How to Compile and Run C program in Terminal?

To compile and run the C programs efficiently users often use a compiler or system in-build terminal. In that case, the well-known system terminal called CMD or command prompt can also be used to process the C programs with required outputs. To create an executable C program on the Windows system configuration, users must compile any code in the C programming language they have made or obtained to compile and run in the system terminal.

In this article, we’ll explore how to compile and run a C program from the Windows command prompt using the MinGW system environment, an easy-to-install version of the GCC compiler to execute correctly.

Table of Content

• How to Compile and Run C Program in Terminal
  • Step 1: Download or Install MinGW officially
  • Step 2: Add the compiler’s Path to the system environment via Windows
  • Step 3: Open the cmd environment or Command Prompt window
  • Step 4: Implement the ‘cd’ Command to run and execute
  • Step 5: Run the ‘gcc’ command to file management
  • Step 6: Run the C program and see the output

  How to Compile and Run C Program in Terminal

  Users need to type a few levels of commands into the command prompt or in-build terminal to run the C program without a GUI compiler by following the system configuration. The process of converting C language source code into machine code binary system is referred to as “compile” to process “run”. Because C is a middle-level programming language and not portable, it must first be translated into machine code using a compiler to be executed and run within the environment. We need to follow the below-mentioned steps to compile and run the C program in the in-build system terminal –

  Step 1: Download or Install MinGW officially

  First, we must install a C compiler in our system to execute and compile the C code into a binary configuration. For Windows, MinGW is the efficient option for the initial process to implement the programs.

  • Install MinGW from the official website > Click on the Downloaded File from the page > Follow the on-screen instructions to prepare the installation process and model functions efficiently.
  
  • Go to the MinGW installation manager window > click on the pop-up button > See the packages required to compile C programs for executable output system.
  • Check on the driver boxes that show “ mingw32-base ” and “ mingw-gcc-g++ ” > Select Continue
  
  • Click on Installation menu to install > Select Apply changes option for packages > Click on Apply button
  

  Step 2: Add the compiler’s Path to the system environment via Windows

  This is the easiest step to add the compiler’s path to the internal system environment variables and compile to run the C program. By this step, we can run the compiler from the command prompt and we won’t have to enter the full path environment to the GCC program in the system configuration to compile the C program.

  • Press the Windows button from the keyboard > Type environment or environment variables > Click on the search result which shows Edit the system environment variables > Process to execute
  
  • Click on the Environment Variables button > Select the path option under the “System variables” section > Select the Edit button
  • Click on New > Type “C:\MinGW\bin” > Click Ok (for 3 times) > Go to Homepage
  

  Step 3: Open the cmd environment or Command Prompt window

  Now, open a Command Prompt window and run as administrator to compile and run the C program.

  • Press the Windows button from the keyboard > Type cmd or Command Prompt
  
  • Right-click on the Command Prompt from the home screen > Select Run as Administrator option > Run “ gcc — version” at the prompt option to execute
  

  Step 4: Implement the ‘cd’ Command to run and execute

  Now, we need to use the cd command to go to the system directory and compile the code where the pre-structured C program is saved individually.

  

  • Go to “ C:\MyPrograms” option > Type “ cd C:\MyPrograms ” to put the value > Click on the Enter button to execute.

  Step 5: Run the ‘gcc’ command to file management

  After implementing the above steps, we can run the GCC command to compile the C program in our system for the further process. We use the structured syntax “gcc filename. c -o filename.exe” which compiles and makes the programs executable in the terminal.

  

  • Remember the File name which contains the C code > Replace “ filename. the c ” with the internal File name
  • Compiled structured program name which ends with “ .exe” file > file shows a flag “-o ” which specifies the output file config.

  Step 6: Run the C program and see the output

  It’s the final step to compile and run our C program efficiently and see the output in the terminal.

  • Type the new program name > Click on the Enter button
  
  Output

  It is Armstrong No.

  

  Conclusion

  C programming language is a middle-level procedural programming language. It offers high-level internal system capabilities like functions and structures in addition to low-level features like memory address access features. The process of compiling and executing a C program on the terminal is simple after implementing the proper steps. Understanding this initial method or steps is essential to writing and developing C programs that will help all the possibilities of design and run them more efficiently in any system.

  Also Read

  • How To Compile And Run a C/C++ Code In Linux
  • How to Compile a C++ Program Using GCC
  • How to Compile and Run C/C++/Java Programs in Linux

  How to Compile and Run C Program in Terminal – FAQs

  How to compile and run a C program in the terminal quickly?

  • Go to cd command > Type gcc myfile.c -o hello to process > Compile it > Run

  How to open a terminal in our system?

  • Go to Start or Run window > type cmd or command prompt > Click on Run as administrator

  How to set and execute any program in cmd?

  • Go to Start > Click on Run button > type cmd > Copy the program file > Paste the file name in cd command > Execute and run the program > See output.