Commissioning a Symphony in C

...Kinda.

This whole week I've been trying to get into C and, surprisingly, the only problem I don't have is a lack of motivation.

First off, I can't find a compiler that will work. Fortunately I finally got a C/C++ compiler that has the I/O header I need. Unfortunately, I can't seem to get it to a) display anything for more than a fraction of a second when I use the printf() function or b) accept any kind of input with scanf() because hitting Enter exits out of the console. I could go to my dad (as I usually do when I need help with programming), but he always wants something in return, be it a nature hike, family function, or some other lame bonding experience.

The second problem I have is the textbook I'm using to learn C (which might explain the problems with compiling...) which was published right around my second birthday. It refers to ANSI C (the official C standard) as "the new way". As far as I can tell, this is the equivalent to my elementary school history texts that referred to landing on the moon as "an almost realized dream". But hey, basics are basics.

I am pretty excited to learn C though, since it would be my first "real" language (since I don't consider VB6 a real language). Hopefully this will set up the foundation for learning other languages, especially the OOP languages I'll need to learn for a CSCI degree (Ada95, C++, etc.).

I'm also hoping to do some Linux developing, particularly working on porting and recompiling applications to the Nintendo DS. My ultimate goal (unless it ends up being too hard or too much of a clusterfuck) is to get VLC running on it and stream video from a computer to the DS. Whether or not this is possible with a CLI is up in the air for the time being. It would also have to support UDP (the protocol VLC uses to stream video) which is also up in the air, but I digress.

Anyway, I'll post some source code when I finally get a functioning program (which I know you're dying to read).