To set up the environment for C programming, the only thing you will need is a text editor and a C Compiler application installed on your computer.
A text editor is required to type program codes of C. You can use any text editor like NOTEPAD that your operating system supports. Program files for C created using a text editor are called source files. The source files of a C program must be saved as a C/C++ file that essentially means the file must have .c as an extension.
A compiler is required to compile human readable program codes typed using a text editor into machine readable ones so that the computer can understand and execute the instructions written on it. GNU C/C++ compiler is one of the most frequently used free compiler for C programming if you wish to install separate applications for coding and compiling.
The best option to go with would be an IDE built for C programming. I would recommend CodeBlocks as it is an open-source, cross-platform and free C/C++ IDE that works well with all operating systems ie. Windows, Linux and MacOS . It supports many compilers, such as GNU GCC (MinGW and Cygwin) and MS Visual C++. It supports interactive debugging (via GNU GDB or MS CDB) as well. Moreover, you can install codeblocks along with GNU GCC compiler at one go.
Before starting C programming, make sure you have an IDE installed on your computer and you have enough experience to create a new file in a text editor and save it as a .c file.
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