C Programming Absolute Beginner's Guide (3rd Edition)

use a version of the software no matter what operating system you use. However, feel

free to pick whichever programming environment looks best to you.

If you surf to the Code::Blocks page and read the very first sentence, you may worry a bit (or a lot):

The open source, cross platform, free C++ IDE.

Open source refers to software code that users can alter or improve. (You will not be doing this
anytime soon, so put it out of your mind.) Cross-platform is an adjective that means the software can
run on different operating systems—as a beginner, however, you need concern yourself with only your
own platform. I think free is a term we can all get behind, and IDE is short for integrated
development environment, which just means you can write, edit, and debug your programs without
having to switch software to do so. We get to debugging shortly.

Don’t panic about the C++ part. You can write either C or C++ programs in Code::Blocks. Finding a
C compiler these days is harder. Most of the time, C compilers come bundled with an advanced
version of C, known as C++. Therefore, when you look for a C compiler, you will almost always find
a combination C and C++ compiler, and often the C++ functionality is highlighted. The good news is
that, after you learn C, you will already have a C++ compiler and you won’t have to learn the ins and
outs of a new IDE.

Figure 1.1 shows the Code::Blocks home page. To download the C/C++ IDE, click the Downloads
choice under the Main section in the left column.

FIGURE 1.1 The home page for Code::Blocks. You want to focus on the Downloads option.

After you select Downloads, you are taken to a page that further discusses three options: Binaries,
Source, and SVN. The latter two options are advanced, so you can ignore them. Click Binaries.

Note

Two things to consider when doing this installation. First, the screen shots in the book

will probably be a little different than what you see on the Internet—Code::Blocks is

constantly improving the software, so the numbers (which refer to the software

version) are constantly increasing. The version of Code::Blocks used in the book was

10.05, but at last check, they are up to 12.11, and the number is probably even larger

by the time you read this. Second, if you are a Windows user, make sure you select the