Changing the way students learn outside the classroom

History of C Language
History of C Language

The C programming language was developed by Dennis Ritchie in 1972 at AT&T Bell Laboratories. It was derived
from an earlier programming language named B. The B was developed by Ken Thompson in 1969-70 and provided the
basis for the development of C. The C was originally designed to write system programs under UNIX operating system.
But over the years its power and flexibility have made it popular in industry for a wide range of applications. The earlier
version of C was known as K&R (Kernighan and Ritchie) C. As the language further developed, the ANSI (American
National Standards Institute) developed a standard version of the language known as ANSI C.
Developing a program (Stepwise Approach)
Developing a program (Stepwise Approach)

Writing a program in C is not too difficult; however it requires a good understanding of the
development environment of C language. The programmer should also have the knowledge
of steps required to prepare a C program for execution.
As a first step, install a compiler for the C language on the computer so that the source
program can be compiled and executed. Many compilers for C language are available from
number of vendors. Any of them can be used, but we recommend using Turbo C++.
Turbo C++ (A Compiler for the C language)

Turbo C++ is a Borland International's implementation of a compiler for C language. In addition to a

compiler, TC provides a complete IDE (Integrated Development Environment) to create, edit and save
programs is called TC editor . It also provides a powerful debugger that helps in detecting and removing errors
in the program.
Once the TC (Turbo C) has been installed, it is very easy to write C programs in its editor. The IDE can be
invoked by typing te on the DOS prompt or by double clicking the TC shortcut. The menu bar of the IDE
contains menus to create, edit, compile, execute (Run) and debug a C program. A menu can be opened by
either clicking the mouse on it or pressing the first highlighted character of the name of the menu in
conjunction with the Alt key. For example to open File menu, press Alt+F (hold down Alt key and then press
F key).
Creating and Editing a C Program

To write the first C program, open the edit window of the Turbo C++ IDE. This can be done by selecting
FilelNew option from the menu bar. A window appears on the screen. This window has a double-lined border,
and a cursor inside the window represents the starting point to write a program. We can expand this window
by clicking the arrow in the upper right corner, or by selecting WindowlZoom from the menu bar. We can also
navigate through the program by using the vertical and horizontal scroll bars or by using arrow keys.
Saving a C Program

After writing the C program, we should save it on the disk. This can be done by selecting FilelSave command
from the menu bar or pressing the F2 key. When we select FilelSave, a dialogue box will appear. At the top of
this dialogue box, there is a text box with caption Save File As. Type the name of the file in it and press the
Enter key. The default path for saving the file is BIN folder. The TC assigns a default name NONAME00.cpp
to the file. To save the file in a specific folder / location with a different file name, one has to specify the
absolute path.
Turbo C++ is a compiler for C++ programming language - an extension to C. Therefore it can compile
programs of both C and C++. When we save a program with .cpp extension, it can use many additional
features that are not supported in ANSI C. As this course is designed just for C, not C++, therefore it is
suggested to always save the programs with .c extension. When a program is saved with .c extension, the
Turbo C++ compiler restricts it to only use standard features of C.
Compiling a C Program

The computer does not understand source program because instructions in the program are meaningless to the
microprocessor, as it understands only the machine language. A program that is to be executed must be in the
form of machine language.
C compiler translates the source program into an object program with .obj extension. To invoke Turbo C++
compiler, select CompilelCompile from the menu bar or press Alt + F9 key. If there is no error in the source
program, the program will be translated to object program successfully otherwise, the compiler will report
errors in the program.
● The program written in any high level programming language, such as C, is called source program.
● The compiler produces an object program from the source program.
Linking a C Program

While writing a C program, the programmer may refer to many files to accomplish various tasks such as
input/output etc. In case of C language, a lot of functionality is available in the form of library files. Rather
than reinventing the wheel, most of the times we prefer to use the built-in functionality of the language. Such
files are needed to be linked with the object file, produced by the compiler, before execution of the program.
Linking is the process in which the object file produced by the compiler is linked to many other library files by
the linker. The linker is a program that combines the object program with additional object files that may be
needed for the program to execute and save the final machine language program as an executable file on disk.
In Turbo C++, the linker can be invoked by selecting CompilelLink from the menu bar.
The Linker combines different library files to the object file and produces an executable file with .exe
extension
Executing a C Program

After successfully compiling and linking the program, we are now ready to execute it. For execution the
program must be loaded into memory. This is done by the loader. Loader is a program that places executable
file in memory. In Turbo C++, this is done by selecting RunlRun from the menu bar or pressing Ctrl+F9 key.
When the program is run, the screen flickers for a moment and the output screen will disappear in a flash. To
see the program's output select Window User Screen or press Alt+F5. The normal DOS output screen will
appear.

