Introduction to C

#include <stdio.h>

int main ()
{
printf(“Welcome to CS 1621!\n”);
}
 Outline
II. Program Basics
A. Program skeleton
preprocessor directives
global declarations
functions
local declarations
statements
B. Comments and Documentation
C. Names (identifiers)
reserved words
 Outline (cont)
II. Program Basics (cont)
D. Variable declarations
1. Memory allocation
2. Atomic types
void, int, float, char
E. Constants
1. literal
2. defined
3. memory
 Outline (cont)
II. Program Basics (cont)
F. Formatted input/output
1. Files
2. Printf (monitor output)
a. format strings
field specifications
b. data list
3. Scanf (keyboard input)
a. format strings
b. address list
4. Prompting for Input
 History of C
1960: ALGOL (ALGOrithmic Language)
1967: BCPL (Basic Combined Programming
Language)
1970: B programming language (typeless)
1972: C: BCPL plus B with types
1978: Kernighan + Ritchie standard for C
1989: ANSI standard for C
 C Program Structure
P re p ro c e s s o r D ire c tiv e s
• Program defined by:
– global declarations
– function definitions
G l o b a l D e c la ra ti o n s

F u n c tio n D e fi n i ti o n s
• May contain preprocessor
in t ma in ( ) {
directives
• Always has one function
L o c a l D e c la ra tio n s

S ta te m e n ts named main, may contain

}
others
 Parts of a Program

#include <stdio.h> P r e p r o c e s s o r D ir e c t iv e

int x; G lo b a l D e c la r a t io n

int main () {
int y; L o c a l D e c la r a tio n

F u n c tio n
printf("Enter x and y: ");
scanf(&x,&y); S ta te m e n ts
printf("Sum is %d\n",x+y);
}
 Preprocessor Directives
• Begin with #
• Instruct compiler to perform some
transformation to file before compiling
• Example: #include <stdio.h>
– add the header file stdio.h to this file
– .h for header file
– stdio.h defines useful input/output functions
 Declarations
• Global
– visible throughout program
– describes data used throughout program
• Local
– visible within function
– describes data used only in function
 Functions
• Consists of header and body
– header: int main ()
– body: contained between { and }
• starts with location declarations
• followed by series of statements
• More than one function may be defined
• Functions are called (invoked) - more later
 Main Function
• Every program has one function main
• Header for main: int main ()
• Program is the sequence of statements
between the { } following main
• Statements are executed one at a time from
the one immediately following to main to
the one before the }
 Comments
• Text between /* and */
• Used to “document” the code for the human
reader
• Ignored by compiler (not part of program)
• Have to be careful
– comments may cover multiple lines
– ends as soon as */ encountered (so no internal
comments - /* An /* internal */ comment */)
 Comment Example
#include <stdio.h>

/* This comment covers

* multiple lines
* in the program.
*/

int main () /* The main header */ {

/* No local declarations */

printf(“Too many comments\n”);

} /* end of main */
 Documentation
• Global - start of program, outlines overall
solution, may include structure chart
• Module - when using separate files,
indication of what each file solves
• Function - inputs, return values, and logic
used in defining function
• Add documentation for key (tough to
understand) comments
• Names of variables - should be chosen to be
meaningful, make program readable
 Syntax of C
• Rules that define C language
– Specify which tokens are valid
– Also indicate the expected order of tokens
• Some types of tokens:
– reserved words: include printf int ...
– identifiers: x y ...
– literal constants: 5 „a‟ 5.0 ...
– punctuation: { } ; < > # /* */
 Identifier
• Names used for objects in C
• Rules for identifiers in C:
– first char alphabetic [a-z,A-Z] or underscore (_)
– has only alphabetic, digit, underscore chars
– first 31 characters are significant
– cannot duplicate a reserved word
– case (upper/lower) matters
 Reserved Words
• Identifiers that already have meaning in C
• Examples:
– include, main, printf, scanf, if, else, …
– more as we cover C language
 Valid/Invalid Identifiers
Valid Invalid
sum 7of9
c4_5 x-name
A_NUMBER name with spaces
longnamewithmanychars 1234a
TRUE int
_split_name AXYZ&
 Program Execution
• Global declarations set up
• Function main executed
– local declarations set up
– each statement in statement section executed
• executed in order (first to last)
• changes made by one statement affect later
statements
 Variables
• Named memory location
• Variables declared in global or local
declaration sections
• Syntax: Type Name;
• Examples:
int sum;
float avg;
char dummy;
 Variable Type
• Indicates how much memory to set aside for
the variable
• Also determines how that space will be
interpreted
• Basic types: char, int, float
– specify amount of space (bytes) to set aside
– what can be stored in that space
– what operations can be performed on those vars
 Variable Name
• Legal identifier
• Not a reserved word
• Must be unique:
– not used before
– variable names in functions (local declarations)
considered to be qualified by function name
– variable x in function main is different from x
in function f1
 Multiple Variable Declarations
• Can create multiple variables of the same
type in one statement:
int x, y, z;
is a shorthand for
int x;
int y;
int z;
- stylistically, the latter is often preferable
 Variable Initialization
• Giving a variable an initial value
• Variables not necessarily initialized when
declared (value is unpredictable - garbage)
• Can initialize in declaration:
• Syntax: Type Name = Value;
• Example:
int x = 0;
 Initialization Values
• Literal constant (token representing a value,
like 5 representing the integer 5)
• An expression (operation that calculates a
value)
• Function call

