How to compile a c program without leaving the editor?

Question

I am using vim editor on Linux mint. I want to know if there is any way to compile c program without leaving the editor.

Solution 1

There are several possibilities.

One method is to compile using

:!gcc file.c

But a nicer strategy would be to have a Makefile and compile just using

:make

Where the easiest Makefile would look like.

program:
        gcc file.c

Others can explain this a lot better.

Solution 2

The canonical way to do this in Vim is to use the compiler configuration setting. Your vim installation almost certainly comes with a compiler plugin for gcc. Type :help compiler in Vim to find out more about how this works.

To associate gcc with c source files, you need something like this in your .vimrc:

au BufEnter *.c compiler gcc

Comments

[manatwork]

According to Is there a vim shortcut for <name of current file>?, :!gcc % seems handier.

[Bernhard]

@manatwork That only works if the current file is actually the main program.

[user1614244]

can you elaborate on the Makefile strategy please...

[manatwork]

Correct. For other cases your second code should be preferred.

[Useless]

@user1614244 - step 1) learn to use make, step 2) invoke :make. Note however that you can set makeprg to the build tool of your choice

[Alex Chamberlain]

How would you go about invoking the compiler once you have set it?