1.

Fundamentals of C

History and Importance

• Developed by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs (1972)

• Why C still matters: Used in OS kernels, embedded systems, databases

First C Program with Explanation

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#include <stdio.h> // Standard I/O header

int main() { // Program entry point

printf("Hello World!"); // Output function

return 0; // Exit status

Real-World Application:

• Used in Mars Rover software (NASA)

• Linux kernel is written in C

Compilation Process (Block Diagram)

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[Source Code] → [Preprocessor] → [Compiler] →

[Assembler] → [Linker] → [Executable]

Interview Questions (Google)

Q: Why is C called the "mother of all languages"?

A: Because most modern languages (C++, Java, Python) inherit concepts from C.

Q: What is the difference between compiler and interpreter?

A: Compiler translates entire program at once, interpreter executes line by line.
2. Data Types and Variables

Primitive Data Types

int age = 25; // 4 bytes (-2B to +2B)

float price = 99.99; // 4 bytes (6-7 decimal digits)

char grade = 'A'; // 1 byte (-128 to 127)

double pi = 3.14159265; // 8 bytes (15 decimal digits)

Real-World Example: Banking System

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

long account_no = 1234567890;

char account_type = 'S'; // S for savings

float balance = 25000.50;

printf("Account Details:\n");

printf("Account No: %ld\nType: %c\nBalance: $%.2f",

account_no, account_type, balance);

return 0;

Memory Layout (Diagram)

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+-------------+------------+-------+

| Variable | Memory | Value |

+-------------+------------+-------+

| age | 0x7ffe.. | 25 |

| price | 0x7ffe.. | 99.99 |

+-------------+------------+-------+
Interview Questions (Microsoft)

Q: What happens if you assign 300 to a char variable?

A: Integer overflow occurs as char range is -128 to 127.

Q: Why use double instead of float?

A: When higher precision (15 digits) is needed, like in scientific calculations.

3. Operators and Expressions

Operator Types with Examples

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int a = 10, b = 3;

// Arithmetic

int sum = a + b; // 13

int mod = a % b; // 1

// Bitwise

int and = a & b; // 2 (1010 & 0011 = 0010)

Real-World Example: Temperature Conversion

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#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

float celsius = 37.5;

float fahrenheit = (celsius * 9/5) + 32;

printf("%.2f°C = %.2f°F", celsius, fahrenheit);

return 0;

Operator Precedence Table

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1. () [] -> .

2. ! ~ ++ -- + - * & (type) sizeof

3. * / %

4. + -

5. << >>

...

Coding Problem (Amazon)

Swap two numbers without temporary variable:

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a = a + b;

b = a - b;

a = a - b;

4. Control Flow

if-else with Real Example: Loan Eligibility

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#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

int age = 22;

float income = 45000.0;

if(age >= 21 && income > 30000) {

printf("Loan Approved");

} else {
 printf("Not Eligible");

return 0;

Switch Case: Calculator Program

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switch(operator) {

case '+': result = a + b; break;

case '-': result = a - b; break;

// ... other operations

default: printf("Invalid operator");

Flowchart Diagram

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[Start] → [Condition] → [True/False] → [Action] → [End]

Interview Questions (Facebook)

Q: When would you use switch instead of if-else?

A: When testing a single variable against multiple constant values.

Q: What is the danger of missing 'break' in switch?

A: Execution will "fall through" to next case.

5. Functions (Complete Coverage)

5.1 Function Basics

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// Function declaration

int add(int a, int b);

// Function definition

int add(int a, int b) {

return a + b;

// Function call

int result = add(3, 4);

Real-World Example:
Payment processing function in an e-commerce system:

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float process_payment(float amount, float tax_rate) {

float tax = amount * tax_rate;

return amount + tax;

Memory Diagram:

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[Stack Frame]

+-------------------+

| Return Address |

| Parameters (a, b) |

| Local Variables |

+-------------------+

Interview Question (Goldman Sachs):

Q: What happens when you call a function recursively too many times?
A: Stack overflow occurs due to unlimited stack frame allocation.

5.2 Parameter Passing Techniques

Pass by Value

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void square(int x) { x = x * x; } // Original unchanged

Pass by Reference

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void square(int *x) { *x = (*x) * (*x); } // Original modified

Real-World Example:
Swapping sensor readings in embedded systems:

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void swap_readings(float *a, float *b) {

float temp = *a;

*a = *b;

*b = temp;

Interview Question (Amazon):

Q: When would you use return-by-pointer vs return-by-value?
A: Return-by-pointer for large structures to avoid copying; return-by-value for primitive types.

