How to install Code::Blocks

Alexandra Stefan

1/22/2024 1
Code::Blocks and C compiler
• C compiler
• In order to run C code a C compiler is needed.
• Programmers write code in a “human readable form”. A compiler will generate a corresponding
special program that the computer can run.
• IDE (Integrated Development Environment)
• is a program that is used to edit, compile, run and debug code, BUT it still needs a C compiler in
order to do that.
• Code::Blocks is an IDE. It is NOT a C compiler
• You need both Code::Blocks itself and a C compiler.
• I have selected Code::Blocks because it has an option to download and install at the same time
both the IDE and a C compiler. It has other options that do NOT include the compiler so pay
attention to which installer you download.
• Other IDEs are available (e.g. Apache NetBeans, Microsoft Visual Studio).
• Any IDE is fine, but you need to have a C compiler and set-up the IDE to find it.
• NOTE: Code::Blocks does not work for Mac. Instructions for working IDE for Mac are in Canvas

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Downloading Code::Blocks
Here is a good video with instructions for installing Code::Blocks and creating projects

The slides below also have the steps for installing Code::Blocks.
From the Code::Blocks download page: http://www.codeblocks.org/downloads
Click “Download the binary release”

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Unix and Mac

• Mac users:
• See Canvas->Modules->”M2-System Set-up”

• Unix/Linus users:
• Install the GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) compiler – E.g. search “install gcc
compiler on Unix” and follow instructions that seem clear to you.
• Download and install Code::Blocks for your system

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Windows
Download codeblocks-20.03mingw-setup.exe - this is the package that has both Code::Blocks and a
C compiler (the MinGW C compiler). If you already have a C compiler or prefer to install the C compiler
separate, download the appropriate package (e.g. codeblocks-20.03-setup.exe).

Select the site to download

from.
From FossHUB the download
started by default after
clicking FossHUB. 5
Install run the executable file you downloaded, agree to the terms.

When installing it, double-check that the MinGW compiler is checked/included

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We will use the GNU GCC Compiler.
(other C compilers should also be ok, but if available,
choose the GNU one for consistency.)

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Check that you can “Build and run” a file.
Follow the next pages to create a file and try
to “Build and run” it. If it does not work, it
could be because Code::Blocks cannot find
the C compiler. See page 14 (after the section
on creating and running a C file) that shows
how to make Code::Blocks.

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Create a C file, compile it and run it.

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Project or no project?
• Larger pieces of code consist of multiple files and are developed using
a project that organizes all those files.
• You do NOT need to create a project for now. We will do that later on
so that we can Debug our code. (Method 2 below will be used to add
the file to a Project in order to debug it.)
• We will create just a C file.

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 Create an empty C file
Method 1:
- File -> New -> Empty file (This will create a file called
Untiltled)
- File->Save file as…
- Navigate to the location where you will store your code
from this class ( e.g. \courses\1310\code\lectures_code
) and enter the desired file name: welcome.c

Method 2:
- File -> New -> File …
- Select C/C++ source and click Go
- Select C
- Navigate to the location where you will store your code
from this class ( e.g. \courses\1310\code\lectures_code )
and enter the desired file name: welcome.c and click Save
- Do NOT select Add file to active project click Finish
(Later we will need to add the file to a project in order to
be able to debug it, but for now, we will just create a file.)
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 Write code in the C file

Type the text below in the file (the text will be colored):

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
printf("Welcome to CSE 1310!");
return 0;
}

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Select: Build->”Build and run”
Note for future: make sure every time you need to compile and run your code
you select “Build and run”, not just “Run”. This way the new (most recent)
code is compiled, as opposed to running the previously compiled code. It is
similar to refreshing a webpage to enforce viewing the updated version.

You should see this window pop up. Notice that the first line prints what you wanted.

You are all set.

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“Build and run” does not
work
If you still can not build and run the C code,
make sure the C compiler is detected by
Code::Blocks. Go to:
Settings-> Compiler-> “Toolchain Executables”
and click the “Auto-detect” box

If it could not auto-detect the compiler:

- If you DO know where the compiler is, navigate to that location in the “Compiler’s installation directory” box
- If you do NOT know where the compiler is, there may not be a compiler on your machine. For Mac and Unix/Linux, you
need to install that separately. For Windows you can also install the compiler separately, but it is simpler to uninstall
Code::Blocks and then make sure you download the version that has the compiler (MinGW) together with Code::Blocks
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(e.g. codeblocks-20.03-setup.exe). See slide 5.
Other problems during installation?
• There should not be any problems during installation, but if you do
get some error messages, search the web. Include the error message
and your system (e.g. Windows 10).

