C compiler problems

Hey guys,

I'm trying to compile my c code but when I type:

[CENTER]gcc file.c[/CENTER] I get: [CENTER]gcc: file.c: No such file or directory gcc: no input files[/CENTER]

Thanks for the help.

Where did you save your file?

Saved the file under my documents.

You need to be in your documents folder when you type this command.

Make sure you have build-essential installed by running ``` sudo apt-get install build-essential

Then make sure you're in the correct directory and run ```
gcc file.c -o file

That specifies what you want the output file to be called :)

How do I make sure I'm in the correct directory? I think that is my problem.

The command pwd will show you your current working directory.

And cd /your/path lets you navigate to other directories.

When operating the command line, you are always "in" a directory. Commands are executed relative to this directory.

Since the default directory to start in when opening a terminal is your home directory and you saved the source to the Documents folder, GCC cannot find your file.

The 'pwd' command is an abbreviation for Print Working Directory. Most of the time you don't need it though, since it should also be part of your prompt.

The 'cd' command means Change Directory. Since the Documents folder is located directly in your home folder, a simple 'cd Documents' should be enough for GCC to be able to find your file.

A useful feature of Bash (that sometimes works elsewhere) is that you can use '~' as short for your home directory. Meaning 'cd ~/Documents' is the same as 'cd /home/<username>/Documents'.

Running 'cd' without arguments returns you to your home directory.

For the purpose of illustration, you could also do:

gcc -o Documents/file Documents/file.c

By specifying a relative path.

If you are using gnome and gnome-terminal, you may also use drag and drop to aid you. Just type in a terminal "gcc " (gcc followed by a space, but do not hit enter yet). Then locate your file.c with nautilus (the default "explorer"), and drag file.c to the terminal window. It should then fill in the correct path to the file for you. Hit enter to have it compile.

Another way to find your file is to search for it with the find command. ``` find ~ -name file.c