Introduction to C

© Khalid Nazim S.A.

Assistant Professor,
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
PES School of Engineering, Bangalore -100
 What programming is?
Programming is taking
A problem
“Find the area of a circle”
A set of data
radius
PI
A set of functions
area = PI *radius* radius
Then
Applying functions to data to get answer
What can a computer do?

Strictly speaking, very little:

Store and retrieve numbers
very quickly
very accurately
Add, subtract, multiply, and divide
also fast and accurate
Compare numbers (with 0)
Follow a list of instructions
jump around in the list
What about everything else?

More complex math

Combination of atomic operations
Interaction with peripheral devices
Output: graphics cards and printers
Input: keyboards, mice, joysticks
All sorts of specialized devices
Everything done using numbers
To the computer everything is numbers
What numbers does a computer
work with?

Instructions.
Addresses.
Data:
Integer numbers
Real numbers
Text
etc
Basic computer model
What is a computer program?

A sequence of processor instructions

designed to achieve a specific purpose.
The instructions are executed
sequentially.
Each instruction has a numerical code.
 Examples of instructions

Load data (from an address in the

memory)
Store data (in an address)
Add two numbers
If two numbers are equal, jump to another
part of the program
Instructions are numbers!
 Machine language

Computers understand only machine

language.
Every processor has its own machine language.
Basically looks like a sequence of 1’s and 0’s.
Very inconvenient to work with and non intuitive.
All other computer languages were
created for human convenience
The computer does not understand C.
Must be converted into machine language.
 Computer languages
(getting closer to human languages)

Assembly – machine language with some text codes

(still inconvenient)
Interpreted languages – Java, Perl, MATLAB
The program is translated into machine language
line by line during execution
Compiled languages – C, C++, Pascal, Fortran…
The program is translated into machine language
before execution
High level languages
vs.
machine languages.

Actually, binary
instructions.
 Syntax and Semantics

The syntax of a programming language:

Set of rules that specify allowable statements in
the language.
Similar to a grammar for a natural language.

The semantics of a programming language:

Rules for interpreting the computational operations
specified by statements in a programming
language.
 C is a procedural language

It enables the user (= the programmer) to

create new instructions (procedures) from
existing ones.
Instead of re-writing the same code over
and over again, write it once and call it
when needed.
 Why different languages?

Many languages were developed with

specific applications in mind:
Data processing
Web applications
Mathematical calculations
Artificial intelligence
 How do we compile?

A special program – the “compiler” –

“translates” from computer language to
machine language.
 The whole process of executing
a C program

Write a program
Using a text editor
Compile + link the program
C compiler
will do one of two things:
print error messages and abort (most probably…)
produce an executable program
Run the program
The C Compilation Model
eureka!
Algorithm:
Algorithm
A set of instructions describing
how to do a task (or process)

Program: C
 From Algorithms to Programs
Both are sets of instructions on how to do
solve a given problem
Algorithm:
Easy to understand
 represented in simple English statements
Program:
 by use of a compiler.
can be regarded as a “formal expression” of an
algorithm
 Development Process
Four stages
2. Editing
3. Preprocessing
4. Compiling: translates source code -> object code
5. Linking: Produces executable code

 Portable programs will run on any machine.

 Program correctness and robustness are most

important than program efficiency
Machine Language

10100110 01110110
00100110 00000000
11111010 11111010
01001110 10100110
11100110 10010110
11001110 00101110
10100110 01001110
11111010 01100110
01001110 10000110
etc...
 Compilation of a C program

Machine
language
Compilation with “holes”

Source1.c Source1.obj Executable

Linker
Machine
language myprog.exe
Compilation with “holes”

Source2.c Source2.obj
 Features of C language

C provides:
efficiency
flexibility
many high-level and low-level operations
stability

C is used in:
data compression, graphics and computational geometry
databases, operating systems
 History of C

 CPL Combined Programming Language

(Barron et al., 1963)
 BCPL Basic CPL (Richards, 1969)
 B (Thompson, 1970)
 C K & R (Ritchie, 1972)
 ANSI C American National Standards Institute C
(X3J11, 1989)
 C99 (JTC1/SC22/WG14, ISO/IEC 9899, 1999)
24
 Why C?

