The Basics of C Programming

by Marshall Brain & Chris Pollette

(Available at <<https://computer.howstuffworks.com/c1.htm>>)

What is C?
C is a computer programming language. That means that you can use C to
create lists of instructions for a computer to follow. C is one of thousands of
programming languages currently in use. C has been around for several decades
and has won widespread acceptance because it gives programmers maximum
control and efficiency. C is an easy language to learn. It is a bit more cryptic in its
style than some other languages,
but you get beyond that fairly
quickly.
C is what is called a compiled
language. This means that once
you write your C program, you must
run it through a C compiler to turn
your program into
an executable that the computer
can run (execute). The C program is
the human-readable form, while the
executable that comes out of the
compiler is the machine-readable
and executable form. What this
means is that to write and run a C
program, you must have access to
a C compiler. If you are using a
UNIX machine (for example, if you
are writing CGI scripts in C on your
host's UNIX computer, or if you are
a student working on a lab's UNIX machine), the C compiler is available for free. It
is called either "cc" or "gcc" and is available on the command line. If you are a
student, then the school will likely provide you with a compiler -- find out what
the school is using and learn about it. If you are working at home on a Windows
machine, you are going to need to download a free C compiler or purchase a
commercial compiler. A widely used commercial compiler is Microsoft's Visual C+
+ environment (it compiles both C and C++ programs). Unfortunately, this
program costs several hundred dollars. If you do not have hundreds of dollars to
spend on a commercial compiler, then you can use one of the free compilers
available on the Web. See http://delorie.com/djgpp/ as a starting point in your
search.
We will start at the beginning with an extremely simple C program and build up
from there. I will assume that you are using the UNIX command line and gcc as
your environment for these examples; if you are not, all of the code will still work
fine -- you will simply need to understand and use whatever compiler you have
available.
 Let's get started!
The Simplest C Program
Let's start with the simplest possible C
program and use it both to understand
the basics of C and the C compilation
process. Type the following program into
a standard text editor (vi or emacs on
UNIX, Notepad on Windows or TeachText
on a Macintosh). Then save the program
to a file named samp.c. If you leave
off .c, you will probably get some sort of
error when you compile it, so make sure
you remember the .c. Also, make sure
that your editor does not automatically
append some extra characters (such
as .txt) to the name of the file. Here's the
first program:
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
printf("This is output from my
first program!\n");
return 0;
}

A computer program is the key to the digital city: If you know the
language, you can get a computer to do almost anything you want.
Learn how to write computer programs in C.
When executed, this program instructs the computer to print out the line "This is
output from my first program!" -- then the program quits. You can't get much
simpler than that!
To compile this code, take the following steps:
 On a UNIX machine, type gcc samp.c -o samp (if gcc does not work, try cc).
This line invokes the C compiler called gcc, asks it to compile samp.c and asks it
to place the executable file it creates under the name samp. To run the program,
type samp (or, on some UNIX machines, ./samp).
 On a DOS or Windows machine using DJGPP, at an MS-DOS prompt type gcc
samp.c -o samp.exe. This line invokes the C compiler called gcc, asks it to
compile samp.c and asks it to place the executable file it creates under the
name samp.exe. To run the program, type samp.
 If you are working with some other compiler or development system, read and
follow the directions for the compiler you are using to compile and execute the
program.
You should see the output "This is output from my first program!" when you run
the program. Here is what happened when you compiled the program:
 If you mistype the program, it either will not compile or it will not run. If the
program does not compile or does not run correctly, edit it again and see where
you went wrong in your typing. Fix the error and try again.
POSITION
When you enter this program, position #include so that the pound sign is in
column 1 (the far left side). Otherwise, the spacing and indentation can be any
way you like it. On some UNIX systems, you will find a program called cb, the C
Beautifier, which will format code for you. The spacing and indentation shown
above is a good example to follow.

The Simplest C Program: What's Happening?

Let's walk through this program and start to see what the different lines are
doing (Click here to open the program in another window):
 This C program starts with #include <stdio.h>. This line includes the
"standard I/O library" into your program. The standard I/O library lets you read
input from the keyboard (called "standard in"), write output to the screen (called
"standard out"), process text files stored on the disk, and so on. It is an extremely
useful library. C has a large number of standard libraries like stdio, including
string, time and math libraries. A library is simply a package of code that
someone else has written to make your life easier (we'll discuss libraries a bit
later).
 The line int main() declares the main function. Every C program must have a
function named main somewhere in the code. We will learn more about functions
shortly. At run time, program execution starts at the first line of the main
function.
 In C, the { and } symbols mark the beginning and end of a block of code. In this
case, the block of code making up the main function contains two lines.
 The printf statement in C allows you to send output to standard out (for us, the
screen). The portion in quotes is called the format string and describes how the
data is to be formatted when printed. The format string can contain string literals
such as "This is output from my first program!," symbols for carriage returns (\n),
and operators as placeholders for variables (see below). If you are using UNIX,
you can type man 3 printf to get complete documentation for the printf
function. If not, see the documentation included with your compiler for details
about the printf function.
 The return 0; line causes the function to return an error code of 0 (no error) to
the shell that started execution. More on this capability a bit later.

