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Computers really only understand ones and zeroes. Since it would be rather unwieldy to write your programs using only ones and zeroes, there are programming languages like C which are a more memorable text representation of a program, usually referred to as source code.

To write a program, one needs a text editor, and to translate this text representation of a program into actual ones and zeroes that the computer can run directly, we need a compiler. On the Mac, you usually use a program called Xcode, which is a text editor that integrates a compiler called "GCC". Xcode comes with every copy of Mac OS X as part of the Xcode Tools installer in the "Optional Installs" on one of the system discs. Simply double-click the installer and follow the instructions.

Occasionally, Apple releases new versions of Xcode. To get these, go to Apple's Developer web site and sign up for a free Apple Developer Connection Online account. Once you log in using that account, you can find new versions of Xcode on your Downloads page.

Once you have installed Xcode, you can find the Xcode application and a number of files and helper programs it relies on in the "Developer" folder at the top level of your hard disk. Xcode itself is in the "Applications" folder inside "Developer".

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