C programming language:
- General purpose language
- Procedural Language
- C is a high-level programming language
- It was created by Dennis M. Ritchie at Bell Labs in 1972.
- Originally designed for programming the UNIX operating system, C is known for its power and flexibility.
- Today, C remains one of the most widely used programming languages.
Features of c:
- General-purpose and portable
- Low-level memory access capabilities
- High speed
- Clear, straightforward syntax
Why Should We Learn C?
1.Other languages such javascript and c is designed and built on this programming language.
2.Modern programming language is understood by c programmer.
3.Helps in works in memory locations.
4.Helps to work with pointers.
Structure of the C program:
1. Header Files Inclusion (#include)
The first essential step in a C program is to include header files.
A header file is a file with a .h extension containing C function declarations and macro definitions that can be shared across multiple source files.
Lines beginning with # are handled by the preprocessor, which is automatically run by the compiler.
In this process, the preprocessor copies the content of stdio.h or other specified headers into the program file. These .h files are known as header files in C.
Here are some commonly used C header files:
- stddef.h – Defines types and macros.
- stdint.h – Specifies exact-width integer types.
- stdio.h – Provides fundamental input and output functions.
- stdlib.h – Contains functions for numeric conversions, random number generation, and memory allocation.
- string.h – Offers string manipulation functions.
- math.h – Includes standard mathematical functions.
2. Main Method Declaration (int main())
This function serves as the entry point of the program, and execution generally begins with its first line.
The empty parentheses after main indicate that it does not take any parameters.
The int keyword before main specifies its return type.
If The value returned by main is 0 signifies the program’s termination status.
printf(“helloworld”):
whenever u r using printf(“hello world”) it is going to say instruction to the compiler to print
Helloworld.
Return:
The return statement specifies the value a function will return.
It is determined by the function’s return type.
In a program, the return statement in main indicates the program’s termination status. A return value of 0 generally means the program completed successfully without errors.
Features of c programming language:
- Simple and Efficient: C has a straightforward syntax that makes it easy to write and understand, and its compiled code is very efficient.
- Portability: C programs are highly portable, meaning they can be run on different machines with minimal or no modifications.
- Low-Level Access to Memory: C provides low-level memory access through pointers, allowing direct manipulation of memory, which is useful for system programming.
- Rich Library of Functions: C includes a standard library with a variety of built-in functions for handling input/output, memory management, string manipulation, and more.
- Modularity: Functions in C enable code modularity, allowing programs to be broken down into reusable, manageable pieces.
- Structured Language: C supports structured programming with control flow statements (such as if, for, while), making code more readable and manageable.
- Speed and Efficiency: C is known for its speed and efficiency, which makes it ideal for performance-critical applications.
- Extensibility: C programs can be easily extended with new features by adding functions and modules without affecting the rest of the code.
- Widely Used for System-Level Programming: C is commonly used to develop operating systems, embedded systems, compilers, and other low-level applications due to its closeness to machine-level instructions.