5.3 Recursion

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int factorial(int n) {

if (n <= 1) return 1;

return n * factorial(n - 1);

}
Execution Diagram:

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factorial(3)

→ 3 * factorial(2)

→ 2 * factorial(1)

→ 1 (base case)

Coding Problem (Google):

Implement Fibonacci recursively and iteratively:

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// Recursive

int fib(int n) {

if (n <= 1) return n;

return fib(n-1) + fib(n-2);

// Iterative

int fib(int n) {

int a = 0, b = 1, c;

for (int i = 2; i <= n; i++) {

c = a + b;

a = b;

b = c;

return b;

6. Arrays & Strings

6.1 1D/2D Arrays

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// Matrix multiplication

void mat_mult(int A[][3], int B[][3], int C[][3]) {

for(int i=0; i<3; i++)

for(int j=0; j<3; j++)

for(int k=0; k<3; k++)

C[i][j] += A[i][k] * B[k][j];

Memory Layout:

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Row-Major Order:

[ a[0][0] | a[0][1] | a[1][0] | a[1][1] ]

Interview Question (NVIDIA):

Q: How would you optimize 2D array access for cache performance?
A: Access elements row-wise to leverage spatial locality.

7. Pointers Deep Dive

7.1 Pointer Arithmetic

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int arr[] = {10, 20, 30};

int *ptr = arr;

printf("%d", *(ptr + 1)); // Output: 20

Pointer-Array Relationship:

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arr[i] ≡ *(arr + i) ≡ *(ptr + i) ≡ ptr[i]

Interview Question (Microsoft):

*Q: What is *(a + 2) if a is an array?*
A: Equivalent to a[2], accesses the third element.

8. Structures & Unions

8.1 Nested Structures

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struct Address {

char city[20];

int pin;

};

struct Employee {

int id;

struct Address addr;

};

Memory Alignment Diagram:

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struct Example {

char c; // 1 byte

// 3 bytes padding

int i; // 4 bytes

}; // Total size: 8 bytes

Coding Problem (Cisco):

Create a network packet structure:

c
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#pragma pack(1) // Disable padding

struct Packet {

uint16_t src_port;

uint16_t dest_port;

uint32_t seq_num;

char data[100];

};

9. File Handling

9.1 Binary File Operations

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// Write struct to file

struct Record r = {101, "John", 95.5};

FILE *fp = fopen("data.bin", "wb");

fwrite(&r, sizeof(struct Record), 1, fp);

// Random access

fseek(fp, 2 * sizeof(struct Record), SEEK_SET);

fread(&r, sizeof(struct Record), 1, fp);

File Pointer Diagram:

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[ BOF | Record 1 | Record 2 | ... | EOF ]

File Position
10. Dynamic Memory Allocation

10.1 Custom Memory Manager

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#define POOL_SIZE 1024

char memory_pool[POOL_SIZE];

char *pool_ptr = memory_pool;

void* my_malloc(size_t size) {

if (pool_ptr + size > memory_pool + POOL_SIZE)

return NULL;

void *block = pool_ptr;

pool_ptr += size;

return block;

Heap Fragmentation Diagram:

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[ Alloc1 | Free | Alloc2 | Free | Alloc3 ]

11. Advanced Topics

11.1 Function Pointers

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int (*operation)(int, int); // Declaration

operation = add; // Assignment

result = operation(3, 4); // Invocation

Real-World Use:
Plugin architectures in web servers:

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typedef void (*plugin_init)();

void load_plugin(const char *lib) {

void *handle = dlopen(lib, RTLD_LAZY);

plugin_init init = (plugin_init)dlsym(handle, "init");

init();

12. Interview Crack Kit

Top 10 Tricky Questions

1. "What does ((void()())0)(); do?"

A: Calls the function at address 0 (likely causes segmentation fault).

2. "Implement atoi()"

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int my_atoi(const char *s) {

int res = 0;

while (*s >= '0' && *s <= '9')

res = res * 10 + (*s++ - '0');

return res;

Company-Specific Problems

• Facebook: "Reverse a string in place"

• Intel: "Bit manipulation interview questions"

• SpaceX: "Memory-constrained embedded coding challenges"

Complete Appendix
A. Standard Library Cheat Sheet

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// String

strlen(), strncpy(), strncat()

// Math

pow(), sqrt(), abs()

// Memory

memset(), memcpy(), memmove()

B. Compilation Flags

sh

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gcc -Wall -Wextra -O3 -g -o program program.c

C. GDB Quick Reference

sh

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break main

watch variable

backtrace

print *(array@10)

14. Bit Manipulation

Bit Masking & Shifting

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// Set bit
num |= (1 << position);

// Clear bit

num &= ~(1 << position);

// Toggle bit

num ^= (1 << position);

// Check bit

bit = (num >> position) & 1;

Endianness Check:

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int x = 1;

if(*(char*)&x == 1) {

printf("Little Endian");

} else {

printf("Big Endian");

Real-World Example:
Device register configuration (Embedded Systems):

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#define LED_ON (1 << 5)

PORTB |= LED_ON; // Turn on LED at bit 5

Interview Question (Qualcomm):

Q: Count the number of set bits in an integer

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int count_set_bits(int num) {

int count = 0;

while(num) {

count += num & 1;

num >>= 1;

return count;

