C Primer Plus®, Third Edition

Using C: Seven Steps

C is a compiled language. If you are accustomed to using a compiled language, such as Pascal or FORTRAN, you will be familiar with the basic steps in putting together a C program. If your background is in an interpreted language, however—such as BASIC or Logo—or if you have no background at all, you need to learn how to compile. We'll soon guide you through that process, and you'll see that it is straightforward and sensible. First, to give you an overview of programming, we'll break down the act of writing a C program into seven steps (see Figure 1.3).

Figure 1.3. The seven steps of programming.

Step 1: Define the Program ...