cannot find -lcJSON collect2: error: ld returned 1 exit status

The error message you are seeing indicates that the linker is unable to find the library "cJSON" (-lcJSON) that your program is dependent on. This error typically occurs when the library is not installed or not properly linked.

To resolve this issue, you need to make sure that the cJSON library is installed on your system and that the linker can find it. Here are some possible steps to fix the problem:

1. Install cJSON library: Check if the cJSON library is installed on your system. If not, you can download it from the official website or use a package manager like apt-get (for Ubuntu) or homebrew (for macOS) to install it.

2. Link the library: Once the cJSON library is installed, you need to make sure that the linker can find it during the compilation process. You can do this by specifying the library path using the "-L" option, and the library name using the "-l" option. For example:

   gcc -o myprogram myprogram.c -L/path/to/cJSON -lcJSON

Make sure to replace "/path/to/cJSON" with the actual path where the cJSON library is installed on your system.

3. Check library search path: If the cJSON library is installed in a standard location, such as "/usr/lib" or "/usr/local/lib", you may not need to specify the library path explicitly. In this case, you can check if the library search path is properly configured by running the following command:

   ldconfig -p | grep cJSON

If the library is listed, it means that the linker can find it. Otherwise, you may need to add the library path to the system's library search path configuration.

By following these steps, you should be able to resolve the "cannot find -lcJSON" error and successfully compile your program.