Steps for C, C++, and other compiled languages

• Get the source
• Unpack it: tar xzvf file.tar.gz or tar xjvf file.tar.bz2 and cd.
  
• ./configure
• Fix any missing packages: usually means installing some -dev packages.
• make
  
• Fix any missing packages: usually means installing some -dev packages.
• For some languages (e.g. Java) may need a dev kit.
  
• make install as root (or maybe you can run it in place)
  
• Try: maybe the bug is fixed!
• The rest: same as with scripting languages