🛠️ Requirements & Installation

This project builds and runs on both Linux and Windows (via MSYS2).

---

✅ Linux Setup (Ubuntu / Debian-based)

Install the required tools:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential gdb make

build-essential includes gcc, g++, and make.

---

✅ Windows Setup (MSYS2)

1. Download and install MSYS2 👉 https://www.msys2.org/

2. Open the MSYS2 MinGW 64-bit terminal (not the plain MSYS2 shell).

3. Update and install the required packages:

pacman -Syu
pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-gcc mingw-w64-x86_64-gdb make

If prompted to restart the shell, close and reopen MSYS2 MinGW 64-bit before running the second pacman command.

4. Set up VS Code to use MSYS2:

   • Open Command Palette → Terminal: Select Default Profile → select MSYS2 MinGW 64-bit
   • In .vscode/launch.json, ensure the Windows debugger path is:

"miDebuggerPath": "C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/gdb.exe"

---

✅ Recommended VS Code Extensions

Install these from the VS Code Marketplace:

• C/C++ (by Microsoft) — IntelliSense and debugger
• Makefile Tools (optional but helpful)

---

🧪 Building the Project

From the terminal or using the VS Code build task:

make        # Build the project
make run    # Build and run the program
make clean  # Clean build artifacts

---

🧾 Running and Debugging

In VS Code:

1. Press F5 or go to Run → Start Debugging

2. Choose the correct debug config:

   • Debug my_c_program (Linux)
   • Debug my_c_program (Windows)

---

✅ Expected Output

When successful, the program will print:

Hello, cross-platform world!