C Program Development Cycle

A C or C++ program typically passes through four steps of development.

Design and Code	Involves designing a program to meet a specified requirement, and creating the programming language text files that will comprise the program source.
Compile	After checking for syntactical correctness, converts the programming language source files into machine readable instructions, where C or C++ variables are associated with memory addresses, and C or C++ statements are turned into a series of machine language instructions. The compiler can produces various forms of output, depending on the compiler options selected.
Linkage Editor	Links compiler output with external modules requested by the compiled program. Programs can use routines from C and C++ libraries or any object or archive file from the IBM XL family of languages. Programs can also use modules produced by the current or previous compilations. As well as linking the external modules, the linkage editor resolves addresses within the object module.
Run and Test	This stage can be both the final step in program development, or it can be an intermediate point in the program design and implementation process. A program's design commonly is further refined as a result of information gathered during testing.