Course: Programming for Engineers (C language)

Dr.-Ing. Nguyen Van Binh

Email: nvbinh@hcmiu.edu.vn
HCMC, Feb. 2025
 Content

1. Introduction to Computer and C language

2. Making Decisions
3. Looping
4. Functions
5. Arrays
6. Pointers
7. Structures
8. Characters and Strings
9. File Processing
10.Dynamic Memory Allocation
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 Programming for Engineers (C language)

Documents & References

 “C - How to Program”, Harvey M. Deitel, Paul
J. Deitel, Prentice Hall, 2007.
 “Programming in C”, 3rd edition, S. G.
Kochan, Sams Publishing, 2005.
 “Programming In C: A Practical Approach”,
2nd edition, Ajay Mittal, Pearson, 2008.
 “An Introductory to Programming with C”,
2nd edition, Diane Zak, Thomson Publishing,
2001.
 “Data Structures and Algorithms”, Asian
edition, Alfred V. Aho, John E. Hopcroft,
Jeffrey D. Ullman.
▪ https://blackboard.hcmiu.edu.vn/
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 Programming for Engineers (C language)

 Roles of the course

 Programming is the core of Electrical/Computer Science Engineering.

 This course is considered as the kick-off course in Programming and

Computer Science using “enjoyable” C (procedure-oriented) programming
language.

 Aims of the course

 This course aims to teach students skills that will be relevant many years in
the future.

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 Programming for Engineers (C language)

Software

 Windows: DevC++, Microsoft Visual Studio Code

 MacOS: Xcode, ...

 UNIX/Linux: NetBeans, CodeLite, Atom Code Editor...

 Eclipse is available for 3 types of OS

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 Programming for Engineers (C language)

Some Tips
➢ Learn by doing. Always play with the code while learning
➢ Seek out more online resources. There’s a wealth of content
➢ Don’t just read the sample code. Tinker with it!
➢ Take breaks when debugging

• “The most important thing in computer programming is SYNTAX.”

• “Programming is NOT a spectator sport. To become good you
must practice - practice - practice.”

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Lecture Content
➢ Introduction to Computers
▪ A Few Uses of Computers
▪ Computer Organization
▪ Data Hierarchy
▪ Programming Languages
▪ Operating Systems
➢ Introduction to C Programming Language
▪ Simple C Program
▪ Memory Concepts
➢ Algorithms
▪ Pseudo-code
▪ Flowchart
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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
A Few Uses of Computers

• Office
• Email, Instant messaging, Video chat
• Electronic health records
• Medical imaging
• Cloud computing
• Robots
• Internet TV
• Game programming

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Computer Organization

• Input Unit

• Output Unit

• Memory Unit

• Arithmetic and Logic Unit (ALU)

• Central Processing Unit (CPU)

• Secondary Storage Unit

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Data Hierarchy

• Database

• Files

• Records

• Fields

• Characters

• Bit
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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Programming Languages
Various programming
languages

➢ Some understandable directly by computers

➢ Others require “translation” steps
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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Programming Languages
Machine language
• Natural language of a particular computer
• Consists of strings of numbers (1s, 0s)
• Instruct computer to perform elementary operations one at
a time
• Machine dependant

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Programming Languages
Assembly Language
• English like abbreviations
• Translators programs called “Assemblers” to convert assembly
language programs to machine language
• E.g. add overtime to base pay and store result in gross pay

LOAD BASEPAY
ADD OVERPAY
STORE GROSSPAY

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Programming Languages High-level languages
• To speed up programming even further
• Single statements for accomplishing substantial tasks
• Translator programs called “Compilers” to convert
high-level programs into machine language
• E.g. add overtime to base pay and store result in gross
pay
grossPay = basePay + overtimePay

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
History of C

• In 1972, Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs (Canada) writes C

and in 1978 the publication of The C Programming
Language by Kernighan & Ritchie caused a revolution in
the computing world.

• In 1983, the American National Standards Institute

(ANSI) established a committee to provide a modern,
comprehensive definition of C. The resulting definition,
the ANSI standard, or “ANSI C”, was completed late 1988.

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Why use C?
➢ Mainly because it produces code that runs nearly as fast as code
written in assembly language.
➢ Stability and small size code
➢ Some examples of the use of C might be:
▪ Operating Systems (Windows, Mac OS, UNIX)
▪ Language Compilers / Assemblers
▪ Embedded Systems
▪ Text Editors / Language Interpreters
▪ Real-Time Systems
▪ Network Drivers
▪ Modern Programs
▪ Databases
▪ Communication Systems
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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
C Standard Library
• Two parts to learning the “C” world
– Learn C itself

– Take advantage of rich collection of existing functions

called C Standard Library

• Avoid reinventing the wheel

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Software Development Method
 Requirement Specification
– Problem Definition
 Analysis
– Refine, Generalize, Decompose the problem definition
 Design
– Develop Algorithm
 Implementation
– Write Code
 Verification and Testing
– Test and Debug the code
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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Basics of C Environment

