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Simple C Command

Small shell helper to compile and run C programs quickly from the terminal.

Instead of running gcc manually every time, this function compiles a .c file and immediately executes the resulting binary.

Usage

c program.c

This will:

1. Compile the file with gcc
2. Enable useful warnings (-Wall -Wextra)
3. Include debug symbols (-g)
4. Run the compiled binary

Example:

c hello.c

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Requirements

You need:

• gcc
• a POSIX shell (bash / zsh)

Install gcc if you don't have it.

Debian / Ubuntu / Kali

sudo apt install build-essential

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S gcc

Fedora

sudo dnf install gcc

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Installation

Option 1 — Add to your shell config (recommended)

Copy the function into your shell config file.

For bash:

~/.bashrc

For zsh:

~/.zshrc

Then paste:

c() {
    local file="$1"

    if [[ -z "$file" ]]; then
        echo "Usage: c file.c"
        return 1
    fi

    if [[ ! -f "$file" ]]; then
        echo "File not found"
        return 1
    fi

    local output="${file%.c}"

    gcc "$file" -Wall -Wextra -lm -g -o "$output" && "./$output"
}

Reload your shell:

source ~/.zshrc

or

source ~/.bashrc

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Option 2 — Install as a command in PATH

Create a script:

sudo nano /usr/local/bin/c

Paste:

#!/usr/bin/env bash

file="$1"

[ -z "$file" ] && echo "Usage: c file.c" && exit 1
[ ! -f "$file" ] && echo "File not found" && exit 1

output="${file%.c}"

gcc "$file" -Wall -Wextra -g -o "$output" && "./$output"

Make it executable:

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/c

Now you can run:

c program.c

from anywhere.

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Why?

Just a tiny utility to remove friction when experimenting with small C programs.

Compile → run → repeat.

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Made with <3 by URDev