 Flexible language:
Structured language
Low level activities possible
 Standard library exists, allowing portability
 It can produce simple and efficient code
 Portable
 Widely used in different types of applications
 The main function
 main( )
 int main( )
 void main( )
 main (void)
 void main (void)
 int main (void)
 The word void means that the function does not return
any information to the O.S.
 int means that the function returns an integer value to
the operating system i.e. when int is used the the last
statement in the program should be “return 0”
 Character Set

The characters in c language are grouped

into the following categories
3. Letters : uppercase A..Z
lowercase a..z
• Digits: All decimal digits 0..9
• Special Characters
• White Spaces- blank space, new line,
carriage return,
horizontal tab, form feed
Special characters
, comma & Ampersand
. Period ^ caret
; Semicolon * asterisk
: Colon - Minus sign
? Question mark + Plus sign
‘ Apostrophe Opening angle
< bracket
“ Quotation mark ( or less than sign)
! Exclamation Closing angle bracket
markbar >
| Vertical ( or greater than sign)
/ Slash ( Left parenthesis
\ Backslash ) Right parenthesis
~ Tilde [ Left bracket
_ Underscore ] Right bracket
$ Dollar sign { Left brace
% Percent sign } Right brace
# Number sign
 C tokens

C tokens

Identifiers
Keywords Special
Constants
int Strings Symbols Operators
main 10
Float “PES” [] +-*,
Amount 3.1415
while {}
time
 Keywords

Has a special meaning in C

is “case-sensitive”
Cannot be used as variable names
Keywords
auto double int struct
break else long switch
case enum register typedef
char extern return union
const float short unsigned
continue for signed void
default goto sizeof volatile
do if static while
 Identifiers

 These refer to the names of variable,

functions, arrays.
 is a series of characters consisting of letters,
digits and underscores ( _)
 cannot begin with a digit
 must not be a keyword
 is “case-sensitive”
 Examples:
sum, x1, y2, my_ID, Main (careful!)
 Constants

These refer to those values that are fixed

and do not change during the execution of
the program
constants in C
Numeric constants Character constants
Single
Integer Real character String
constants constants constants
constants
 Integer constants

 It refers to a sequence of digits

 The types of integer constants are
 a. decimal integer : 0..9 , preceded by a + or - sign
 b. octal integer: 0..7, with a leading 0 ex: 037 etc.
 c. hexadecimal integer: preceded with a 0x or 0X
i.e.: these may include alphabets from A..F or a..f
ex: 0x2,0xabc etc
 Real constants

These include the numbers containing

fractional parts like 123.45
 Single character constants

It comprises of a single character enclosed

within a pair of single quotation marks
‘3’, ‘a’ etc..
 String constants

It comprises of a sequence of characters

enclosed in double quotes (“ “)

Ex: “welcome to c”
Backslash character constants
Type of constant Meaning
‘\a’ Bell
‘\b’ Back space
‘\f’ Form feed
‘\n’ New line
‘\r’ Carriage return
‘\t’ Horizontal tab
‘\v’ Vertical tab
‘\” Single quote
‘\’” Double quote
‘\0’ Null
Defining symbolic constants

Syntax:
#define symbolic-name value of the constant
Ex: #define PI 3.14152
Symbolic names are also called as constant
identifiers
 Rules to be followed while using
a symbolic constant

1. Names are usually written in CAPITALS to

distinguish them from the normal variable
names- just a convention
2. No blank space between the hash # symbol
and the word define is allowed
3. # must be the first character in the line
4. A blank space is required between #define and
symbolic name and between symbolic name
and value(constant)
6. #define should not end with a semicolon
 Variables
is a logical name that is used to store a
data value
(an actual piece of computer memory for
values)
has a type associated with it
tells the computer how to interpret the bits
must be declared before use:
int i; float result;
int i=0; char initial=’K’;
 Declaration of variables
data- type v1,v2,….vn;

V1,v2,…vn = variables.
Variables are seperated by commas
It should end with a semicolon
Ex: int a,b,c;
float d;
char s;
Variable Declaration: Examples

short int myHeight = 152; /* cm */

int mySalary = 1000000000;

long int mySalary = 1000000000;

float commission = 0.05;

double chanceOfADate = 3e-500;

