how to compile and run C/C++ program on ubuntu 11.04

C/C++ is one of the most popular programming language, mostly used in system programming (system software development e.g Most of the modern operating systems are programmed (primarily) either in C language or C++). C is a High Level language as compared to Assembly program, so it comes in the middle of Assembly and Java like High Level Language… That’s the beauty of C – it’s very easy to write program in C as compared to Assembly programming and fast execution time as compared to Java.

By default, Ubuntu 11.04 (code name:=Natty Narwhal) or any other Linux Based Distribution like Fedora, Linux Mint(10 or 9), Debian etc.. are very good for programming purposes(e.g C, C++, Java, PHP, Perl, Scripting, Ruby etc.). A lot of free and open source tools like IDE, debuggers are available which will makes the programming a lot Funky, with Ubuntu. In this post you will learn how to compile a C/C++ program on Ubuntu 11.04, from command line, you can also use some IDE like Eclipse, NetBeans if you want (but it’s not recommended for beginners). Ubuntu 11.04 comes with gcc(GNU Compiler Collection), installed by default which is one of the most widely used modern C compiler.

Compiling and Running C program on Ubuntu 11.04

#1 : Write a program, better use gedit (The Default Text editor). Right click on Desktop and create a new file – ‘fun.c’ and copy the code, given below and save it (CTRL+S). (C programs have the extension .c while C++ programs, have .cpp, although it’s a different fact that Linux doesn’t recognize file based on their extension but some applications may do that and it also avoid confusion, so better use proper extension)

#include<stdio.h>
void main()
{
/* Don't take it seriously, it's just for Fun! */
printf("Have Fun!\n");
}

#2 : Now you compile the program using GCC compiler (I think it’s installed by default in most versions in Ubuntu, but if it’s not the case then install it by typing – sudo apt-get install gcc at terminal). Open the Terminal (CTRL+ALT+T) and type the command (First move on to the directory where your file is located, I assume you have created the file on Desktop, If you are an absolute beginner – Learn Some basic Linux Commands).

cd Desktop
gcc fun.c -o fun1

The -o option (specifies the Output File Name) in the following command is optional, but it’s a good practice, because if you won’t specify that – then a default a.out file will be created (which will eventually overwrite older a.out file in that directory).

#3 : Execute/Run the program. Type  –

./fun1

#4 : That’s all. Here is one snapshot of output terminal –

Compile and Run C++ program

To compile C++ program, you may need to install g++.

Installing g++ compiler on Ubuntu 11.04

sudo apt-get install g++

Then all the remaining procedure is almost same. Just replace gcc by g++ from the above tutorial and instead of a basic/simple c program, use C++ program.

g++ file_name.cpp -o fun2
./fun2