• C systems consist of 3 parts

– Environment
– Language
– C Standard Library

• Development environment has 6

phases
– Edit
– Pre-processor
– Compile
– Link
– Load
– Execute

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Basics of C Environment
Program edited
Phase 1 Editor Disk in Editor and
stored on disk

Preprocessor
Phase 2Preprocessor Disk program processes
the code

Creates
object code
Phase 3 Compiler Disk and stores on
disk

Links object code

Phase 4 Linker Disk with libraries and
stores on disk
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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Basics of C Environment
Primary memory

Puts program in
Phase 5 Loader memory

Primary memory
Takes each
instruction
Phase 6 CPU and executes it
storing
new data values

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Simple C Program

1 /* A first C Program*/

2 #include <stdio.h>

3 int main()

4 {

5 printf(“Hello World \n”);

6 return 0;

7 }

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Simple C Program

 Line 1: /* The first C Program*/

▪ In the C Programming Language, you can place comments in your
source code that are not executed as part of the program.
▪ Comments provide clarity to the C source code allowing others to
better understand what the code was intended to accomplish and
greatly helping in debugging the code.
▪ Comments are especially important in large projects containing
hundreds or thousands of lines of source code or in projects in
which many contributors are working on the source code.
▪ You can also write comment as // The first C Program

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Simple C Program

 Line 2: #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.

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Simple C Program

 Line 3: void main()

▪ 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
accomplish some task. Functions are examined later.
▪ The “void” specifies the return type of main. In this case,
nothing is returned to the operating system.
▪ You can also define main function as void main(void) or int
main() or int main(void). The last two cases must come with
a return 0; at the end.
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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Simple C Program

 Line 4: {
▪ This opening bracket denotes the start of the program.

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Simple C Program

 Line 5: printf("Hello World\n");

▪ 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.
▪ The “\n” is a special format modifier that tells the printf to
put a line feed at the end of the line.
▪ If there were another printf in this program, its string would
print on the next line.

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Simple C Program

 Line 6: }
▪ This closing bracket denotes the end of the program.

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Escape Sequence

• \n new line
• \t horizontal tab (⋲ 6 spaces)
• \r carriage return
• \a alert
• \\ backslash
• \” double quote

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Memory concepts

➢ Every variable has a name, type and value

➢ Variable names correspond to locations in computer

memory

➢ New value overwrites the previous value –

“Destructive read-in”

➢ Value reading called “Non-destructive read-out”

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Arithmetic in C

C operation Algebraic C
Addition(+) f+7 f+7
Subtraction (-) p-c p-c
Multiplication (*) bm b*m
Division (/) x/y x/y
Modulus (%) r mod s r%s

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Precedence Order

➢ Highest to lowest

• ()

• *, /, %

• +, -

•=
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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Precedence Order
Algebra:
z = pr%q+w/x-y

C:
z = p * r % q + w / x – y;

Precedence: 6 1 2 4 3 5

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Precedence Order
Algebra:
a(b+c)+ c(d+e)

C:
a * ( b + c ) + c * ( d + e );

Precedence: 3 1 5 4 2

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Decision Making

➢ Equality operators
• == equality
• != difference

➢ Relational operators
•< less than
•> greater than
• <= less than or equal to
• >= greater than or equal to

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Decision Making

• Checking falsity or truth of a statement

• Equality operators have lower precedence than

relational operators

• Relational operators have same precedence

• Both associate from left to right

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Assignment Operators
• = assign C = A + B will assign the value of A + B to C
• += assign with add C += A is equivalent to C = C + A
• -= assign with subtract C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A
• *= assign with multiply C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A
• /= assign with divide C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A
• %= assign with remainder C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A
• >>= assign with right-shift C >>= 2 is same as C = C >> 2
• <<= assign with left-shift C <<= 2 is same as C = C << 2
• &= assign with bitwise AND C &= 2 is same as C = C & 2
• ^= assign with bitwise XOR C ^= 2 is same as C = C ^ 2
• |= assign with bitwise OR C |= 2 is same as C = C | 2
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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Increment/Decrement Operators
• ++ ++i pre-increment
▪ i = 1;
▪ j = ++i;
▪ (i is 2, j is 2)

• ++ i++ post-increment
▪ i = 1;
▪ j = i++;
▪ (i is 2, j is 1)

• -- --i pre-decrement
• -- i-- post-decrement
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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Example

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Example

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Example
#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
int a = 21;
int c ;
c = a;
printf("Line 1 - = Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
c += a;
printf("Line 2 - += Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
c -= a;
printf("Line 3 - -= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
c *= a;
printf("Line 4 - *= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
c /= a;
printf("Line 5 - /= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
c = 200;

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 1 Introduction to Computer and C language
Example

c %= a;
printf("Line 6 - %= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
c <<= 2;
printf("Line 7 - <<= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
c >>= 2;
printf("Line 8 - >>= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
c &= 2;
printf("Line 9 - &= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
c ^= 2;
printf("Line 10 - ^= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
c |= 2;
printf("Line 11 - |= Operator Example, Value of c = %d\n", c );
}

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