When you first start with C or C++, you’ll likely need a compiler – although nowadays, Compilers can be run via command-line interfaces (CLIs). In short, they convert the entire program into object code, a form of computer code that can be executed directly. To make life easier, you can go for full-fledged IDEs to make your experience with C or C++ even more pleasant. Windows There are a lot of good compilers available on Windows. On Windows, Visual Studio provides a C++ compiler. The compiler can also build C programs. Visual Studio comes with its own robust, feature-rich IDE, making it a neat choice for anyone getting started with C or C++ or someone primarily targeting the Windows platform. If you are looking for something more standard compliant, GCC (MinGW) might be what you need. The Codeblocks IDE works exceptionally well in this setup. Clang is now a formidable choice on Windows—it’s even used to build Google Chrome nowadays. Other cross-platform IDEs, such as Eclipse CDT, Jetbrains CLion, and Netbeans, provide fully functional C and C++ development environments. Lately, however, these are being eclipsed (pardon the irony) by Visual Studio Code, which is also available for Linux and Mac environments. Linux If you are on Linux, you probably have GCC installed as a part of your distribution already. If not, installing it should be just a matter of a single command: # Ubuntu sudo apt-get install build-essential # Fedora sudo yum install gcc gcc-c++ # Arch Linux sudo pacman -S base-devel The Codeblocks IDE and Eclipse CDT work equally well on Linux as they do on Windows. Mac / Mac OS X / OS X / macOS You can use Clang or GCC on a Mac—both are available for free. While GCC supports a broader range of C and C++ standards, Clang will work fine for most cases. Clang should already be installed. You can install GCC using Homebrew: brew install gcc You can use XCode, an excellent IDE part of the Mac OS developer tools.