• The value, however specified, must be of

the correct type
Multiple Declaration Initialization
• Can provide one value for variables
initialized in one statement:
int x, y, z = 0;
• Each variable declared and then initialized
with the value
 Type
• Set of possible values
– defines size, how values stored, interpreted
• Operations that can be performed on those
possible values
• Data types are associated with objects in C
(variables, functions, etc.)
 Standard Types
• Atomic types (cannot be broken down)
– void
– char
– int
– float, double
• Derived types
– composed of other types
 Literal Constants
• Sequences of characters (tokens) that
correspond to values from that type
-35 is the integer -35
3.14159 is the floating pointer number 3.14159
„A‟ is the character A
• Can be used to initialize variables
 Void Type
• Type name: void
• Possible values: none
• Operations: none
• Useful as a placeholder
 Integer Type
• Type name:
– int
– short int
– long int
• Possible values: whole numbers (within
given ranges) as in 5, -35, 401
• Operations: arithmetic (addition,
subtraction, multiplication, …), and others
 Integer Types/Values
T ype B y te s B its M in V a l M ax V al

s h o rt in t 2 16 -3 2 7 6 8 32767

in t 4 32 -2 1 4 7 4 8 3 6 4 8 2 1 4 7 4 8 3 6 4 7

lo n g in t 4 32 -2 1 4 7 4 8 3 6 4 8 2 1 4 7 4 8 3 6 4 7
 Why Limited?
• With a fixed number of bits, only a certain
number of possible patterns
• 16 bits, 65,536 possible patterns
– 32768 negative numbers
– 1 zero
– 32767 positive numbers
• Overflow: attempt to store a value to large
in a variable (40000 in short int)
 Two‟s Complement
Integers:
positive number: 0, number in binary
97 in binary 1*64 + 1*32 + 1*1 (1100001)
pad with leading zeroes (0 00000001100001) - 16 bits
zero: 0, all zeroes
negative number: 1, (inverse of number + 1)
-97 (1, 111111110011110 + 1)
1 111111110011111
 Unsigned Integers
• Type: unsigned int
• No negative values
• unsigned int:
– possible values: 0 to 65536
• Representation: binary number
 Integer Literal Constants
Syntax:
1 or more digits
Optional leading sign (+ or -)
Optional l or L at the end for long
Optional u or U for unsigned
Examples:
5, -35, 401, 4010L, -350L, 2000UL
 Floating-Point Type
• Type names:
– float
– double
– long double
• Possible values: floating point numbers, 5.0
-3.5, 4.01
• Operations: arithmetic (addition,
subtraction, multiplication, …), and others
 Floating-Point Representation
• float: 4 bytes, 32 bits
• double: 8 bytes, 64 bits
• long double: 10 bytes, 80 bits
• Representation:
– magnitude (some number of bits) plus exponent
(remainder of bits)
– 3.26 * 10^4 for 32600.0
 Floating-Point Limitations
• Maximum, minimum exponents
– maximum possible value (largest positive
magnitude, largest positive exponent)
– minimum value (largest negative magnitude,
largest positive exponent)
– can have overflow, and underflow
• Magnitude limited
– cannot differentiate between values such as
1.00000000 and 1.00000001
 Floating-Point Literals
• Syntax:
– Zero or more digits, decimal point, then zero or
more digits (at least one digit)
– Whole numbers also treated as float
– Optional sign at start
– Can be followed by e and whole number (to
represent exponent)
– f or F at end for float
– l or L at end for long double
• Examples: 5, .5, 0.5, -1.0, 2.1e+3, 5.1f
 Character Type
• Type name: char
• Possible values: keys that can be typed at
the keyboard
• Representation: each character assigned a
value (ASCII values), 8 bits
– A - binary number 65
– a - binary number 97
– b - binary number 98
– 2 - binary number 50
 Character Literals
• Single key stroke between quote char „
• Examples: „A‟, „a‟, „b‟, „1‟, „@‟
• Some special chars:
– „\0‟ - null char
– „\t‟ - tab char
– „\n‟ - newline char
– „\‟‟ - single quote char
– „\\‟ - backslash char
 String Literals
• No string type (more later)
• Contained between double quote chars (“)
• Examples:
“” - null string
“A string”
“String with newline \n char in it”
“String with a double quote \” in it”
 Constants
• Literal constants - tokens representing
values from type
• Defined constants
– syntax: #define Name Value
– preprocessor command, Name replaced by
Value in program
– example: #define MAX_NUMBER 100
 Constants (cont)
• Memory constants
– declared similar to variables, type and name
– const added before declaration
– Example: const float PI = 3.14159;
– Can be used as a variable, but one that cannot
be changed
– Since the value cannot be changed, it must be
initialized
 Formatted Input/Output
• Input comes from files
• Output sent to files
• Other objects treated like files:
– keyboard - standard input file (stdin)
– monitor - standard output file (stdout)
• Generally send/retrieve characters to/from
files
 Formatted Output
• Command: printf - print formatted
• Syntax: printf(Format String, Data List);
– Format string any legal string
– Characters sent (in order) to screen
• Ex.: printf(“Welcome to\nCS 1621!\n”);
causes
Welcome to
CS 1621!
to appear on monitor
 Formatted Output (cont)
• Successive printf commands cause output to
be added to previous output
• Ex.
printf(“Hi, how “);
printf(“is it going\nin 1621?”);
prints
Hi, how is it going
in 1621?
To the monitor
 Field Specifications
• Format string may contain one or more field
specifications
– Syntax: %[Flag][Width][Prec][Size]Code
– Codes:
• c - data printed as character
• d - data printed as integer
• f - data printed as floating-point value
– For each field specification, have one data
value after format string, separated by commas
 Field Specification Example
printf(“%c %d %f\n”,‟A‟,35,4.5);
produces
A 35 4.50000
(varies on different computers)

