What is needed to get started with C/C++?

You need two things:

1. IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
2. C Compiler

IDE (Integrated Development Environment)

• An integrated development environment (IDE) or interactive development environment is a software application that provides comprehensive facilities to computer programmers for software development. An IDE normally consists of a source code editor, build automation tools and a debugger. Most modern IDEs offer Intelligent code completion features.

C compiler:

• It will compile your C code to machine code.

With Java you have many choices IDE, it is a tool to write code. Popular and most commonly used today is Eclipse.

With the other options you can see at:

• http://www.wtfdiary.com/2012/08/8-best-and-free-ide-for-c-and-c.html

You have two options for installation when using Eclipse for programming C/C++

Option 1:

• Install Java, it is imperative to be able to run the Eclipse IDE.
• After installing Java, download and install Eclipse package for programming in C/C ++ (Eclipse IDE for C/C ++ Developers).
• Installing the  C/C++ compiler (C Compiler), the compiler will compile your code into machine code.

Option 2:

• Install Java, it is imperative to be able to run the Eclipse IDE
• After installing Java, download and install Eclipse for Java programming package (Eclipse IDE for Java EE Developers).
• Install  CDT (C/C++ Development Tooling), CDT is an plugin installed to Eclipse to program C/C++
• Installing the  C/C++ compiler (C Compiler), the compiler will compile your code into machine code.

We will install the 2nd way.

C-Compiler is a compiler. It compile your C/C++ code to computer code. In case you're programming on Windows OS, you have 2 options to install C Compiler:

• MinGW
• CygWin

You only need to install one of these two compilers. The fact that MinGW is preferred

Install MinGW:

Install GygWin:

First you need to install Java, you can see instructions here:

Next you need to install Eclipse IDE for Java JEE Developers package. You can see the instructions at:

After you install the "Eclipse IDE for Java JEE Developers", this is the Eclipse package for Java programming, you need to install additional CDT  plugin (C/C++ Development Tooling) to programming in C/C++. You can see the instructions at:

In Eclipse, select:

• Window/References

Select:

• C/C++ > New C/C++ Project Wizad > Makefile Project

Note:

1. Set it to Windows PE Parser if you are on windows.
2. Set it to Cygwin PE Parser if you are using Cygwin

Configuring the PATH environment variable:
In Windows, you should add to the ends of the PATH environment variable, the path to the bin directory of MinGW:

• ;C:\MinGW\bin

Next you can see the tutorial to learn C for beginners: