Installing a C Compiler

Unlike some languages, C has no single official installer — you install a compiler. GCC and Clang are the two most widely used, free and open source, and behave almost identically for everything this course covers.

gcc --version
clang --version

On Linux, one is usually preinstalled or a package away (apt install build-essential). On macOS, clang ships with Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install). On Windows, MinGW-w64 or the compiler bundled with WSL both work well.