Writing Console Applications in C with Visual Studio

Transcription

1 Writing Console Applications in C with Visual Studio A brief step-by-step primer for ME30 by Bryan Burlingame, San José State University

2 The Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition is a free integrated development environment (IDE) for Windows. An IDE integrates a text editor, compiler, debugger and other tools in one package to support the software development process. We will be using this environment to craft C programs for ME30. This tutorial illustrates how to successfully compile a simple C console program in the Visual Studio environment. If installed with Visual C++ support (as it is in our labs), the Visual Studio environment is a fine tool for the generation of programs written in the C language. By definition, C++ is a superset of C. To support this feature of the C++ language, Visual C++ provides full support for the C99 version of the C language. A console exists within all three major PC operating systems (Windows, Linux, and MacOS). The console provides a command line interface (CLI) to a computer and is a very common tool within engineering. By being completely text based, command line tools can be structured for easy automation and frequently provide more efficient operation than graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Using the Windows console is outside the scope of this tutorial and having deep knowledge of any CLI is not required for this course. Writing a console application in C using Visual Studio 1. Launch Visual Studio 2015 Community Edition 2. Choose File -> New -> Project... 1

3 B. A. C. D. E. 2. Choose Visual C++, Win32 Template(A) 3. Choose Win32 Console Application (B) 4. Provide a name for the project, Lab4a in this case (C) (Note the location as well.) (D) 5. Click OK (E) 2

4 6. Choose Application Settings 3

5 A. B. C. D. 7. Choose Console application (A) 8. Select Empty Project (B) 9. Deselect Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) checks (B) 10. Select Finish (D) 4

6 11. Right Click on Source Files to pull up the context menu 12.. Select Add -> New Item 5

7 A. B. C. D. 13. Choose Visual C++ (A) 14. Choose C++ File (cpp) (B) (note: C++ is a super-set of C. We are taking advantage of this to write our applications in C) 15. Name the file with a.c file extension, main.c in this case (C) 16. Click Add (D) 6

8 A. B. 17. Notice the filename entered in step 15 is on the tab, main.c in this case (A). This is the editor for the Visual Studio environment and the filename on the tab is the file being edited. The C code for the program to be written will be entered in this panel. A sample hello world program has been entered as an illustration. 18. Notice the C file we created has been added to the Solution Explorer as a source file (B) 7

9 A. B. 19. To compile the program, Choose the Build menu (A) 20. Choose Build Project Name (the name used in step 4) (B) 8

10 21a. The results of the compilation attempt are displayed in the Output panel. This example shows a successful compilation. 9

11 21b. The results of the compilation attempt are displayed in the Output panel. This example shows a failed compilation. Notice that the line number of where the error might be and the possible nature of the error are displayed (this is the system s best guess on what has gone wrong). In the example, there is indeed a missing semi-colon somewhere around line 7. 10

12 22. To run the program, choose the Debug menu (A) 23. Then choose the Start Without Debugging option (B) (Note: if the program has not been compiled since the last successful build, a prompt to build the solution will pop up) 11

13 23. For console applications, Visual Studio will spawn a console window. The program will run within this window. Once the program ends, a prompt Press any key to continue... will be displayed. Pressing a key will make the console window close. 12

14 24. The executable for the console application will reside in the Debug subdirectory of the project directory created in step 4 13