● Setting the Output and Source Directories

By default, Turbo C++ places the object and executable files in the BIN subdirectory of the TC directory.
This is not the right place to put these files. These files should be placed in the same directory where the
source file (with .c extension) was created. To do so, select the Option Directories from the menu bar. A
window appears with four fields captioned Include Directories, Library Directories, Output Directories and
Source Directories. The Include Directories filed should already be set to drive:\TC INCLUDE and Library
Directories should be set to drive:\TCALIB, where the drive: is the drive in which the directory TC is placed.
It can be C, D, or E etc. We need to set the output directory field to source file directory e.g., D:\MyPrograms
etc. this is where the compiler will put .obj file and the linker will put .exe file.
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Basic Structure of C Program
Basic Structure of a C Program

The structure of a C program is very flexible which increases the power of the language. C is a structured
programming language; therefore it provides a well- defined way of writing programs. As discussed earlier in
this chapter that a C program is combined with many other files before execution. The linker does this job. But
we have to specify these files to be linked. How can this be done? To answer this question and to understand
the basic structure of the C program, we proceed with the following example:

● In unstructured programming languages, the entire logic of the program is implemented in a single module
(function), which causes the program error prone, difficult to understand, modify and debug.

● In structured programming languages, the entire logic of the program is divided into number of smaller
modules, where each module (piece of code) implements a different functionality.
Basic Structure of a C Program

● Hello World - A simple C program

Let us consider a simple C program that displays the phrase Hello World! on the screen.

#include <stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
printf("Hello World!");
}

The above Hello World program has two parts:

● The preprocessor directive (#include <stdio.h>)

● The main function
Preprocessor Directives

Preprocessor directives are commands that give instructions to the C preprocessor. The preprocessor is a
program that modifies the C program (source program) prior to its compilation. A preprocessor directive
always begins with the symbol (#). In the above program, include is a preprocessor directive.
Many actions necessary for a computer program, such as input and output, are not defined directly in a C
program. Instead, these actions are defined in the form of functions in different C libraries. Each library has a
standard header file, which is referred to with .h extension. In the above program, the stdio.h refers to the
header file containing the definition of standard input/output functions.
The include directive gives a program access to a library. This directive causes the preprocessor to insert
definitions from a standard header file into a program before compilation. Hence, the statement
#include<stdio.h> gives the program access to standard input and output functions.
 Preprocessor Directives

● # include Directive for Defining Identifiers from Standard Libraries.

SYNTAX: #include<standard header file>

EXAMPLE: #include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>

The include directive tells the compiler where to find the meanings of standard identifiers (e.g., printf in the Hello World
program) used in the program. These meanings are described in files called standard header files. The header file stdio.h contains
information about standard input and output functions such as scanf and printf, whereas the header file math.h contains
information about common mathematical functions.
Another important preprocessor directive is #define directive. It is used to define a constant macro. Examples of this macro will
be discussed in subsequent chapters.

● #define Directive for Defining Constant Macros

SYNTAX: #define Macro_Name expression

EXAMPLE: #define PI 3.142857
#define SEC_PER_HR 3600
 Preprocessor Directives

The expression may be constant, arithmetic expression or a string. C preprocessor replaces each occurrence of the identifier
Macro _Name with value of expression. The expression of the identifier Macro_Name can not be changed during the program
execution.

Constant Macro is a name that is replaced by a particular constant value before the program is sent to the compiler.
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Main Function
 FUNCTION main

As shown in the above Hello World program, the definition of the main function comes next to the specification of the #include
preprocessor directive. In fact, main is the function where the execution of the C program begins. Every C program has a main
function. The rest of the lines of program forms the body of the main function, the body is enclosed in braces { and }.
C programs are divided into units called functions. This division is usually done on the basis of functionality, where every function
carries out a single task. However, it is no necessary to divide every program into functions. The same functionality may be
achieved through a single function. But, every C program must have the functions main as the execution of the program starts
from there. In this way we can say that the main function is actually the entry point of the C programs.

main Function Definition

SYNTAX: void main(void)
{
body of main function
}
 FUNCTION main

● Delimiters

Next to the function definition are braces, which indicate the beginning and end of the function body. These braces are called
delimiters. The opening brace { indicates the beginning of a block of code (set of statements) while the closing brace } represents
the end of a block of code.

