Explain me C compilation like I'm five

With/Without librairies, makefiles, several files, etc.
I'm a truly beginner with this and I didn't understand a damn thing.

Thanks !

Comments

[mcr42]

To dig a bit deeper, the process of building a program consists actually of 2 parts:
Compiling is converting each C file into machine code ( objects), and
Linking is putting all the objects together to create the executable file.
Libraries are (mostly) just prebuilt object files someone else prepared for you.

[Douglas R Andreani]

What is the role of the OS here? Does it interfere with the type of machine code? Does the compiler require to link additional libraries in order to run the program on certain os?

[Pierre Bouillon]

Thanks ! Very helpful !

[Victor Ordu]

Lovely.