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Nov 24, 2017.
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Visual C++ includes a C compiler that you can use to create everything from basic console programs to full Windows Desktop applications, mobile apps, and more.
This walkthrough shows how to create a basic, 'Hello, World'-style C program by using a text editor, and then compile it on the command line. If you'd rather work in C++ on the command line, see Walkthrough: Compiling a Native C++ Program 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.
Prerequisites
To complete this walkthrough, you must have installed either Visual Studio and the optional Visual C++ components, or the Build Tools for Visual Studio.
Visual Studio is a powerful integrated development environment that supports a full-featured editor, resource managers, debuggers, and compilers for many languages and platforms. For information on these features and how to download and install Visual Studio, including the free Visual Studio Community edition, see Install Visual Studio.
The Build Tools for Visual Studio version of Visual Studio installs only the command-line toolset, the 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 toolset, download Build Tools for Visual Studio from the Visual Studio downloads page and run the installer. In the Visual Studio installer, select the C++ build tools workload, and choose Install.
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 some preparation. You need a developer command prompt window, which is a regular command prompt window that has all the required environment variables set. Fortunately, Visual C++ installs shortcuts for you to launch developer command prompts that have 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 to find the right shortcut 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. Some of these values are different for each build configuration. You must set these environment values yourself if you don't use one of the shortcuts. For more information, see Set the Path and Environment Variables for Command-Line Builds. Because the build environment is complex, we strongly recommend you use a developer command prompt shortcut instead of building your own.
These instructions vary depending on which version of Visual Studio you are using. To see the documentation for your preferred version of Visual Studio, use the Version selector control. It's found at the top of the table of contents on this page.
Open a developer command prompt in Visual Studio 2019
If you have installed Visual Studio 2019 on Windows 10, open the Start menu, and then scroll down and open the Visual Studio 2019 folder (not the Visual Studio 2019 app). Choose Developer Command Prompt for VS 2019 to open the command prompt window.
If you're using a different version of Windows, look in your Start menu or Start page for a Visual Studio tools folder that contains a developer command prompt shortcut. 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.
Open a developer command prompt in Visual Studio 2017
If you have installed Visual Studio 2017 on Windows 10, open the Start menu, and then scroll down and open the Visual Studio 2017 folder (not the Visual Studio 2017 app). Choose Developer Command Prompt for VS 2017 to open the command prompt window.
If you're running a different version of Windows, look in your Start menu or Start page for a Visual Studio tools folder that contains a developer command prompt shortcut. 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.
Open a developer command prompt in Visual Studio 2015
If you have installed Microsoft Visual C++ Build Tools 2015 on Windows 10, open the Start menu, and then 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.
If you're running a different version of Windows, look in your Start menu or Start page for a Visual Studio tools folder that contains a developer command prompt shortcut. 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.
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. If you're using Visual Studio 2017 or later, try reinstalling the Desktop development with C++ workload in the Visual Studio installer. For details, see Install C++ support in Visual Studio. Or, reinstall the Build Tools from the Visual Studio downloads page. Don't go on to the next section until this works. For more information about installing and troubleshooting Visual Studio, 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 C source file and compile it on the command line
- In the developer command prompt window, enter
cd c:
to change the current working directory to the root of your C: drive. Next, entermd c:simple
to create a directory, and then entercd c:simple
to change to that directory. This directory will hold your source file and the compiled program. - Enter
notepad simple.c
at the developer command prompt. In the Notepad alert dialog that pops up, choose Yes to create a new simple.c file in your working directory. - In Notepad, enter the following lines of code:
- On the Notepad menu bar, choose File > Save to save simple.c in your working directory.
- Switch back to the developer command prompt window. Enter
dir
at the command prompt to list the contents of the c:simple directory. You should see the source file simple.c 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, simple.c, make sure you've changed to the c:simple 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 .c file name extension, not a .txt extension. - To compile your program, enter
cl simple.c
at the developer command prompt.You can see the executable program name, simple.exe, in the lines of output information that the compiler displays: Jumpstart 2nd grade for mac.NoteBad boy greatest hits volume 1 zip. 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.NoteIf 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 at the top of this page to look for the error number. - To run your program, enter
simple
at the command prompt.The program displays this text and then exits:Congratulations, you've compiled and run a C program by using the command line.
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. To compile a program that has additional source code files, enter them all on the command line, like:
cl file1.c file2.c file3.c
The compiler outputs a program called file1.exe. To change the name to program1.exe, add an /out linker option:
cl file1.c file2.c file3.c /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 file1.c file2.c file3.c /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 Microsoft C/C++ compiler (MSVC) 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 of file name extension, use the /Tc compiler option.
