C programming Language

For SSUET- Electronic Students

Introduction to C
Programming

Introduction
 Books

 “Turbo C Programming for PC”, Robert Lafore,

SAMS

 Teach Yourself C : Herbert Schildt

 Language?
 Source of Communication between two
persons.
– Example: Human –To- Human
OR
 Source of Communication between User
and Computer is called programming
language.
– Example: Human –To- Machine
 Program

Set of instructions which perform any

specific task is called program.
 What is programming?
 Series of instructions to a computer to achieve a task

 Instructions must be written in a way the computer can

understand

 Programming languages are used to write programs

 Once the code (language) of a program has been

written, it must be executed (run, started).

 Some programming languages (like C, C++ or Java)

require the code to be compiled (translated to binary)
before it can be started.
 History of C language

Year Language Developer

ALGOL
1960 Internal Committee
(Algorithmic Language)
BCPL
1967 (Basic Combined Programming Martin Richards
Language)
1970 B Ken Thompson
1972 C Dennis Ritchie
 What is C?
 C
 A language written by Dennis
Ritchie in 1972 at AT&T Bell Labs
USA. This was to be the language
that UNIX was written in to become
the first "portable" language.

In recent years C has been used as a general-purpose

language because of its popularity with
programmers.

AT&T-American Telephone and Telegraph

UNIX-Uniplexed Information and Computing System or Service

 Why C Still Useful?

 C provides:
 Efficiency, high performance and high quality
 Provide functionality through rich set of function libraries
 Gateway for other professional languages like C  C++  Java

 C is used:
 System software, Compilers, Editors
 Graphics and Geometry
 Databases, operating systems, device drivers
 Also used in application programs
 Software Development Method
 Requirement Specification
– Problem Definition
 Analysis
– Refine, Generalize the problem definition
 Design
– Develop Algorithm: (A formula or set of steps for solving a
particular problem)
 Implementation
– Write Code
 Verification and Testing
– Test and Debug the code
 How do you write a program?

 Decide what steps are needed to complete the task

 Write the steps (Algorithm) in pseudo code (written in English)

or as a flowchart (graphic symbols)

 Translate into the programming language

 Try out the program and “debug”.

 Getting started with C

 Steps in learning English language

Alphabets Words Sentences Paragraph

 Steps in learning C
Constants
Alphabets Instruction Program
Variables
Digits
Keywords
Special-symbols
 Sample Pseudo code
 Task: add two numbers
 Pseudo code (Algorithm) :

1. Start
2. Get two numbers
3. Add them (a + b)
4. Print the answer
5. End
 What does a flowchart look like?
 Pseudo code Start
(Algorithm) :

Get 2 numbers
1. Start
2. Get two numbers
3. Add them (A + B) A+B
4. Print the answer
5. End
Print answer

End
 Flow Chart symbols
 START/END

 INPUT/OUTPUT

 PROCESS

 DECISION
 Integrated Development Environments

 An integrated development environment (IDE) is a software

package that makes it possible to edit, compile, link, execute,
and debug a program without leaving the environment.

16
 Header Files

 The files that are specified in the include

section is called as header file
 These are precompiled files that has some
functions defined in them
 We can call those functions in our program by
supplying parameters
 Header file is given an extension .h
 C Source file is given an extension .c
 Main Function
 This is the entry point of a program
 When a file is executed, the start point is the main function
 From main function the flow goes as per the programmers
choice.
 There may or may not be other functions written by user in a
program
 Main function is compulsory for any c program
 Simple C Program
/* A first C Program*/

#include <stdio.h>

void main(void)

{
printf("Hello World");

}
 Simple C Program
/* A first C Program*/

#include <stdio.h> Header File

Preprocessor directive
void main() Main Function

{ Opening bracket

printf("Hello World"); Statement Part

} Closing Bracket
 Simple C Program
 Line 1: #include <stdio.h>

 As part of compilation, the C compiler runs a program

called the C preprocessor. The preprocessor is able to
add and remove code from your source file.
 In this case, the directive #include tells the
preprocessor to include code from the file stdio.h.
 This file contains declarations for functions that the
program needs to use. A declaration for the printf
function is in this file.
 Simple C Program
 Line 2: void main(void)

 This statement declares the main function.