● Statement Terminator
Every statement in a C program terminates with a semicolon (;). If any of the statement is missing the statement terminator, the
compiler will report it the following error message.

Statement missing;

● Function printf
The last statement in the Hello World program is printf function. It is used to display the output of the program on the screen.
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COMMON PROGRAMMING
ERRORS
 COMMON PROGRAMMING ERRORS

The programmer may come across errors while writing a computer program. In programming languages, these errors are called
"bugs", and the processing of finding and removing these bugs is called debugging.

When the C compiler detects an error, it displays an error message describing the cause of the error. There are three types of
programming errors, these are: Syntax error, Runtime error, and Logic error.
● Syntax Errors
A syntax error occurs when the program violates one or more grammar rules of C language. The compiler detects these errors as it
attempts to translate the program. If a C statement has syntax error, it can not be translated and the program could not be executed.
There can be many causes of syntax errors, for example, missing statement terminator i.e., the semicolon, using a variable without
declaration, missing any of the delimiters i.e., {or} etc.
● Runtime Errors
A runtime error occurs when the program directs the computer to perform an illegal operation, such as dividing a number by zero.
Runtime errors are detected and displayed by the computer during the execution of a program. When a runtime error occurs, the
computer stops executing the program and displays a diagnostic message.
 COMMON PROGRAMMING ERRORS

● Logical Errors
Logical errors occur when a program follows a faulty algorithm. The compiler can not detect logical errors; therefore no error
message is reported from the compiler. Moreover, these errors don't cause the program to be crashed, that's why these are very
difficult to detect. One can recognize logical errors by just looking at the wrong output of the program. Logical errors can only be
detected by thorough testing of the program.
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PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

Programming languages are used to write computer programs. There are two broad categories of programming languages i.e., low
level programming languages and high level programming languages. We discuss them briefly to have an overview of both:

● Low Level Languages

Low level languages are divided into two broad categories i.e., machine language and assembly language. Machine language is the
native language of the computer. The computer does not need any translator to understand this language. Programs written in any
other language must be converted to machine language so that the computer can understand them. Every machine language
instruction consists of strings of binary Os and 1s. As it is very difficult for human beings to remember long sequences of Os and
1s, therefore writing programs in machine language are very difficult and error prone. So, it was thought to replace the long
sequences of Os and 1s in machine language with English like word. This idea provided the basis for the development of
assembly language.

In assembly language, machine language instructions (long sequences of Os and 1s) are replaced with English like words known
as mnemonics (pronounced as Ne-Monics). An assembler (language translator for assembly language programs) is used to
translate an assembly language programs into machine language.
 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

● High Level Languages

Programming languages whose instructions resemble the English language are called high level languages. Every high level
language defines a set of rules for writing programs called syntax of the language. Every instruction in the high level language
must confirm to its syntax. If there is a syntax error in the program, it is reported by the language translator (compiler or
interpreter). The program does not translate into machine language unless the error is removed.

Common high-level languages include C, C++, Java, Pascal, FORTRAN, BASIC, and COBOL etc. Although each of these
languages was designed for a specific purpose; all are used to write variety of application software. Some of these languages such
as C and C++ are used to write system software as well. Each of these languages has some advantages and disadvantages over the
other e.g., FORTRAN has very powerful mathematical capabilities while the COBOL is ideal for writing business applications, C
and C++ are very handy for writing system software while Java is equipped with strong network programming features.
 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES

Besides having different features, all high level programming languages have some common characteristics are:

● These are English like languages, hence are close to human languages and far from the machine language and are very easy
to learn

● Programs written in high level languages are easy to modify and debug, and more readable

● These languages let the Programmers concentrate on problem being solved rather than human-machine interaction

● These describe a well defined way of writing programs.

● These do not require a deep understanding of the machine architecture.

● High level languages provide machine independence. It means programs written in a high level language can be executed
on many different types of computers with a little modification. For example, programs written in C can be executed on
Intel® processors as well as Motorola processors with a little modification.
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