// Optimized version (Brian Kernighan's):

while(num) {

num &= (num - 1);

count++;

15. Error Handling

Standard Techniques

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FILE *fp = fopen("file.txt", "r");

if(fp == NULL) {

perror("Error");

fprintf(stderr, "Error code: %d\n", errno);

exit(EXIT_FAILURE);

// Assertions

assert(ptr != NULL && "Pointer is NULL");

Robust File Copy:

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void safe_file_copy(const char *src, const char *dest) {

FILE *in = fopen(src, "rb");

if(!in) { /* error handling */ }

FILE *out = fopen(dest, "wb");

if(!out) {

fclose(in);

/* error handling */

char buffer[4096];

size_t bytes;

while((bytes = fread(buffer, 1, sizeof(buffer), in)) > 0) {

if(fwrite(buffer, 1, bytes, out) != bytes) {

/* error handling */

fclose(in);

fclose(out);

Coding Problem (Banking):

Safe Division with Error Checking:

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int safe_divide(int a, int b, int *result) {

if(b == 0) {

errno = EDOM; // Domain error

return -1;
 }

if((a == INT_MIN) && (b == -1)) {

errno = ERANGE; // Overflow

return -1;

*result = a / b;

return 0;

16. C Standard Library

Key Libraries

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// math.h

double root = sqrt(25.0);

double sine = sin(3.14159/2);

// time.h

time_t now = time(NULL);

printf("Current time: %s", ctime(&now));

// stdlib.h

int random = rand() % 100; // 0-99

qsort(arr, n, sizeof(int), compare_func);

Random Password Generator:

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char* generate_password(int length) {

char *pass = malloc(length + 1);

 const char charset[] =
"ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789";

for (int i = 0; i < length; i++) {

int key = rand() % (sizeof(charset) - 1);

pass[i] = charset[key];

pass[length] = '\0';

return pass;

Interview Question (Apple):

Q: How does qsort() work internally?
A: Typically implements QuickSort with:

1. Median-of-three pivot selection

2. Insertion sort for small partitions

3. Stack-based iteration to avoid recursion overflow

50+ C Interview Questions from Top Companies

Memory Management

1. Microsoft: What's the difference between malloc() and calloc()?

→ malloc() allocates uninitialized memory, calloc() initializes to zero.

2. Google: How to detect memory leaks in C?

→ Use tools like Valgrind or custom allocators with logging.

3. Amazon: What is a dangling pointer?

→ Pointer pointing to freed memory. Solution: Set to NULL after free().

Pointers

4. Facebook: Explain void* in C.

→ Generic pointer type that can point to any data type.

5. Goldman Sachs: What is pointer arithmetic?

→ Math operations on pointers considering the size of pointed type.

6. Cisco: Difference between int* p and int *p?

→ Both are equivalent, but int *p emphasizes pointer-ness of p.

Strings

7. Oracle: Implement strcpy().

c

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char* my_strcpy(char *dest, const char *src) {

char *ret = dest;

while((*dest++ = *src++));

return ret;

8. VMware: Why is strncpy() safer than strcpy()?

→ Allows specifying maximum bytes to copy, preventing buffer overflow.

Bit Manipulation

9. Intel: Swap two variables without temporary variable.

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a ^= b; b ^= a; a ^= b;

10. Qualcomm: Check if a number is power of 2.

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(num & (num - 1)) == 0

Data Structures

11. Apple: Reverse a linked list.

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struct Node* reverse(struct Node* head) {

struct Node *prev = NULL, *next = NULL;

while(head) {

next = head->next;

head->next = prev;
 prev = head;

head = next;

return prev;

Multithreading

12. Microsoft: What is a race condition?

→ When threads access shared data concurrently without synchronization.

Advanced Concepts

13. SpaceX: Why is volatile used in embedded C?

→ Prevents compiler optimization of hardware register accesses.

14. NVIDIA: What is restrict keyword?

→ Tells compiler that a pointer is the only reference to its data.

Tricky Questions

15. Google: What does ++a++ do?

→ Syntax error (can't modify an rvalue).

16. Meta: Explain "Hello"[2].

→ Returns 'l' (array indexing works on string literals).

Real-World Problems

17. Goldman Sachs: Safe string concatenation.

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strncat(dest, src, dest_size - strlen(dest) - 1);

18. Tesla: Read a file line by line.

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char line[256];

while(fgets(line, sizeof(line), fp)) {

// Process line

Library Functions
 19. Apple: Implement memmove().

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void* my_memmove(void *dest, const void *src, size_t n) {

char *d = dest;

const char *s = src;

if(d < s) {

while(n--) *d++ = *s++;

} else {

char *lastd = d + n - 1;

char *lasts = (char*)s + n - 1;

while(n--) *lastd-- = *lasts--;

return dest;

System Programming

20. Cisco: What is errno?

→ Global variable indicating last error number.