1. First Overview

In broad outline, there are three steps:

Type in or edit the C source code. It will go into an ordinary text file on your computer, with a name of your own choosing, although the name must end in .c to indicate that it is a file full of C source code.
Compile it. (Remember that ``compiling'' is the process performed by the compiler, the translation of your program from the high-level C language which we're supposed to be able to understand, into the low-level machine language which the processor can understand.)
Run it.

If the compiler gives you error messages during step 2, you'll have to return to step 1, discover and correct the errors, and then try the compilation (step 2) again. If the program doesn't work as you expect (or doesn't work at all), you'll have to return to steps 1 and 2 (in that order, of course).

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