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Write and Run your First C Program

Hello World Program​

  • Open Visual Studio Code and create a new file by going to File > New File, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+N (Windows) or Cmd+N (Mac) to create a new file.
  • Save the file with a .c file extension, for example "hello.c". Choose a location on your computer where you want to save the file.
  • Type or copy and paste the following C code into the file:
// Include Header files
#include "stdio.h" //printf, scanf etc

// Start of C application 
int main() 
{
    // Print to Console/Terminal
    printf("Hello, World\n");

    // Return Success
    return 0;
}
Output:

Output:

Hello, World

Running Hello World Program​

  • Open the terminal in Visual Studio Code by going to View > Terminal.

Compile the program​

  • Type the following command to compile the program using the GCC compiler:
$ gcc hello-world.c -o hello-world

hello-world executable file gets generated

This will create an executable file named "hello".

Run the program​

To run the program, type the following command and press Enter:

$ ./hello-world
Hello, World

The output of the program will be displayed in the terminal.