Install & Configure VS Code With C Compiler

 Install & Configure VS Code With C Compiler

In this tutorial we are going to discuss about IDE along with Compiler and the difference between the two. We will also see the installation of these two in windows as most of the viewers are using windows. I will also show you how to set the path for compiler and by the end of the tutorial you will have an ide linked with a compiler that will help you write your programs efficiently. 

What is an IDE?

IDE stands for Integrated development environment. It is nothing more than an enhanced version of a text editor that helps you write more efficient and nicer code. It helps to differentiate different parts of your codes with different colors and notifying you if you are missing some semicolon or bracket at some place by highlighting that area. A lot of IDEs are available such as DEVC++ or Code Blocks but we are going to use VS Code for this tutorial series.

Compiler:

A compiler is used to run the program of a certain language by converting the code into the language that our computer could understand. Without a compiler we can not run our code. Every programming language is required a different compiler for its functioning because the syntax of every language is different from the other. There are a lot of compilers available, but we are going to use MinGW for this course because it will fulfill all of our requirements and also it is recommended by Microsoft itself.

VS Code Installation:

Let’s start the installation process. First, we are going to see the installation of VS Code. For that search "VS Code download" on google or directly visit the URL:

https://code.visualstudio.com/download

This will open this page:

Click on the download option.

After the download is completed, open the setup and run it by saving VS Code in the default location without changing any settings at all. Just click the next button again and again until the installation process begins.

 After the installation process is completed, run VS code.

It will look something like this.

MinGW Installation:

Now it is time for the installation of compiler. For that search google for: C programming in VS Code or directly visit the URL: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/cpp

This website will open up:

Now you have to select C++ from the side bar.

By clicking on that you will see few compiler option on the right side

Choose “GCC via Mingw-w64 on Windows” from them

You will be redirected to this page.

Select install sourceforge option.

After the completion of download, run the setup and choose all the default options as we did while installing VS Code.

Setting path for compiler:

Now what we have to do is, we have to set path for our compiler. For that we have to go to C directory → Program Files → mingw-64 → mingw-32 → bin. After reaching bin we have to save the path or URL to the bin.

Note: The path will only be same if you choose all the default options.

• Then go to the properties of “This Pc”.
• Select “Advance System Settings”
• Select the “Environment Variable” option.
• Add the copied path to Environment variable

Now you can visit your ide and run C code on it.

Error:

If an error that “gcc is not recognized” occurs, then I have another tutorial to coup up with that. The link is given below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLh84CmdBJ0

 

 

 

 

Code as described/written in the video

#include 

int main()
{
    printf("Hello World\n");
    return 0;
}