Very Computer

I'm looking for info about how to start using gcc - no previous
programming experience.

You'll find some links to C/C++ tutorials, etc. in the "languages"
page of Gary's Encyclopedia at htpp://www.aa.net/~swear/languages.html

I don't know that any of them cover gcc, but they might help anyway.
You might see if www.gnu.org has anything to offer.

Save the attached code in start_gcc.c, and do:

gcc start_gcc.c -o start_gcc -lm
start_gcc

---------------------------

#include <math.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

#define LINESIZE 80

int main (int argc, char **argv) {

  FILE *outfile;

  int i, count;
  double x, dx, y;

  char line[LINESIZE];
  char *name;

  if(argc != 1) {
    printf("Usage: start_gcc\n");
    exit(-1);
  }

  if( (outfile = fopen("cosine.out", "w")) == (FILE *) NULL) {
    printf("Couldn't open output file.\n");
    exit(-2);
  }

  printf("Hello there! My name is start_gcc.\n\n");
  printf("What is your name?  ");

  if(fgets(line, LINESIZE, stdin) == (char *) NULL) {
    printf("Error reading your name!\n");
    exit(-3);
  }

  name = strtok(line, "\n");

  printf("\n");

  printf("Glad to meet you %s!\n\n", name);
  printf("I am doing a few calculations just to show you that I can.\n");
  printf("The results will appear in the file cosine.out.\n\n");

  x = 0.0;
  dx = 0.1;

  fprintf(outfile, "Here is a short table of the values of cosine:\n");

  for(i=0; i<1000; i++) {
        x += dx;
        y = cos(x);
        fprintf(outfile, "%f %f\n", x, y);
  }

  printf("Congratulations! You have successfully compiled and run this\n");
  printf("rather silly program, and have completed the basic primer on how to\n");
  printf("use gcc. Some programs can be a bit more complicated than this,\n");
  printf("but basically you are well on your way. For additional info try:\n");
  printf("man gcc.\n\n");
  printf("For information on C try: Practical C Programming,\n");
  printf("by Steve Oualline, (O'Reilly & Associates)\n\n");
  printf("For information on C++ try: C++ The Core Language,\n");
  printf("by Gregory Satir and Doug Brown, (O'Reilly & Associates)\n\n");
  printf("There is also a very complete book on gcc itself by Richard Stallman:\n");
  printf("Using and porting GCC for version 2.8, but it costs US $50\n\n");
  printf("For good descriptions of C-library functions: fire up emacs\n");
  printf("and check out the info pages. (Ctrl-h i)\n\n");
  printf("cheers,\n\n");
  printf("- dave k.\n");

  fclose(outfile);

Quote:}