Downloading & Setting up Eclipse for Windows

  1. In order to run Eclipse IDE you must install Java and the java runtime environment (jre) which I think gets installed automatically, when you install java. You need Java because the Eclipse platform was developed for Java. It was then extended for Windows, Mac and Unix.
  2. You also need GNU compiler gcc 4.7.0 + (from When you are installing GNU gcc compiler, it needs to be install in a specific way and place: Enter MinGW in the window as a path of where to install it.
  3. Eclipse with CDT ( C development tools).
  4. To check to see if you have java or the latest version: go to
  5. Click on “ Do you have java?”, And then click on the red button “Verify Java Version” You either get a congratulations or you will be prompted to install the latest version of Java. Go ahead and do that. You are now ready to download Eclipse.

If nothing works: go to: Check the box for license agreement and find the code for windows on the list – most likely your laptop is the 64-bit, so pick that.

  1. Go to to download Eclipse for Windows.

It is called "Europa"

  1. Download it to your desktop.
  2. It might take 10 to 15 minutes to download (60 meg)
  3. You can tell that it is done downloading by the icon - it turns into a folder icon.
  4. If it is a zip file, extract the contents by double click on the Eclipse icon. It will begin to install, also.
  5. Create a "short cut" and move it on to your desktop.
  6. Go to Eclipse folder, now create a new folder and call it, Working
  7. Go to your desktop and invoke Eclipse by double clicking on the Eclipse short cut.
    How to set up Eclipse to begin programming:
  1. Double click on the Eclipse short cut, click run in the popup window.
  2. Browse to /users/yourname/Desktop/Eclipse/Working
  3. Go to preferences under the “Window” menu in the tool bar
  4. Expand “General”, Select “Workspace” (last on the list), Go to “Textfile Encoding” Select “other” and pick UTF-8 from the list.
  5. Now go to C/C++ and Expand it, then select “CDT Project Wizard” on the popup window.
  6. In the Window expand, “Executable”
  7. Select Empty project
  8. Select MinGW GCC on the right side
  9. Then click on the “Make toolchain(s)” at the bottom of the window  OK
  10. Go back to “General”, now pick “Editor”, and then “Folding”, Check the first 2 check boxes and uncheck the rest (five of them or so)  OK.
  11. Now go to the very top left of the Eclipse window a very little window with a little arrow for pull down, pull down and pick “Project” (about 3rd one down). Select and expand “General”, select project, then click next, Enter “C_Programming_Course” for Project Name, (it is better not to include spaces in a name).
  12. Now create a new folder, so select “C_Programming_Course” right click, click on “New Folder” in the popup window, click on the “Advanced” button and check the box “Link to folder in the file system”
  13. Create one more project. Go to the very top left again as in step#5. This time pick “C Project”.
  14. Expand code_examples folder, then expand ch02, then copy one of the files, say fig02_03.
  15. Select C_project and cut and paste fig02_03.c
  16. Now double click on fig02_03.c, it will appear in the main window.
  17. Now select C_project folder
  18. Go up to the tool bar and select "Project" menu and click "Build_all"
    6. Now run the program by clicking "Run" menu.
    Let me know if these instructions work.