Running C programs in windows.

Hi folks.

I have been programming in C for quite a while now but I have never had to program C to run on an operating system, all the work that I have done has been programming embedded systems.

I was looking to try to write some programs that I could run directly off of my computer, perhaps from the command line or as an .exe.

The only problem is I have very little idea how to go about this and what differences their are between programming an embedded system and programming on windows, is there a document detailing #pragmas and other system specific requirements??

I have downloaded minGW as I read that it will compile for windows but have not had a chance to play with it yet.

Was also wondering if there was a command to generate a window and populate it with text or buttons for example.

I know this post has been quite vague but I am just kind of looking for a push in the right direction to get me started.

Any links or advice is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks.

Pete

hey Microsoft's visual studio will help you with this.. if you know basics of C you can write a program in it easily.
both console (command line type) and windows .aspx type also
check it out post the result
P.S: install msdn (help files) with it.

mingw is the right choice for windows program compiling.

but newcomers can do the programming in 'cmd line ' applications very easily.

if you want to use the gui for windows ,
you must learn the windows structure . then only it can be done.

since you are familiar with microcontroller programming ,
writing a c program (in command line mode)
for windows is not at all a problem with mingw.

Hey if you really want to learn windows on C give me your mail address i will give you some important help files which could help you a lot to learn about windows using c language.

Hi,
When I first learnt C a couple of years back, I used TurboC for Windows by Borland. However, after using Visual Basic, I'm highly impressed with Visual Studio and found it to be very good for begineers. So, I suggest you use Visual C++ or Visual C# or if there is a Visual C(I'm not sure), that.

Hope this helps.
Tahmid.

also try this one

freeware
Dev C++ from Bloodshed Software - Providing Free Software to the internet community
at Help it show you how to start program from the beginning..

No matter which compiler you use, you will be on msdn.microsoft.com a lot. There is not way you can remember all of the function calls available in the Windows API, so I spend most of my time looking up things on there a lot.

-Jonathan

you have to get aquainted with the windows API..."Programming Windows" by Charles Petzold is a very good book and will set you in the right direction.

Dev-cpp is the best! otherwise try cygwin gcc compiler under windows