C Programming
A crash course for C++ programmers
C vs. C++: Differences
C does not have classes/objects!
all code is in functions (subroutines).
C structures can not have methods C I/O is based on library functions:
printf, scanf, fopen, fclose, fread, fwrite,
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C vs. C++: Differences (cont.)
C does not support any function overloading (you cant have 2 functions with the same name). C does not have new or delete, you use malloc() and free() library functions to handle dynamic memory allocation/deallocation. C does not have reference variables
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C vs. C++: Similarities
Built-in data types: int, double, char, etc. Preprocessor (handles #include, #define, etc.) Control structures: if, while, do, for, etc. Operators: +
- * / = == != < > += ++
etc.
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C vs. C++: Similarities (cont.)
There must be a function named main(). function definitions are done the same way. Can split code in to files (object modules) and link modules together.
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Simple C Program
#include <stdio.h> int main(void) { printf(Hello World\n); return(0); }
Another Program
#include <stdio.h> void printhello(int n) { int i; for (i=0;i<n;i++) printf(Hello World\n); } void main() { printhello(5); }
Typical C Program
includes defines, data type definitions, global variable declarations function definitions main()
#include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #define MAX 1000 typedef char bigstring[MAX]; char *reverse( char *s) { char buf[MAX]; int i,len; len = strlen(s); printf("reversing %s\n",s); for (i=0;i<len;i++) buf[i] = s[len-i-1]; buf[i]='\0'; strcpy(s,buf); return(s); } void main(int argc,char **argv) { if (argc<2) { printf("Invalid usage - must supply a string\n"); exit(0); } printf("%s\n",reverse(argv[1])); }
A Real C Program
Program that accepts one command line argument. Treats the command line argument as a string, and reverses the letters in the string. Prints out the result (the reversed string).
reverse.c
- part 1
#include <stdio.h> /* printf */ #include <stdlib.h> /* malloc,free */ /* MAX is the size of the largest string we can handle */ #define MAX 1000 /* bigstring is a new data type */ typedef char bigstring[MAX];
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reverse.c
- part 2
/* reverses a string in place returns a pointer to the string */ char *reverse( char *s) { bigstring buf; int i,len; len = strlen(s); /* find the length */ for (i=0;i<len;i++) buf[i] = s[len-i-1]; buf[i]='\0'; /* null terminate!*/ strcpy(s,buf); /* put back in to s */ return(s); }
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reverse.c
- part 3
void main(int argc,char **argv) { if (argc<2) { printf("Invalid usage - must supply a string\n"); exit(0); } printf("%s\n",reverse(argv[1])); }
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Using dynamic allocation
char *reverse( char *s) { char *buf; int i,len; len = strlen(s); /* allocate memory */ buf = malloc(len+1); for (i=0;i<len;i++) buf[i] = s[len-i-1]; buf[i]='\0'; strcpy(s,buf); free(buf); return(s); }
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Compiling on Unix
Traditionally the name of the C compiler that comes with Unix is cc. We can use the Gnu compiler named gcc.
gcc o reverse reverse.c tells the compiler to create executable file with the name reverse tells the compiler the name of the input file.
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Running the program
>./reverse hidave evadih >./reverse This is a long string sihT >./reverse This is a long string gnirts gnol a si sihT
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C Libraries
Standard I/O: printf, scanf, fopen, fread, String functions: strcpy, strspn, strtok, Math: sin, cos, sqrt, exp, abs, pow, log, System Calls: fork, exec, signal, kill,
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Quick I/O Primer - printf
int printf( const char *, . . . );
. . . means variable number of arguments. The first argument is required (a string). Given a simple string, printf just prints the string (to standard output).
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Simple printf
printf(Hi Dave I am a string\n); printf(I\thave\ttabs\n); char s[100]; strcpy(s,printf is fun!\n); printf(s);
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arguing with printf
You can tell printf to embed some values in the string these values are determined at run-time.
printf(here is an integer: %d\n,i);
the %d is replaced by the value of the argument following the string (in this case i).
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More integer arguments
printf(%d + %d = %d\n,x,y,x+y); for (j=99;j>=0;j--) printf(%d bottles of beer on the wall\n);
printf(%d is my favorite number\n,17);
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printf is dumb
%d is replaced by the value of the parameter
when treated as a integer. If you give printf something that is not an integer it doesnt know!
printf("Print an int %d\n","Hi Dave"); Print an int 134513884
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Other formats
%d is a format it means treat the parameter as a
signed integer
%u means unsigned integer %x means print as hexadecimal %s means treat it as a string %c is for characters (char) %f is for floating point numbers %% means print a single %
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Fun with printf
char *s = "Hi Dave"; printf("The string \"%s\" is %d characters long\n", s,strlen(s)); printf("The square root of 10 is %f\n",sqrt(10));
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Controlling the output
There are formatting options that you can use to control field width, precision, etc.
printf(The square root of 10 is %20.15f\n,sqrt(10)); The square root of 10 is 3.162277660168380
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Lining things up
int i; for (i=1;i<5;i++) printf("%2d %f %20.15f\n", i,sqrt(i),sqrt(i)); 1 2 3 4 1.000000 1.414214 1.732051 2.000000 1.000000000000000 1.414213562373095 1.732050807568877 2.000000000000000
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Alas, we must move on
There are more formats and format options for printf. The man page for printf includes a complete description (any decent C book will also). NOTE: to view the man page for printf you should type the following: man 3 printf
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Input - scanf
scanf provides input from standard input. scanf is every bit as fun as printf!
scanf is a little scary, you need to use pointers Please NOOOOOOOOOOOO Not Pointers! Actually, you dont really need pointers, just addresses.
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Remember Memory?
Every C variable is stored in memory. Every memory location has an address. In C you can use variables called pointers to refer to variables by their address in memory.
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scanf
int scanf(const char *format, ...);
Remember . . . means variable number of arguments (good thing you have a memory). Looks kinda like printf
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What scanf does
Uses format string to determine what kind of variable(s) it should read. The arguments are the addresses of the variables.
scanf(%d %d,&x,&y);
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A simple example of scanf
float x; printf("Enter a number\n"); scanf("%f",&x); printf("The square root of %f is %f\n,x,sqrt(x));
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scanf
and strings
Using %s in a scanf string tells scanf to read the next word from input NOT a line of input:
char s[100]; printf("Type in your name\n"); scanf("%s",&s); printf("Your name is %s\n",s);
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man scanf
Check out the man page for more details.
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Reading a line
You can use the function fgets to read an entire line:
char *fgets(char *s, int size, FILE *stream); size is the maximum # chars FILE is a file handle
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Using fgets to read from stdin
char s[101]; printf("Type in your name\n"); fgets(s,100,stdin); printf("Your name is %s\n",s);
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Other I/O stuff
fopen,fclose fscanf, fprintf, fgets fread, fwrite
Check the man pages for the details.
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String functions
char *strcpy(char *dest, const char *src); size_t strlen(const char *s); char *strtok(char *s, const char *delim);
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Math library
The math library is often provided as a external library (not as part of the standard C library). You must tell the compiler you want the math library:
gcc o myprog myprog.c -lm
means add in the math library
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