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Introduction about C

C is a general-purpose programming language created by Dennis Ritchie in 1972, known for its speed and versatility, particularly in operating systems and embedded systems. It serves as a foundational language that facilitates learning other programming languages due to its similar syntax. The structure of a C program includes header file inclusion, the main method declaration, the body of the main method, statements, and a return statement, which are essential for successful compilation and execution.

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3 views

Introduction about C

C is a general-purpose programming language created by Dennis Ritchie in 1972, known for its speed and versatility, particularly in operating systems and embedded systems. It serves as a foundational language that facilitates learning other programming languages due to its similar syntax. The structure of a C program includes header file inclusion, the main method declaration, the body of the main method, statements, and a return statement, which are essential for successful compilation and execution.

Uploaded by

cheema1150
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is C?

C is a general-purpose programming language created by Dennis


Ritchie at the Bell Laboratories in 1972.

It is a very popular language, despite being old. The main reason for
its popularity is because it is a fundamental language in the field of
computer science.

C is strongly associated with UNIX, as it was developed to write the


UNIX operating system.

Why Learn C?

 It is one of the most popular programming languages in the


world
 If you know C, you will have no problem learning other popular
programming languages such as Java, Python, C++, C#, etc, as
the syntax is similar
 C is very fast, compared to other programming languages,
like Java and Python
 C is very versatile; it can be used in both applications and
technologies

Structure of the C program

By structure, it is meant that any program can be written in this


structure only. Writing a C program in any other structure will lead to
a Compilation Error. The structure of a C program is as follows:
Components of a C Program:
1. Header Files Inclusion – Line 1 [#include <stdio.h>]
 The first and foremost component is the inclusion of the Header
files in a C program.
 A header file is a file with extension .h which contains C
function declarations and macro definitions to be shared
between several source files.
 All lines that start with # are processed by a preprocessor which
is a program invoked by the compiler.
 In the above example, the preprocessor copies the preprocessed
code of stdio.h to our file.
 The .h files are called header files in C.
Some of the C Header files:
 stddef.h – Defines several useful types and macros.
 stdint.h – Defines exact width integer types.
 stdio.h – Defines core input and output functions
 stdlib.h – Defines numeric conversion functions, pseudo-random
number generator, and memory allocation
 string.h – Defines string handling functions
 math.h – Defines common mathematical functions.
2. Main Method Declaration – Line 2 [int main()]
 The next part of a C program is to declare the main() function. It
is the entry point of a C program and the execution typically
begins with the first line of the main().
 The empty brackets indicate that the main doesn’t take any
parameter (See this for more details).
 The int that was written before the main indicates the return type
of main().
 The value returned by the main indicates the status of program
termination.
3. Body of Main Method – Line 3 to Line 6 [enclosed in {}]
 The body of a function in the C program refers to statements
that are a part of that function.
 It can be anything like manipulations, searching, sorting,
printing, etc. A pair of curly brackets define the body of a
function.
 All functions must start and end with curly brackets.
4. Statement – Line 4 [printf(“Hello World”);]
Statements are the instructions given to the compiler. In C, a
statement is always terminated by a semicolon (;). In this particular
case, we use printf() function to instruct the compiler to display
“Hello World” text on the screen.
5. Return Statement – Line 5 [return 0;]
 The last part of any C function is the return statement.
 The return statement refers to the return values from a function.
 This return statement and return value depend upon the return
type of the function.
 The return statement in our program returns the value from
main(). The returned value may be used by an operating system
to know the termination status of your program.
 The value 0 typically means successful termination.
How to Execute the Above Program?
In order to execute the above program, we need to first compile it
using a compiler and then we can run the generated executable. There
are online IDEs.
1. Windows: There are many free IDEs available for developing
programs in C like Code Blocks and Dev-CPP. IDEs provide us
with an environment to develop code, compile it and finally
execute it. We strongly recommend Code Blocks.
2. Linux: GCC compiler comes bundled with Linux which compiles
C programs and generates executables for us to run. Code Blocks
can also be used with Linux.
3. macOS: macOS already has a built-in text editor where you can
just simply write the code and save it with a “.c” extension.

Application of C
 Operating systems: C is widely used for developing operating
systems such as Unix, Linux, and Windows.
 Embedded systems: C is a popular language for developing
embedded systems such as microcontrollers, microprocessors, and
other electronic devices.
 System software: C is used for developing system software such
as device drivers, compilers, and assemblers.
 Networking: C is widely used for developing networking
applications such as web servers, network protocols, and network
drivers.
 Database systems: C is used for developing database systems such
as Oracle, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.
 Gaming: C is often used for developing computer games due to its
ability to handle low-level hardware interactions.
 Artificial Intelligence: C is used for developing artificial
intelligence and machine learning applications such as neural
networks and deep learning algorithms.
 Scientific applications: C is used for developing scientific
applications such as simulation software and numerical analysis
tools.
 Financial applications: C is used for developing financial
applications such as stock market analysis and trading systems.

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