Tutorial 0
Compiling your first C program in
the Linux Environment
Objective:
This lab is intended to provide an introduction to Linux. The objective of
this lab is to familiarise students with the Linux command-line environment
and develop their skills in shell scripting. This lab serves as a platform for
the subsequent labs related to programming in C. The lab consists of :
• Perform basic system operations such as text editing and file
management in the Linux environment.
• Introduces the steps for compiling a C program.
Recommended Systems:
● Ubuntu (Should be available in all CSE Lab 3 computers. Use password
1234 if/when needed.)
References:
● Unix concepts and applications, Fourth Edition, Sumitabha Das, TMH.
● Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie, The C Programming
Language, Prentice Hall of India.
● Byron Gottfried, Schaum’s Outline of Programming with C, McGraw-Hill.
1. Getting Used to
Linux
Linux commands allow you to interact with Linux reliably via a Terminal. Typically,
a command consists of the command name itself, which specifies the action to be
performed (e.g., ls, mkdir, cp). This is often followed by optional arguments or
flags, which modify the behavior of the command (e.g., -l for a detailed list, -a to
show all files). Finally, the command usually includes a target, which indicates the
file, directory, or other object the command should operate on (e.g., filename,
directoryname). (Note: folders are called directories.)
Tip: You can use up/down arrows to move between past commands
Useful Linux Commands:
● Create a new directory (i.e a folder): mkdir progs
● Go to the progs directory: cd progs
● Go to the parent directory: cd ../
● Go back to the progs directory: cd progs
● List all files in a directory: ls -a
● List files with detailed information: ls -l
● View a file's content: cat filename
● Copy a file to another: cp file1.c file2.c
● Copy a file to a directory: cp file1.c progs/file3.c
● Move a file to another: mv file1.c file2.c
● Move a file to a directory: mv file1.c progs/file3.c
● Delete a file: rm filename
● Delete an empty directory: rmdir directoryname
● Display the current working directory: pwd
● Clear the terminal screen: clear
● Search for a file: find . -name "filename"
● Get help for a command: man commandname
2. Compiling Your First
C Program
● Click on the terminal icon to open a shell (command prompt).
● The file hello_world.c has been provided for your reference. Download
it and save it in your working folder.
● Open the program using gedit text editor: $ gedit hello_world.c
(Note: The $ symbol represents the command prompt and should not be
typed.)
● Write/Edit your program in the editor (if needed) and save it.
● Go to the shell and compile your program: $ gcc hello_world.c -o
hello_world.out
● This tells the gcc C-compiler to compile the C-code present in the file
hello_world.c and create an executable file called
hello_world.out
● If compilation is successful, an executable called hello_world.out will
be created. If compilation fails, our friend gcc will point out compilation
errors. Go back to gedit hello_world.c and fix those!
● The hello_world.out file contains machine code that your computer
can understand (machine code generated on one computer this way might
not directly work on another.)
● Run your program: $ ./hello_world.out (“./” means the current
directory: to run an executable, remember for now, that you need to
provide either absolute path or a relative path from the current directory)
● Continue your edit-compile-debug-run-debug-print work as necessary.
FIRST C PROGRAM
#include <stdio.h>
int main(){
printf("Hello World from my first computer program!\n");
return 0;
}
2. Writing Your Second
C Program
$ gedit second.c
Write the following code and compile. You can also compile with command $ gcc
second.c which produces [Link] and run it with command $ ./[Link]
Second C program
#include <stdio.h>
int main(){
printf("So excited to write my second C program!\n");
int a;
a = 4;
printf("Value of a is %d\n", a);
return 0;
}
After Second C Program
Make a few mistakes and look at the compiler errors/warnings. Write statements
like printf("Value of a is %d\n", A); printf("Value of a is
%%d\n", a); print f("Value of a is %d\n", a); printf("Value
of a is %d\n, a); printf("Value of a is %\n", a);
printf("Value of a is %d\n", a) and so on. What do you observe?