Locating a copy of a CDROM for a C Compiler

A plea for help. I am having great problems in finding a download copy of a Program C Compiler to run on my Windows XP laptop which for various reason I have not been able to get connected to the internet . I have tried various means of downloading versions available from the webb via my W10 machine but nothing seems to work when copied over to the XP machine. Hence I am left with the only option of hopefully being able to locate a CDROM version of a C compiler and install from that. Would anyone just happen to have a copy of a CDROM which I may borrow? All expenses to be covered of course.

Hi, Greensands,

I sorry I don't have a CD, I'm afraid, but I am a bit puzzled why you can't download something, unless it is identifying the machine as a Win10 machine.

I did a search "C compiler for use under Windows XP" - I use Linux, and came up with loads of stuff. This one:

Link

allowed me to download the necessary files, and didn't seem to care what OS I had. I haven't tested it because I never use Windows in any form, but there seems no reason it won't work.

Surely any Linux Live CD will have a copy of GCC on it ! Or Google "GCC Compiler"

Try

https://www.guru99.com/c-gcc-install.html

Edited By John Baron on 06/03/2021 19:36:33

Miracle C was one of the downloads I tried but without success. Have also tried MinGW but again with no joy.

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't C (as opposed to C++) the language used for writing Arduino sketches? A Windows copy of the 32 bit Turbo C++ is certainly available as a download and that runs quite happily on my XP laptop. Perhaps somebody could enlighten me on this matter.

I've got Borland C++ on a CD somewhere I think but I'm fairly sure it won't run on XP unless you run it in DOSBOX. I assume you're looking for an IDE rather than just a compiler?

I use CodeBlocks, works on both W10 and XP, I think it doesn't work too well on Linux

It can be surprisingly difficult to locate the necessary tools to run on obsolete systems. I do not think anyone provides gcc binaries for XP, and indeed I'd be a bit wary of thing that said they did. An install CD for an IDE like Visual Studio might be easiest to procure.

What you might want to investigate is "cross-compiling", compiling code on one machine for a different machine. It's obviously more difficult to set up, as you have to know the details of the target, but in this case I suspect it might be easier than trying to make an XP machine learn to code at its stage of life. There are lawyers younger than your laptop

Found these guys great for messing about with c years ago

ran on xp and win7

**LINK**

Just a quick comment as I'm up to my eyebrows in DIY at the moment!

I wonder what Greensand's target computer is?

Compilers translate code written by humans into instructions understood by a machine. It's a translator. As such, compilers are usually set up to produce instructions for one particular type of computer, and, because operating systems have different interfaces, the compiler is usually limited to work with only one type of CPU and one operating system.

So although I can write a simple C program for Android, Arduino, Apple, STM, Windows and Linux, a different C compiler is required for each, because their hardware and operating systems are different. Machine instructions are as different as Finnish and Swahili! Loading 64 bit Intel machine code into an 8 bit Arduino Nano, or vice versa, won't work, even if the human C source code is identical.

All the earlier suggestions are good provided Greensands wants to write C programs to run on an XP computer. However, if an Arduino microcontroller is the target, only the Arduino-IDE will run on XP and produce instructions for it. If the goal is to program Arduinos, then the Arduino IDE is the best tool. It includes a cross-compiler, i.e. one set up to generate instructions for a different computer to the host. Although many compilers can be configured to cross-compile, it's a lot of hard work, perhaps taking a small team of experts a few months to set up. Much easier to use someone else's work than to roll your own.

Changing the subject slightly, most Arduino tutorials keep it simple by only using C syntax. C is a sub-set of C++, which adds a mass of powerfully complicated rather than user-friendly features. The Arduino compiler is really C++, but it's been stripped down somewhat so as not to generate code too big for a tiny microcontroller. Things like exception handling have been disabled. It's handy to be able to write C++ for the Arduino, but C does everything needed, albeit with a little more typing.

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 07/03/2021 08:53:43

Hi Dave -

I quite agree with you regarding C++ in practice; but in a full, pettifogging, nit-picking mode that few (unlike myself with Asperger's) can achieve - As you well know C++ is a super-set of C not the other way round !

You can't take C away from C++ and leave anything useful while you can take Bjarne Stroustrup’s extensions away from C++ and leave good old C

Take care and be good - Nick

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 07/03/2021 10:09:21

Edited By Nick Clarke 3 on 07/03/2021 10:12:46

Perhaps I should explain what I am trying to achieve. In my innocence I thought it would be a useful exercise to write some simple programs in C with two objectives a) to get a grip with the language and in the process be in a position to re-write some of my existing workshop routines currently written Borlands Turbo Basic into a more “modern” language and b) to write some simple programs for development as future Arduino sketches.

I have succeeded in downloading Borlands Turbo C++ on my XP machine and armed with a copy of the starter book "C Programming in Easy Steps" by Mike McGrath have tried to work through some of the basic exercises described in the book only to discover that they are not compatible with Borlands C++

This surprising as I thought that C++ being a development of C it would be able to handle any written in the earlier formats but obviously this is not the case.

In the absence of finding a copy of an IDE for C I will be quite happy to take up the baton using Borland C++ for my Basic program conversion exercise but it would be useful to find a means of getting programs written in C++ to be able to work as Arduino sketches.

I suggest you either download and install the compiler used in your book (gcc I believe) or download a pdf on Turbo C++.

Turbo C (not C++) used to be available for free download from the Borland Museum site but after changing locations several times this seems to have disappeared - perhaps a longer search than mine may locate it.

There are several good Youtube videos on Turbo C++ which take into account the idiosyncrasies of this particular implementation of the language and also those you will meet running a DOS application under Windows.

I’d be inclined to download the free version of visual studio? Can’t remember if it has a C language in it anymore.
if not then Eclipse used to be the go to for a free IDE?

I now have a copy of Borlands C++ working under XP and from what I can see it is happy handling (simple) programs written in C and so at the moment it seems to be doing what was required..

You're right.

I have a few Asperger's symptoms and have suspicions about quite a few other Model Engineers too; grown men with toy trains forsooth! Never mind, it's an advantage when precise work of any kind matters!

Dave