MSVC is compatible with the ISO C99 standard, but not strictly compliant. In most cases, portable C code will compile and run as expected. Visual C++ doesn't support most of the changes in ISO C11. Certain library functions and POSIX function names are deprecated by MSVC. 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
Walkthrough: Creating a Standard C++ Program (C++)
C Language Reference
Projects and build systems
Compatibility
C Language Reference
Projects and build systems
Compatibility
Are you a student who is learning C++, or a professional who has already been doing C++ coding perhaps on a corporate Linux system, and unsure where to start to transition to a Mac. Or, maybe you already write C++ in a Mac environment but want to explore some other options to improve your coding speed and efficiency.
So everything is clear, we are discussing here are Integrated Development Environments (IDE). An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software package which combines all the basic tools developers need to write and test software. An IDE will typically contain a code editor, a compiler or interpreter and a debugger that can be accessed.
This a quick guide to introduce some options and provide simple examples of how C++ coding can be accomplished on a Mac. We will look at what options are available on the Mac already and also some other IDEs that are available to use on a Mac. Different users will likely care about different features, but will we give you a rundown of each option. The final option is to use Linux on your Mac.
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XCode
Apple’s own free Xcode, a full-featured C++ IDE, is a good place to start for writing C++code on a Mac. XCode is actually designed specifically for developers to write macOS, iOS, tvOS and watchOS applications using Swift or Objective-C. If you already do iOS and MacOS development, then Xcode may be your best option for C++ as well.
However, it is not widely used professionally as a C++ development system, where primarily Linux and Java-based IDEs are used. Nonetheless, it does do a good job.
XCode includes a GUI debugger, and you can change the “C++ Language Dialect”, and use lldb
You can download it for free from Apple, using your Apple ID.
CLion
This popular IDE for C/C++ developer has been created by the well-known JetBrains. It is available on other platforms as well and is a respected tool.
C Code Program For Mac Pro
It contains lots of useful functions which will help your developing, such as:
- Smart editor, with good code completion
- Embedded terminal
- A lot of configuration options, to set it up how you like
- Support for various languages and standards: C++, libc++, boost, JavaScript, XML, HTML and CSS
- Keyboard shortcuts so you can work faster – eg. add class members, override/implement functions, wrap a block of code with a statements
- Well automated refactoring
- Code analysis
- CMake support
- Visual Diff and VCS integration
Qt Creator
Qt is one of the most popular libraries. You can download the open source version for free. There is also a pro version of Qt available for purchase, which offers more features.
Qt designer is one outstanding feature of Qt Creator. It is for designing and building graphical user interfaces (GUIs) from Qt widgets. This is a really great choice if you want to create a GUI for your application. You can compose and customize the widgets, then test them using different styles and resolutions directly within the editor.
Other features:
- Qt Data Visualization
- Code editor has syntax highlighting and autocompletion.
- Qt Quick Compiler
- Boot to Qt
- Qt Quick 2D Renderer
- Qt WebView
- Qt Virtual Keyboard
- Clang is supported
- Visual debugging
Eclipse
This a good open source IDE, which is also available across multiple platforms and is more industry standard. It is completely free, which also makes it an attractive option. It is very similar to Xcode, and you will need XCode and Java installed to use it.
- C/C++ development tools
- Eclipse Git team provider
- Mylyn Task List
- Remote system explorer
- A range of plugins is available. It has a good community of users, so a lot of good plugins have been developed.
However, you should be aware that you will need to set up some other things to be able to debug your code- described at StackOverflow.
Netbeans IDE
This a free multi-platform IDE. It has a lot of good features which can help you in development.
- Debugs your code, and points out errors, plus gives you hints for code optimization
- Autocomplete is very good and allows fast coding. The IDE will auto-complete your code (variable names / function references / library functions / classes / ids) wherever possible.
- Qt Toolkit support
- Remote development
- File navigation
- Compiler Configurations
Visual Code For Mac
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Like Eclipse, Java has to be installed along with some specific C++ compilers. You may need to do a bit of fiddling to get it up and running at first.
One other drawback is that it some users have reported that it can be memory heavy and slow.
Install Linux as a Virtual Machine on your Mac
If what you need is to do some serious C++ coding on a Mac, this is one final option you should not neglect to consider. It is a slightly more complex solution, but very satisfying and having access to Linux on your system has other advantages too. If you are already comfortable working in a Linux environment, this should not be a daunting option at all, but it undoubtedly does require more work than the other solutions here.
Since most professional C++ development is done in Linux along with its suite of GNU compilers and debugger, and Java-based IDEs, this is actually a very sensible solution. This way you will be able to use all the industry standard tools.
Microsoft Code For Mac
This option involves first acquiring a Virtual Machine system for your Mac, then install your Linux operating system of choice in that Virtual Machine. Once that is setup, you can really do anything you could possibly need in C++, get as complex as needed, and debug.
Free Mac Programs
The top two Virtual Machine programs to look at are Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. Both have been around for years and are stable and robust. We recommend trying Fedora or CentOS as your Linux installation because they are free and come with the required GNU compilers (g++) and debugger (gdb).