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Getting Started with Programming 25<br />

If you don’t want to use one of Microsoft’s free compilers, plenty of free alternatives<br />

are just as good (or better). One popular compiler company is<br />

Borland, which offers three free compilers called Turbo C++, Turbo C#, and<br />

Turbo Delphi. You can download these at www.turboexplorer.com.<br />

By giving away free compilers, companies like Microsoft and Borland hope<br />

to get you “hooked” on using their tools so you’ll eventually buy the more<br />

advanced, professional versions that offer additional features. If you need to<br />

write programs professionally, you’ll probably want to buy these professional<br />

versions, but when you’re just starting to program, these free compilers<br />

are great ways to discover <strong>programming</strong> without having to spend any<br />

money.<br />

Book I<br />

Chapter 1<br />

Getting Started<br />

Programming a<br />

Computer<br />

Some other free Windows compilers include Dev-C++ and Dev-Pascal<br />

(www.bloodshed.net) and Just BASIC (www.justbasic.com).<br />

Starting with Mac OS X<br />

The most popular compiler <strong>for</strong> writing Mac OS X programs is Xcode, which<br />

comes with every Macintosh, although you can download the latest version<br />

<strong>for</strong> free at http://developer.apple.com/tools. Xcode is the same<br />

compiler that Microsoft, Adobe, and even Apple use to create programs like<br />

Microsoft Excel, Adobe PhotoShop, and iTunes.<br />

Although most Mac OS X programmers use the free Xcode program to help<br />

them write programs, you can always buy other compilers <strong>for</strong> the<br />

Macintosh. The main reason to buy a compiler, rather than use the free<br />

Xcode tool, is if you want to use a <strong>programming</strong> language that Xcode doesn’t<br />

offer, such as BASIC. (Xcode lets you write programs in C, C++, Objective-C,<br />

and Java.)<br />

Starting with Linux<br />

The most popular free compiler <strong>for</strong> Linux is GCC, which stands <strong>for</strong> GNU<br />

Compiler Collection (http://gcc.gnu.org). Unlike other compilers that<br />

can compile only a single <strong>programming</strong> language, the GCC compiler can compile<br />

programs written in a variety of different <strong>programming</strong> languages.<br />

The GCC compiler can compile programs written in C, C++, Objective-C, FOR-<br />

TRAN, Java, and Ada. If these names of <strong>programming</strong> languages mean nothing<br />

to you, don’t worry. The ability to compile different <strong>programming</strong> languages<br />

just means that you can use the GCC compiler when writing a program in one<br />

of the more popular <strong>programming</strong> languages.<br />

The GCC compiler is the same compiler used in Apple’s Xcode program.

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