you created, and in Notepad, make sure that you saved your source file in this directory. Also make sure that you saved the source code with a .cpp file name extension, not a .txt extension.

6. At the developer command prompt, enter cl /EHsc hello.cpp to compile your program.

   The cl.exe compiler generates an .obj file that contains the compiled code, and then runs the linker to create an executable program named hello.exe. This name appears in the lines of output information that the compiler displays. The output of the compiler should look something like:

   Note

   If you get an error such as 'cl' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file,' error C1034, or error LNK1104, your developer command prompt is not set up correctly. For information on how to fix this issue, go back to the Open a developer command prompt section.

   Note

   If you get a different compiler or linker error or warning, review your source code to correct any errors, then save it and run the compiler again. For information about specific errors, use the search box on this MSDN page to look for the error number.

7. To run the hello.exe program, at the command prompt, enter hello.

   The program displays this text and exits:

   Congratulations, you've compiled and run a C++ program by using the command-line tools.

Next steps

This 'Hello, World' example is about as simple as a C++ program can get. Real world programs have header files and more source files, link in libraries, and do useful work.

You can use the steps in this walkthrough to build your own C++ code instead of typing the sample code shown. You can also build many C++ code sample programs that you find elsewhere. You can put your source code and build your apps in any writeable directory. By default, the Visual Studio IDE creates projects in your Documents folder, in a Projects subfolder of a Visual Studio folder named for your version of Visual Studio.

To compile a program that has additional source code files, enter them all on the command line, like:

cl /EHsc file1.cpp file2.cpp file3.cpp

The /EHsc command-line option instructs the compiler to enable C++ exception handling. For more information, see /EH (Exception Handling Model).

When you supply additional source files, the compiler uses the first input file to create the program name. In this case, it outputs a program called file1.exe. To change the name to program1.exe, add an /out linker option:

cl /EHsc file1.cpp file2.cpp file3.cpp /link /out:program1.exe

And to catch more programming mistakes automatically, we recommend you compile by using either the /W3 or /W4 warning level option:

cl /W4 /EHsc file1.cpp file2.cpp file3.cpp /link /out:program1.exe

The compiler, cl.exe, has many more options you can apply to build, optimize, debug, and analyze your code. For a quick list, enter cl /? at the developer command prompt. You can also compile and link separately and apply linker options in more complex build scenarios. For more information on compiler and linker options and usage, see C/C++ Building Reference.

You can use NMAKE and makefiles, or MSBuild and project files to configure and build more complex projects on the command line. For more information on using these tools, see NMAKE Reference and MSBuild.

The C and C++ languages are similar, but not the same. The MSVC compiler uses a simple rule to determine which language to use when it compiles your code. By default, the MSVC compiler treats all files that end in .c as C source code, and all files that end in .cpp as C++ source code. To force the compiler to treat all files as C++ non-dependent on file name extension, use the /TC compiler option.

The MSVC compiler includes a C Runtime Library (CRT) that is compatible with the ISO C99 standard, but not strictly compliant. In most cases, portable code will compile and run as expected. Visual C++ doesn't support some of the CRT changes in ISO C11. Certain library functions and POSIX function names are deprecated by the MSVC compiler. The functions are supported, but the preferred names have changed. For more information, see Security Features in the CRT and Compiler Warning (level 3) C4996.

See also

C++ Language Reference
Projects and build systems
MSVC Compiler Options

I have been writing my code in IDE,I just read that there also existed a Command Line Development Environment in which the code is written in DOS.I googled but found no results on how to use the command line development environment.My OS is Windows XP.I would be very thankful for your help me write the hello world program in DOS and also explain how to run it.

5 Answers

DOS is not dead.. yet!

fahad

There are a number of methods by which you can enter code in DOS (see EDIT further on down).

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(1) You can send keystrokes directly to a file

You do this by redirecting output to CON (the console) to a file. The only oddity of this method is that you end the 'session' by entering a CTRL-Z when you are finished.

