What HDF4 header files should you use in your application?

The header file hdf.h must be included in every HDF application written in C, except for programs that call routines in the SD interface. The header file, mfhdf.h, must be included in all programs that call the SD interface routines.

Fortran programmers who use compilers that allow file inclusion can include the files hdf.inc and dffunc.inc. If a Fortran compiler that does not support file inclusion is used, the HDF library definitions must be explicitly defined in the Fortran program as they are included in the header files of the HDF library.

The HDF Group provides the h4cc and h4fc scripts for compiling applications. These tools come with the pre-compiled binaries and source code.