Is there anyway to program with C (linux) using a windows xp operating system?

Question

I want to start programming with C. But I wan't to know if i have to change my operating system to program using C.

Answer 1

Your question seems a little bit confused. C is a programming language; Linux is an operating system. You can most certainly program in C under either Windows XP or under Linux. If you are careful to write your programs so that you stick to the C language [ISO] standard, you will be able to to compile them on either system.

Beware, though, that the language standard is (intentionally) silent on things like GUIs -- C can be used for embedded devices, too. Interfaces like this are platform-dependent. The POSIX standards are the closest thing there is to a common set of interfaces.

If you want a Linux-like environment under Windows, check out the Cygwin package. The GNU C compiler is available free for multiple platforms. The canonical textbook for C is Kernighan and Ritchie, "The C Programming Language (2nd Edition)". You will probably also benefit from reading the FAQ for the USENET newsgroup comp.lang.c.

Answer 2

You can program in windows, you will need to download a compiler at the very least, and I recomend finding an IDE. You can find all of these at SourceForge.net. The only restriction is that any compiled program will only run on the operating system you compiled it on, but if you write the code without using OS specific libraries you can compile the same source on multiple OSes.

Answer 3

If you want a Unix/Linux-like environment within your Windows system, get the free utility "Cygwin". It will include the "gcc" (GNU C compiler), and file editors like "vi" and "emacs" with which you can create C program files.

Answer 4

You should proabably understand computers first, then start with the programming.

For C, all you need is a windows XP compiler