Programming Mechanics

The exact steps you must follow to produce a program depend on your computer environment. Because C is portable, it's available in many environments, including UNIX, MS-DOS, Windows 95, and Macintosh. We'll look at some typical examples.

First, however, let's look at some aspects shared by many C environments, including the four we just mentioned. You don't really need to know what follows to run a C program, but it is good background. It can also help you understand why you have to go through some particular steps to get a C program.

When you write a program in the C language, you store what you write in a text file called a source code file. Most C systems, including the ones we mentioned, require that the name of the ...

Get C Primer Plus®, Third Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.