Carbon enables C/C developers to take advantage of Mac OS X features, including the Quartz 2D graphics library, an efficient event-handling mechanism, and multiprocessing support. In addition, other industry-standard C/C APIs are available to Carbon developers, providing access to such services as the OpenGL drawing system, the Mach. KDevelop is a feature-full, plugin extensible IDE for C/C and many other programming languages. Supported platforms include Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, macOS and other Unix flavors as well as Microsoft Windows. It is based on KDevelop Platform (kdevplatform), the KDE Frameworks and the Qt libraries. It is under development since 1998.
You have finally made the move to become a programmer. You’ve registered for a course, you have your texts and manuals, and you’ve fired up your trusty Mac. This is exciting! You think you are all set, and then it hits: they want you to have a compiler. What the heck is that? We’ll explain this and help you to get a C compiler for Mac up and running on your computer. If you are relatively new to the Mac, you can develop your skills with a course on getting started with a Mac.
- Apple XCode for C and C If you want to learn to program on a Mac, XCode is the way to go. This tutorial will get you set up to do C or C development with XCode, but you can also use XCode for iPhone and iOS development.
- The EPP C/C Package 'Samples' are empty on the Welcome page: NEW: 444683: The EPP C/C Package docs mix 'user docs' with 'developer docs' NEW: 422424: Bug 'Restore Defaults' on CVS Repositories: NEW: 375866: The CPP package content description (feature list) is outdated since Juno: NEW: 338462: Cannot complete the install because of a.
The compiler is the last step in turning your code into a program that runs on your computer. You learn the C language to write source code. Source code cannot be understood and run by a computer in this state. It has to be converted to code that the computer can run. This is the job of the compiler. You feed your source code in to the compiler and it will either give you an executable program or a long list of error codes telling you why it couldn’t make the program. Source code can be written on any platform. It is meant for humans and is the same on any operating system. The compiler, on the other hand, has to be specific for the operating system where the program will run.
Compilers usually produce code that will run faster than the alternative, interpreters. The executable program can be distributed without the source code, which makes it harder for anyone to steal the programming ideas that went into the program. A disadvantage of compilers is that the compiling step adds time to the development process because the whole program must be compiled each time a change is made.
C Compiler for Mac using Xcode
The most recommended way to get a C compiler for your Mac is to use Xcode. This uses gcc, the popular open source C compiler. The details vary for each version of OS X. We’ll go through the recent versions here. You will have to register as an apple developer to get access to these tools. In order to do these installs, you will be using Terminal to work at the command line. Get a solid foundation on the Mac command line with this course.
For all of the versions of OS X, you will be downloading Xcode. Xcode is an Integrated Development Environment, or IDE. An IDE allows you to write, compile, and debug a program from one central interface. Xcode can act as an IDE for C programming. All of the install methods involve first getting Xcode, then making the gcc compiler available outside of Xcode, and then installing a newer version of gcc.
For OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, download Xcode 3 from the Apple Developer Site. This will give you a working version of gcc, but it is an older version. If you want or need a more up to date version, that is available at High Performance Computing for Mac OS X. You can install this after installing Xcode. The files must be unzipped and installed at the command line. After that, you will need to update your Shell resource file so that the newer versions are used. Details can be found at Installing the GNU compilers on Mac OS X.
For OS X 10.7 Lion, you must get Xcode 4 from the Mac App Store. It is free, but you need to supply credit card information in order to have an App Store account. For Xcode 4.2, what you download from the App Store is an installer, which you then run. For Xcode 4.3, it is installed automatically, but it does not have gcc in the correct location. To finish the job, start Xcode and go to Preferences, Downloads, Components. Click on the Install button that is next to Command Line Tools. This gives you older versions of gcc. For the newest versions, you can use High Performance Computing for Mac OS X, as described for OS X 10.6. The process is similar and details can also be found at Installing the GNU compilers on Mac OS X.
OS X 10.8 will be very similar to 10.7. Install Xcode, then install the command line tools from the preferences. You can then get the newer versions of gcc as described for version 10.7.
OS X 10.9 Mavericks will use Xcode 5 and a revised process. Xcode 5 does not have the option to install the command line version of gcc. Instead, ensure that Xcode 5 has all available updates installed by checking from within the program. Then go to the Apple Developer Site and find the latest version of Command Line Tools (OS X Mavericks) for Xcode. It is a standard installer package. Finally, you can update the version of gcc in a manner similar to the other versions of OS X.
Other C compilers for Mac
Apple has extended the gcc compiler with a version called llvm. It incorporates more modern functioning and has a different licensing model needed by Apple for its proprietary software. Clang is an IDE for this compiler. It is designed to give more user-friendly error messages. Clang will give you the latest tools used by Apple for development. The downside is that there is no installer. It has to be built from source code, which means that you will need gcc already. Details are given at the llvm site.
Another option is given by Eclipse. Eclipse is a popular IDE for Java. The CDT plugin for Eclipse gives it the ability to compile C programs and become an IDE for C. Details can be found at the CDT page of the Eclipse site.
Now that you have a C compiler for your Mac, you can try a tutorial to write a simple program. Then get a solid start in C programming with this course for beginners. If you already know one language, extend your skills with a course for intermediate coders.
Additional Downloads
Get the latest beta and older versions of Xcode. To view downloads, simply sign in with your Apple ID. Apple Developer Program membership is not required.
Beta Versions of Xcode
Command Line Tools & Older Versions of Xcode
Videos
C++ Developer Jobs
See the latest advances in Xcode presented at WWDC and other events.
Help and Support
Java For C++ Developer
Get step-by-step guidance on how to use Xcode to build, test, and submit apps to the App Store.
Xcode Help Guide
Xcode Support Page
API Reference and Sample Code
Browse the latest documentation including API reference, articles, and sample code.
Discussion Forums
Ask questions and discuss development topics with Apple engineers and other developers.