Can have variables in place of literal constants

(value of variable printed)
 Width and Precision
• When printing numbers, generally use
width/precision to determine format
– Width: how many character spaces to use in
printing the field (minimum, if more needed,
more used)
– Precision: for floating point numbers, how
many characters appear after the decimal point,
width counts decimal point, number of digits
after decimal, remainder before decimal
 Width/Precision Example
printf(“%5d%8.3f\n”,753,4.1678);
produces
753 4.168
values are right justified
If not enough characters in width, minimum
number used
use 1 width to indicate minimum number of chars
should be used
 Left Justification (Flags)
Put - after % to indicate value is left justified
printf(“%-5d%-8.3fX\n”,753,4.1678);
produces
753 4.168 X
For integers, put 0 after % to indicate should
pad with 0‟s
printf(“%05d”,753);
produces
00753
 Size Indicator
• Use hd for small integers
• Use ld for long integers
• Use Lf for long double
• Determines how value is treated
 Printf Notes
• Important to have one value for each field
specification
– some C versions allow you to give too few
values (garbage values are formatted and
printed)
• Values converted to proper type
– printf(“%c”,97); produces the character a on the
screen
 Formatted Input
• Command: scanf - scan formatted
• Syntax: scanf(Format String, Address List);
– Format string a string with one or more field
specifications
– Characters read from keyboard, stored in
variables
• scanf(“%c %d %f”,&cVar,&dVar,&fVar);
attempts to read first a single character, then a
whole number, then a floating point number
from the keyboard
 Formatted Input (cont)
• Generally only have field specifications and
spaces in string
– any other character must be matched exactly
(user must type that char or chars)
– space characters indicate white-space is ignored
– “white-space” - spaces, tabs, newlines
– %d and %f generally ignore leading white
space anyway (looking for numbers)
– %d and %f read until next non-number char
reached
 Formatted Input (cont)
• More notes
– can use width in field specifications to indicate
max number of characters to read for number
– computer will not read input until return typed
– if not enough input on this line, next line read,
(and line after, etc.)
– inappropriate chars result in run-time errors (x
when number expected)
– if end-of-file occurs while variable being read,
an error occurs
 Address Operator
• & - address operator
• Put before a variable (as in &x)
• Tells the computer to store the value read at
the location of the variable
• More on address operators later
 Scanf Rules
• Conversion process continues until
– end of file reached
– maximum number of characters processed
– non-number char found number processed
– an error is detected (inappropriate char)
• Field specification for each variable
• Variable address for each field spec.
• Any character other than whitespace must
be matched exactly
 Scanf Example
scanf(“%d%c %f”,&x,&c,&y);
and following typed:
-543A

4.056 56
-543 stored in x, A stored in c, 4.056 stored in
y, space and 56 still waiting (for next scanf)
 Prompting for Input
• Using output statements to inform the user
what information is needed:
printf(“Enter an integer: “);
scanf(“%d”,&intToRead);
• Output statement provides a cue to the user:
Enter an integer: user types here