#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
/* my first program in C */
printf("Hello, World! \n");
return 0;
}
Let us take a look at the various parts of the above program −
-
The first line of the program #include <stdio.h> is a preprocessor command, which tells a C compiler to include stdio.h file before going to actual compilation.
-
The next line int main() is the main function where the program execution begins.
-
The next line /*...*/ will be ignored by the compiler and it has been put to add additional comments in the program. So such lines are called comments in the program.
-
The next line printf(...) is another function available in C which causes the message "Hello, World!" to be displayed on the screen.
-
The next line return 0; terminates the main() function and returns the value 0.
Compile and Execute C Program
Let us see how to save the source code in a file, and how to compile and run it. Following are the simple steps −
-
Open a text editor and add the above-mentioned code.
-
Save the file as hello.c
-
Open a command prompt and go to the directory where you have saved the file.
-
Type gcc hello.c and press enter to compile your code.
-
If there are no errors in your code, the command prompt will take you to the next line and would generate a.out executable file.
-
Now, type a.out to execute your program.
-
You will see the output "Hello World" printed on the screen.
$ gcc hello.c
$ ./a,out
Hello, World!
Make sure the gcc compiler is in your path and that you are running it in the directory containing the source file hello.c.