Variable Declaration: Examples

“Keywords”
short int myHeight = 152; /* cm */

int mySalary = 1000000000;

long int mySalary = 1000000000;

float commission = 0.05;

double chance_of_a_date = 3e-500;

 Assignment

Puts a specified value into a specified

variable
Assignment operator: =

<variable name> = <expression> ;

not to be
confused
with ==
 What are variables?
 A named area in the computer memory,
intended to contain values of a certain kind
(integers, real numbers, etc.)
 They contain the data your program works with.
 They can be used to store data to be used
elsewhere in the program.
 In short – they are the only way to manipulate
data.
 Variables in memory

int a = 5;
double b = 3.5;

a 5

b 3.5
 Variables in memory
• Whenever we write the variable name (a), we ask to
read the value of that variable
• If we write &variable_name, we ask for the address
of that variable

a 5

b 3.5
 Declaring variables in C

double cm, inches;

Before using a variable, one must declare it.

The declaration first introduces the variable
type, then its name.
When a variable is declared, its value is
undefined.
Example: variable declarations

int i;
char c;
float area, radius;
float a=3.0, b = 1.3;
unsigned int n = 0;
 Variable naming rules

Letters, digits, underscores

i
 ISE_2c
 area
First character cannot be a digit
2c_ISE is not valid!
Case sensitive
ISE_2c is different from ise_2a
 Data types

C supports 3 classes of data types namely

1. Fundamental or primary data types
2. Derived data types
3. user- defined data types
 Primary Data Types
Integer Character Floating Void
signed Unsigned Char Float It is used to
int Unsigned int Signed char Double specify the
type of
short int Unsigned short Unsigned Long double functions
long int int
Unsigned long int char

Data type Range of values

char -128 to 127
int -32,768 to 32,767
float 3.4e-38 to 3.4e+e38
double 1.7e-308 to 1.7e+308
 User defined data type

C provides a facility wherein the users can

define an already existing identifier

typedef int total;

typedef float amount;
 printf and scanf

printf – prints to the screen.

Can also accept variables and print their
values.

scanf – reads the values from the user

i.e. from the standard input and
assigns them to variables.
printf can print variable values

printf(“a=%d\n", a);
The sequence %d is a special
sequence and is not printed!
It indicates to printf to print the value
of an integer variable written after the
printed string.
scanf gets input from the user

scanf("%lf", &cm);

This statement waits for the user to type in

a double value, and stores it in the
variable named ‘cm’.
To get 2 doubles from the user, use –
scanf("%lf%lf", &var1, &var2);
prinft/scanf conversion codes

A %<conversion code> in the printf/scanf string is

replaced by the respective variable.
 %c – a character
 %d – an integer, %u – an unsigned integer.
 %f – a float
 %lf – a double
 %g – a nicer way to show a double (in printf)
 %% - the ‘%’ character (in printf)
 Arithmetic operators

An operator is an action performed on

something (e.g. constants, variables).
That “something” is called an operand.
Common operators:
Assignment =
Addition +
Subtraction -
Multiplication *
Division /
Modulo %
Operations with different types

 When operands of two different types are

involved in an operation, the operand of the
‘weaker’ type is promoted to the other type (int
→ float → double).
 The result of the operation is of the higher type.
 When the operands are of the same type, the
result is of that type as well.
 Operations with different types

For example -
 3+4=7
 3.0 + 4 = 7.0
 3 / 4 = 0 !!!
 3.0 / 4 = 0.75
 Basic structure of a C program

[documentation section]
[definition section]
[function prototype]
[global variables]
/* function main which is compulsory*/
main()
{
declaration section; Body of the
executable section; program

}
[user defined functions]
 A simple C program
1. /* welcome to first program in C – An example program */

2. #include <stdio.h>
3. main( )
4. {
5. printf(“welcome to first program in C!\n”);
6.}
 A simple C program
/* welcome to c programming – An example program */

#include <stdio.h>
int main( )
{
printf(“Hello, world!\n”);
return 0;
}
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