I've been learning C and playing around with it for a couple of months already.

I'm following CS50 course and first half of the course is almost entirely in C.

That being said, I only used their online codespaces so far, - and for my own personal practice, I used online complilers such as https://www.programiz.com/c-programming/online-compiler/

and https://www.onlinegdb.com/online_c_compiler .

This allowed me to focus on coding and not worry about compiling. I've made some stuff already, entirely using these tools.

However, now arrives the time that I need my own compiler on local machine.

The main reason is that I want to start practicing working with files on my own hard disk, and also using libraries outside of what these tools offer, such as conio.h.

I already tried to google how to set-up a compiler in Windows, but I've bumped into many hoops and obstacles and it's not (at least for me) as straightforward as it might seem.

So I'm asking you for help to set up my own coding environment for C in Windows, where I could compile the files (ideally with make too, and not just clang), where I could include external libraries, where I could work with files on my own HDD, etc... And ideally, where I could even turn these files into classical .exe files.

Thanks!

EDIT: Resolved:

Installing Visual Studio 2022 Community with included tools for C++, and then running Developer Command Prompt allowed me to compile C files by using command: cl filename.c which returns exe file, filename.exe . This exe file can be started by simply executing filename in command prompt or even from Windows by simply double clicking on its icon, like any other file. Thanks for all the responses, especially to RidderHaddock and _mutaz_ who gave me best directions.

I keep finding so many conflicting answers online and I just want an easy to use (and install too, preferably) and "accurate" compiler, preferably lightweight and one that I can build actual software with it and won't need to grow out of it too (unlike onlinedgb).

I'm looking for a C compiler or compiler suite that is :

• free, preferably FLOSS.

• modern : C17, and not just the "required features like MSVC. Say, like supporting <threads.h> and the like.

• able to target ideally >= XP but >= 7 is crucial.

• good at generating reasonably efficient (memory, CPU, binary size) code.

• allows access to Microsoft's POSIX counterparts. Say, like RtlGenRandom or the like.

• reasonably straightforward to install and set up.

I don't really need an IDE, so if a compiler does not come with one, it doesn't matter; if it does, that's alright.

It'd be nice if the compiler has some static-linking features too.

Those more experienced with developing modern C for/in Windows than me can probably answer this trivially, but I've been searching for hours to little end.

I used to rely on Visual Studio's compiler, but they really only care for C++ and used to barely even support most of C99. Their C11/17 "support" comes in 2021, and is still not fully released yet.

Also, as the post hyperlinked there also mentions :

Windows SDK releases correspond with Windows OS releases. C11 and C17 support requires Windows SDK 10.0.20348.0 (version 2104) or later.

This makes it seem like (correct me if I'm wrong), but C11/17 support for MSVC binaries is limited to the latest Windows 10 . Ugh.

As for MinGW-w64, It seems (correct me if I'm wrong), that Windows' API calls (say, rand_s()) are not possible.

Clang on Windows seems to rely on Visual Studio's linker, kind of like it uses GCC's ld on Linux, and there's little to no information about it.