If you're on Windows or Linux, skip to the lesson for your system — this one's macOS-only.

The one command you need

macOS ships with a compiler, but it's not installed by default — it comes bundled inside Apple's developer tools. You don't need to install the full Xcode app (which is a multi-gigabyte download); the command line tools are a much smaller, separate install.

Open Terminal (search for it with Spotlight — Cmd+Space, then type "Terminal") and run:

xcode-select --install

A window will pop up asking to install the command line developer tools. Click Install, agree to the license, and wait — this can take a few minutes depending on your internet connection.

Confirm it worked

Once the install finishes, check that the compiler is there:

g++ --version

On macOS this actually runs Apple's Clang compiler (which understands the g++ command as an alias) — that's expected and fine. You should see version information printed. If you instead see a prompt to install the command line tools again, the install from above didn't finish — repeat it.

Working with your files

Create a folder for this course:

mkdir ~/cpp-course
cd ~/cpp-course

~ means your home folder, so ~/cpp-course is a new folder right inside it. You'll come back here every lesson.

Checkpoint

• macOS's compiler comes from Apple's command line developer tools, not a separate download.
• xcode-select --install installs them — click through the popup that appears.
• g++ --version confirms it worked (it'll report itself as Clang, which is correct on macOS).
• Next up: installing VS Code and the C++ extension.