It's basic, but this is how it goes.

Firstly, suppose you want to display 'Hello World' on the screen, a simple batch file containing the following two lines is all that is required:

The '@echo off' is commonly found at the start of all batch files. It simply instructs the command interpretter NOT to display each command as it is being executed (or parsed).

One more thing before we start. Throughout this answer, I will assume your program is named 'helloworld.bat'.

Enter the following lines one after the other pressing the ENTER key at the end of each line:

The '^Z' is displayed when you press the CTRL-Z key combination (don't forget to press the ENTER key as well).

When you press the ENTER key after CTRL-Z, DOS displays the familiar '1 File(s) copied' messege.

You can now execute the batch file program by simply entering the program's name like this:

And DOS will display the following:

It can't get any more basic than that.

(2) You can use DOS' EDIT program

This is a DOS based IDE retained from around the mid-90's. Simply enter the following command:

And EDIT will open in the same DOS window. When you close EDIT, you are returned back to DOS again.

EDIT also works with your mouse.

Once EDIT opens, enter the following two lines of code:

Then, click on [File], [Save], type: 'helloworld.bat' in the 'File Name' input field, use your mouse to change directories in the 'Directories:' pane if you want to, then click [OK]. To return to DOS, click [File], [Exit].

EDIT version 4.5 (I think) was context-sensitive and displayed code using different colours to seperate key word, different data type, symbols etc.

(3) Use Windows' built-in Notepad

This is simple. At the command prompt, enter the following command:

And Notepad will fire up. It's a simple text editor and does the job when entering small programs.

(4) Use Notepad++. It's FREE!!

Notepad++ is the programmer's choice. It's free, full of useful features and customisable. Find it on the net by searching for 'notepad++'.

You simply use whatever text editor you like to create the C sourse file(s) then invoke the compiler command line(s) to compile and link the program (typically, an IDE is doing exactly that, but in a behind-the-scene manner). How the command line is invoked depends on the exact toolchain you're using.

You might also need to set up an environment for you particular compiler toolchain (the right paths and various other env variables might need set up).

For Visual C++ the environment might be set up using a batch file installed by Visual Studio:

Invoking the compiler could be as simple as:

or for C++ (for some reason it issues a non-fatal warning if you don't give it an option configuring details about how it should implement exceptions):

The particulars are very dependent on the compiler you're using - you should read the docs for that compiler.

Also, the options you use depend on your particular situation and needs. Scripts/batch files and/or makefile can help you manage the complexity of the options you might need to use.

From your comment, 'Just some knowledge so I can say that I know one way to do programming without IDE' I would say learn to write simple batch files. They can be run from Explorer but they exist as a holdover from the DOS days.

Start a command prompt window (Start->Run->'cmd'), this will open a window and show a prompt, most likely 'c:' or some other path.

Type the following command (followed by )

You should see:

Now, using whatever editor you'd like, create a text file with that command as the only line. Name the file 'hello.bat'. When you are at the command prompt you can execute the batch file like so:

You have now programmed using the DOS command line. For more commands and such, start with the help system.

Which will display all the available commands for your batch file.
Microsoft has an online reference here.

DOS is dead for all practical purposes. Under Windows your options boil down to the following:

• Use an IDE. Visual Studio is one example, Qt another. You can write programs for the commandline with an IDE.
• Use a proper text editor, build tool and other helper tools. You might use gvim for editing code, make for building your project and git for version control. You might as well use the GNU coreutils for other helpers, or maybe even the entire cygwin package.

Bro, use gcc compiler for which write ur code in any text editor then compile ur code in windows shell or u can say command line environment.

Look!

Prompt:/> gcc source_file_name.c

This command compiles ur code,If there is any error, u will get dispalyed with line numbers,now, every program creates its exe file by the name a.exe by default.To, get the output of ur program,

Prompt:/> a.exe

O/P

Hello World!

To change the name of the exe file there is also a command.

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