C Programming software help

[scottjge]

I am a victim of Vista 64 and can not find any software for a C programming language and was hoping someone here could help me out. I have just started to learn C and need some software to write my source. I have tried Turbo C++, Borland C++, just to name a few and they will not work with Vista 64 bit. I get errors that says to check with the software manufacture.

Does anyone know of a C IDE with GUI that works with vista 64?

Any advise or pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Scottjge

 

[MilesAhead]

64 bit is hard to come by free. Your best bet is probably here:

Free Compilers and Interpreters for Programming Languages (thefreecountry.com)

btw the 32 bit C compilers should still work. Turbo C doesn't work because it's 16 bit. Look at some of the 32 bit C compilers on The Free Country and go to their home page. They should tell you if they run ok in 64 bit. They'll generate 32 bit code, but that runs on 64 bit Vista fine as long as it's standard 32 bit Windows code.

edit:

Take a look at the Ming32 C compiler. I haven't used it but from the description it should generate standard 32 bit Windows code.

 

[scottjge]

Thank you for the URL. I don't know why I couldn't find it thru google search but it did not come up. I downloaded Dev C++ and it seems to work, or at least the simple programs that I have in my book seem to work. I don't need anything too elaborate because I am just trying to learn C thru self study, so if it will work good enough to get thru the book to learn, I will be happy. I am 57 and just learning to program, so I have a lot to catching up to do.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my shout out for help. I really do appreciated it.

 

[MilesAhead]

Sure thing. If you are doing self study then you may want to download one of the Microsoft Visual Studio C# Express editions. C# is very much like C++ only it takes care of memory handling for you. One of the drudgeries of programming C/C++ is freeing the memory after you do something. With C# most of the time you just create an instance of a class with 'new' and the system takes care of disposing it when you are done. Also it has drag & drop form design. That can make it kind of fun depending on the type of thing you are trying to do.

Another nice free programming tool is AutoIt3. It has a more readable syntax than C. If you look at similar things written in different programming languages it makes it easier to catch on to the underlying mechanism, so to speak. Pascal is probably the best learning language since it was designed to teach programming, but there aren't that many good Pascal implementations for Windows anymore. C is definitely the most "portable."

 

[scottjge]

Thanks again for the extra information and expertise. I will definitely look into the C# and the AutoIt3. Should I learn C first or just jump into C# in your opinion. I really don't know, as I said I am just starting out. I have never programmed before in my life and am going to attempt it for the first time.

Thanks so much for your help,
Glenn

 

[MilesAhead]

I would start with AutoIt3 because the syntax is a lot like basic(which is another teaching language or language designed for beginners.) As an example of looping a number of times in AutoIt3 you would see:

$max = 10
$total = 0

For $x = 1 to $max
$total += $x
Next

It's fairly "english like" to read.
In C you get something like:

int total = 0, max = 11;
for(int i = 1; i < max;i++)
{
total += i;
}

(in both languages the "+=" operator means
to add what's on the right of the operator
to what's on the left and assign the total
to what's on the left. It's just a shorthand
notation for
total = total + i;

More or less for typing convenience.)


In AutoIt3 it's easier to see what's going on.
Plus in C you can get into function pointers and
weird stuff that takes a bit of experience to understand.

No reason not to do both at the same time.
The AutoIt3 should help you understand the C
because you see things from more than one
perspective.

If you have a large public library nearby I would take a look
for a classic programming book called Algorithms
by Robert Sedgewick. The first one was in Pascal but he's
redone it in C and C++. Also anything by Niklaus Wirth is
still pertinent today and gives you a foundation in the basics.

 

[scottjge]

Cool, thanks for the tip. I will go to the library to see if I can find the book. We don't have a very big library here but we do have a college library that I have access to. I downloaded the eBook, " C# Programming for the Absolute Beginner" and have reading that today. So far, so good.

I have a fair understanding of C until it comes to pointers. Then I am lost, I just can't grab the concept. I understand what they are saying and what they are doing, but it just doesn't make any sense to me.

So far, from what I have read so far, C# has a lot in common with Python. I read a book on Python one time just to see if that language was for me. I probably will never be a programmer but I do like reading the books. Now, how dumb and boring does that sound? I just get bored and I like to read, so I read something that I know nothing about. Even if I never do much programming, I will appreciate what programmers have to go thru for me to enjoy software.

Thanks for all your help.

Glenn

 

[MilesAhead]

Pointers take a bit of getting used to. If you can find a basic book on Intel assembly language that will probably have the best explanation. Books on assembly have to talk about the machine and memory whereas high level languages can be more abstract.

A pointer just holds a memory address rather than a value. But it's better if you read something that talks about the machine, memory and how information is represented on computers etc..

I know what you mean about the books though. I used to read all kinds of magazines about Scuba Diving. I never got around to strapping a tank on my back. Closest I got was snorkeling.