newbie: compiling c code

[bluefossil]

do i have to install freeBSD in order to compile c code in OS X?

-lost soul

[gumse]

No, but you probably have to install the OS X Developer Tools. Try "cc --help" at the command line to see if you have it installed.

[bluehz]

I wish there was some down to earth info on compiling items in OS X - but there isn't. I have the developers cd installed and I get around pretty good in UNIX, but I know nothing about programming. I d/l these supposed "OS X" compatible sources and try to compile them following published instructions and get errors to no end. Beats me what the cryptic errors mean. I have basically hit a brick wall. Sure - I know - I'm playing with fire and if you can't stand the heat....but I like living on the edge and I learn really fast. If someone would just create a simple to understand guide to compiling for OS X.

[gumse]

Compiling a small program is simple:
cc source.c -o appname

But i guess you have problems with complicated make files, for starters check out:
http://macosx.forked.net/comp.html

[bluehz]

Thanks gumse! Thats a great resource AND a lot of those errors that show up are exactly what I see a lot. Now why isn't this info more readily available - say SHIPPING WITH THE DEVELOPER TOOLS CD or something.

[smeger]

Most things are pretty easy to compile. Start by cd-ing into the directory with the source code and look to see if there is a file named 'configure.' If there isn't, ignore the rest of these instructions. If there is, type

./configure

If it works, move on to the next step. If not, try doing

cp /usr/libexec/config.guess ./

and running ./configure again. If it still doesn't work, you're SOL.

If it does, type

make

and wait a long time for everything to compile. Then, if you want the software you've just compiled installed, type

sudo make install

and your software will be installed into /usr/local

[jcpowers21]

You can mess around with the configure settings too and then you might not be SOL'd. Their are always work-arounds (well almost always) to getting something to compile/configure/install. Is their something specific that you are having trouble installing?

Justin