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Code::Blocks Settings
To show line numbers and change other settings go to: Edit ->
“Editor Tweaks”
• And then “Show Line Numbers”
• Also note the “Show EOL Chars”. EOL stands for End Of Line.
Files from different Operating Systems will have different
EOL characters: Windows - CRLF, Mac – CR, Unix – LF . See
also the table from the Wikipedia page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newline.

To change font size in Editor window:

Edit -> “Special commands”-> Zoom -> In/Out

To indent a group of instructions: select the instructions and then click:

- TAB – to indent
- Shift + TAB – to decrease the indent

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Code::Blocks Settings

To restore the original perspective or

select other perspectives:
View -> Perspectives
You would need this if you closed some
windows (e.g. Debugger, Build Messages)
and want them to be visible again.
You can also create your own perspective.

If you cannot see the Projects Panel:

View and check the Manager

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Create a project
• File -> New -> Project

• Select: “Console Application”

and click Next
• Check the “Skip this page next time” - You will not see this welcome page
next time
• Select C for the language to use.
Click Go

• Give the project a title (e.g. DebuggingProject) and select a folder to

place it in (e.g. lecture_code)
• The default configurations should work. Double check that the Debug
and Release check-boxes are checked
Click Finish
• Done. You will see the project. (continue to next page) (in the
Management panel under the Projects view) 19
 Using a project
• You will see the project in the IDE.
(It is in the Management panel under the Projects tab.)
• By default a file called main.c was created in the project. To see it,
click + next to Sources
• Double-click on main.c and it will open in the editor. It already
contains starter code to print hello world!
• Click Build and Run and see the program output
• You can edit the file main.c (write any valid C code in it) and run and
DEBUG that code.
Where are the project files?
• Use a file explorer program and navigate to the folder where you
created the project (e.g. 1310/code/lectures_code). You will find a
folder with the project name and inside there the project file (with
extension .cbp) and the main.c file
• Note: If you are using a different IDE, the location of the files and the
project file extension (.cbp) will be different. 20
Using a project
• A project is a way to organize multiple files needed for a
larger application.
• You can close and reopen the project. This is convenient
when you have multiple projects.
Close a project
• When you close the project it simply does not SHOW in the
panel. All the code is still on your computer.
• To close a project right click on it and select Close Project

Open a project
• When you open a project, it makes it visible in Code::Blocks
and you can run and debug the code in that project from
Code::Blocks.
• To open go to: File-> Open and then navigate to where the
.cbp file is for the project you want to open 21
Project: add/remove files Add a file to a project
You can add or remove files from a project. • To add a existing file:
Remove a file from a project right-click on the project name
• To remove a file: right-click on it and select Add files … and
select Remove file… navigate to the file you want to add
• If you remove a file from a project it • To create a new file and make it part of the project:
does NOT delete the file, it simply Make sure this project is active (it is listed and its name is in
removes it from the IDE’s list of files bold font. If not, right-click on it and select Activate Project)
associated with that project. Go to File -> New -> Empty file
Click Yes to add this new file in the active project
Enter the file name
Double-check that the Debug and Release boxes are
checked and click Ok

There are other ways to add files or rename files from a project.

There can be many .c files part of a project but ONLY ONE

int main() function.
If multiple .c files belong to a project, only one file can have a main function in
it.
For our class, you only need to have one .c file part of a project.
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Using a project to Debug code
• Debug - The IDE provides a convenient framework to examine what is
happening with the program (what line is being executed at any time
and the value of the data in the program at that time). This is done in
DEBUG mode.
• In order to debug a program, it must be part of a project. (We can
run an individual file, but we can only debug a project)

• You have 2 options:

Option 1: Create a project for every program you need to run. If that is
for a homework, make sure you name the .c file with the required
name. The name of the project can be whatever you want.
Option 2: Create one project that will be used for debugging only.
When working on a program, add it to the Debugging project and
debug it as needed. Remove it from the project when you are done.
• You can have several .c file in a project, but only one of those files
can have a main() function in it (because that is where the program
execution will start and it cannot have multiple start points.)

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Running individual files vs projects
• When you Build and Run… it will be done for the ACTIVE PROJECT.
• If you have multiple projects, make sure the one you want to work on
is active. (You can close the others, or explicitly make this one the
active one – right click on the project name to get that option)
• If you want to run a single file, then ALL your projects must be closed
(there should not be any project in the list of projects)

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