 A C program can contain many functions but must
always have one main function.
 A function is a self-contained module of code that can
finish some task.
 The "void" specifies the return type of main. In this case,
nothing is returned to the operating system.
 Simple C Program
 Line 3: {

 This opening bracket denotes the start of the program.

 Simple C Program
 Line 4: printf("Hello World ");

 Printf is a function from a standard C library that is used

to print strings to the standard output, normally your
screen.
 The compiler links code from these standard libraries to
the code you have written to produce the final
executable.
 If there were another printf in this program, its string
would print on the next line.
 Simple C Program
 Line 5: }
 This closing bracket denotes the end of the program.
 Comment
 Single line comment
// (double slash)
 – Termination of comment is by pressing enter key

 Multi line comment

/*….
…….*/
 It is used to increase the readability of the program.

 Any number of comments can be given at any place in the

program.
 Comment cannot be nested

example:
/* A first C Program*/
 Running C Program
 Type a program
 Save it
 Compile the program – This will generate an exe
file (executable)
 Run the program (Actually the exe created out of
compilation will run and not the .c file)
 In different compiler we have different option for
compiling and running. We give only the
concepts.
 The C character Set
•A character denotes any alphabet, digit
or special symbol used to represent
information.

Alphabets A,B, …. ,Y, Z

a,b, ….. ,y, z

Digits 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9

Special Symbols ~‘!@#%^&*( )_-+=

|\{}[] :;“‘< > , .? /
 Constants, Variable and keywords
 The alphabets, numbers and special symbol
when properly combined form constants,
variables and keywords

 A constant is a quantity that doesn’t change

 A variable is a name given to the location in

memory where the constant is stored

 Example: 3x + y = 20
3 & 20 are constants, which cannot change
x & y can vary or change hence are called variables
 Keywords
• Keywords are the words whose meaning has
already been explained to the C compiler
• Sometimes called reserved words.
• They cannot be used as variable names.
• There are only 32 keywords available in c

auto double if static do

break else int struct goto
case enum long switch signed
char extern near typedef while
const float register union default
continue far return unsigned for
short void
 Escape Sequence
Certain non printing characters can be expressed in terms
of escape sequences

 \n new line
 \t tab
 \a alert
 \\ backslash
 \” double quote
 \0 Null
 \b Backspace
 Data Types

• C Supports several different types of

data, each of which may be represented
differently within the computers memory.
• Basic data types are listed below:

Data Type Description Typical Memory

int integer quantity 2 bytes

char single character 1 bytes
float floating point number 4 bytes
 Escape Sequences in C
 Certain non printing characters can be expressed in terms of
escape sequences

Character Escape Sequence

bell \a
backspace \b
horizontal tab \t
vertical tab \v
newline \n
carriage return \r
quotation mark (“) \”
question mark(?) \?
backslash (\) \\
null \0
 Development with C
 Four stages
 Editing: Writing the source code by using some IDE or editor
 Preprocessing or libraries: Already available routines
 compiling: translates or converts source to object code for a
specific platform source code -> object code
– linking: The object code of a program is linked with libraries
that are needed for execution of a program. The linker is used
to link the program with libraries. It creates a file
with '*.exe' extension.
Program Development
Editor
Source File

Preprocessor

Modified Source Code in RAM

Compiler

Program Object Code File

Linker

Executable File
 Keywords
 Sometimes called reserved words.
 Are defined as a part of the C language.
 Can not be used for anything else!
 32 keywords in C
 Examples:
– Int
– void
– while
– for