Variables
As a programmer, you will frequently want your program to "remember" a value.
For example, if your program requests a value from the user, or if it calculates a
value, you will want to remember it somewhere so you can use it later. The way
your program remembers things is by using variables. For example:
int b;
This line says, "I want to create a space called b that is able to hold one integer
value." A variable has a name (in this case, b) and a type (in this case, int, an
integer). You can store a value in b by saying something like:
 b = 5;
You can use the value in b by saying something like:
printf("%d", b);

In C, there are several standard types for variables:

 int - integer (whole number) values
 float - floating point values
 char - single character values (such as "m" or "Z")
We will see examples of these other types as we go along.

Printf
The printf statement allows you to send output to standard out. For us,
standard out is generally the screen (although you can redirect standard out into
a text file or another command).
Here is another program that will help you learn more about printf:
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
int a, b, c;
a = 5;
b = 7;
c = a + b;
printf("%d + %d = %d\n", a, b, c);
return 0;
}

Type this program into a file and save it as add.c. Compile it with the line gcc
add.c -o add and then run it by typing add (or ./add). You will see the line "5 +
7 = 12" as output.
Here is an explanation of the different lines in this program:
 The line int a, b, c; declares three integer variables named a, b and c. Integer
variables hold whole numbers.
 The next line initializes the variable named a to the value 5.
 The next line sets b to 7.
 The next line adds a and b and "assigns" the result to c. The computer adds the
value in a (5) to the value in b (7) to form the result 12, and then places that new
value (12) into the variable c. The variable c is assigned the value 12. For this
reason, the = in this line is called "the assignment operator."
 The printf statement then prints the line "5 + 7 = 12." The %d placeholders in
the printf statement act as placeholders for values. There are three %d
placeholders, and at the end of the printf line there are the three variable
names: a, b and c. C matches up the first %d with a and substitutes 5 there. It
matches the second %d with b and substitutes 7. It matches the third %d with c
and substitutes 12. Then it prints the completed line to the screen: 5 + 7 = 12.
The +, the = and the spacing are a part of the format line and get embedded
automatically between the %d operators as specified by the programmer.
Printf: Reading User Values
The previous program is good, but it would be better if it read in the values 5 and
7 from the user instead of using constants. Try this program instead:
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
int a, b, c;
printf("Enter the first value:");
scanf("%d", &a);
printf("Enter the second value:");
scanf("%d", &b);
c = a + b;
printf("%d + %d = %d\n", a, b, c);
return 0;
}
Here's how this program works when you execute it:
https://computer.howstuffworks.com/c6.htm

Make the changes, then compile and run the program to make sure it works.
Note that scanf uses the same sort of format string as printf (type man scanf for
more info). Also note the & in front of a and b. This is the address operator in
C: It returns the address of the variable (this will not make sense until we discuss
pointers). You must use the & operator in scanf on any variable of type char, int,
or float, as well as structure types (which we will get to shortly). If you leave out
the & operator, you will get an error when you run the program. Try it so that you
can see what that sort of run-time error looks like.
Let's look at some variations to understand printf completely. Here is the
simplest printf statement:
printf("Hello");
This call to printf has a format string that tells printf to send the word "Hello" to
standard out. Contrast it with this:
printf("Hello\n");
The difference between the two is that the second version sends the word "Hello"
followed by a carriage return to standard out.
The following line shows how to output the value of a variable using printf.
printf("%d", b);
The %d is a placeholder that will be replaced by the value of the variable b when
the printf statement is executed. Often, you will want to embed the value within
some other words. One way to accomplish that is like this:
printf("The temperature is ");
printf("%d", b);
printf(" degrees\n");
An easier way is to say this:
printf("The temperature is %d degrees\n", b);
You can also use multiple %d placeholders in one printf statement:
 printf("%d + %d = %d\n", a, b, c);
In the printf statement, it is extremely important that the number
of operators in the format string corresponds exactly with the number and type
of the variables following it. For example, if the format string contains three %d
operators, then it must be followed by exactly three parameters and they must
have the same types in the same order as those specified by the operators.
You can print all of the normal C types with printf by using different
placeholders:
 int (integer values) uses %d
 float (floating point values) uses %f
 char (single character values) uses %c
 character strings (arrays of characters, discussed later) use %s
You can learn more about the nuances of printf on a UNIX machine by
typing man 3 printf. Any other C compiler you are using will probably come with
a manual or a help file that contains a description of printf.

C ERRORS TO AVOID
 Using the wrong character case - Case matters in C, so you cannot type Printf or
PRINTF. It must be printf.
 Forgetting to use the & in scanf
 Too many or too few parameters following the format statement in printf or scanf
 Forgetting to declare a variable name before using it;
 […]

(If you got interested and would like to learn more about C language, just access
the link at the beginning of the text.)