C PROGRAMING | C / C++ LANGUAGE | COMPUTER LANGUAGES | CODING | WHAT IS C ? STRUCTURE OF C
Learn C/C++ Programming
Originally C programming language was developed by Dennis Ritchie for UNIX operating systems. Despite this language being easy & simple, that can run practically on any machine without any changes, C has been declared dead several times over the years. All thanks to Python & JavaScript that are being the trend! However, C programming persisted and is still being widely used in most of the technical fields. Considering this, we have compiled some of the top and latest resources that will help you understand C or learn C++ programming without any difficulties.
Today, C language is embedded into the programming of almost all the electronic devices and machines currently available. From robotics to high-end game programming to engineering, C/C++ language is a necessity. And this is why the below list will help you learn C/C++ programming- no matter whether you are a beginner or the programmer looking to upgrade your skills.
More into C/C++ Programming…
Regularly “C” language is referred to as a middle-level computer programming language. It has the ability to combine the elements of high-level languages with the functions related to assemble language. C programming gives you the capabilities to manipulate bits, bytes, and addresses. This gives you more control over the program behaviors and direct access to the mechanics of the underlying hardware.
Since C was mainly influenced, created and tested by the working programmers themselves, it completely gives what programmers really need. Coming to C++, it is a more enhanced or improved version of C language. C++ language has everything that is part of C and moreover, C++ adds support for OOP i.e. object-oriented programming. It is also packed with many improved features that make it a better version of C language.
C++ is extensible too as you can define new types in a particular way that it acts like the predefined types that are part of the standard language. Still, if you are looking to use C++ as a better version of C language then you will not be able to utilize all the features of C++ programming language. To exploit all the richness of C++, you must use this language the way it is designed. Some of its latest features are overloading operators, inline function calls, inheritance, encapsulation, and polymorphism.
WHY WE SHOULD LEARN " C " ? WHY " C " IS STILL THE POPULAR LANGUAGE AND IMPORTANT LIKE PYTHON AND JAVA ?
As stated earlier, C/C++ languages are one of the most popular languages that are used widely by programmers throughout the world. The concepts of C and the syntax have stood the test of time and now, it is influencing other programming languages, even the latest ones like Go.
Even if you have decided to create web applications or front-end components for all your upcoming life then also learning C programming will help you in understanding how hardware and software interact. Apart from this, don’t forget that these 2 languages are everywhere. Actually, C in particular powers a lot more techs than we give it credit for and similarly, some of your favorite software including the web browser on which you are reading this blog- is built using the C++ programming language.
C might be a good base but on several occasions, you have to learn C++ along with its paradigms for software development. In case, if you are looking to create software, sophisticated productivity tools, great desktop games or complex computationally intensive programs, or even if you want to learn programming language that allows you to interact with a computer’s hardware directly, then C/C++ languages are the perfect fit for you.
Still not convinced? Here are my top 10 reasons why you should learn C/C++ programming languages....
1. Popularity & High Salary
As I have written earlier that many times, C is considered dead but every time, the need for this language has increased than previously. Today, C/C++ might not be as popular as Python, but is equally important and is used by over 4 million programmers from all over the world. Not only this but C/C++ developers are highly valued and hold some of the top-paying jobs in various industries with an average salary of more than 100,000 annually.
2. Large Community
Both C & C++ languages have a very large community of both regular and advanced programmers who are ready to help anyone in case any support is required or to solve any queries. You can also find many of the resources on the internet easily that will help you to learn and understand everything related to these programming languages. I have mentioned some of the best resources in the later section of this blog.
3. Thousands of Library Support
Both languages have extensive support for libraries. When it comes to C++, it has the STL i.e. Standard Template Library that is very useful for writing code quickly and compactly as per the requirement. Generally, it includes 4 major components such as containers, algorithms, functions, and iterators. Here, algorithms can be of different kinds like searching, sorting and so on. Functions help in working with the associated functions to be customized with the help of the parameters passed, and the iterators are used for working upon a sequence of values. Containers help in storing the classes for implementation of different data structures that are widely used such as hash tables, stacks, queues, lists, maps, sets, vectors, and others.
4. Databases
As of today, there are several popular & modern databases like MongoDB, MySQL, MemSQL & others that are written on C++ because this language is quite new with the latest features like lambda expressions, exceptions and so on. All the databases that are written in this language are being used in apps like WordPress, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and others.
5. Operating Systems
All the widely used operating systems, be it Windows, iOS, Linux, Ubuntu and others are written using C and C++ programming. It is because C or C++ provides high speed and has a strongly typed nature. For instance, Windows applications are completely written in C++, whereas, Android apps are written in C/C++ along with Java. The core of the iOS apps is developed using C++.
6. Embedded Systems
Since both these programming languages are closer to the hardware, it is quite useful to use these languages in embedded systems, as the software and hardware are closely couples. Today, there are several embedded systems like smartwatches, GPS systems, MP3 players and others that use C/C++ programming languages.
7. Portable
These 2 programming languages are highly portable too. Any programs that are developed using C/C++ programming can be easily moved from one platform to another. It is the main reason why programmers use C++ for the applications that require the development over different devices or different platforms.
8. Compilers
Since C/C++ is closer to the hardware and are comparatively low-level languages, it is highly used in many compilers as a back end programming language. A top example of this is GCC or GNU Compiler Collection that is written in C and C++ programming language. In the last blog I have discussed about the top compilers and IDEs for C/C++. Must go through that :
9. Web browsers
Many web browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and others are developed using C/C++ programming languages. Chrome consists of C++ in its rendering engine, JavaScript engine, and UI whereas, Firefox uses this language mostly in rendering engine and UI. While Safari uses C++ programming in JavaScript and rendering engine. The majority of these browsers mainly use C++ in their rendering engines because it provides speed that is required by the rendering engines for displaying the content at an accelerated rate.
10. Graphics
Various applications that need graphics like computer vision, digital image processing, screen reading programs, and others use C++ because of its high speed. This is also true for many games that include graphics as the main part of their structure.
So, as of now, I am very sure that you have the right idea about the importance of C/C++ programming.
LET'S US SEE THE STRUCTURE OF THE C LANGUAGE :-
- After the above discussion, we can formally assess the structure of a C program. By structure, it is meant that any program can be written in this structure only. Writing a C program in any other structure will hence lead to a Compilation Error.
The structure of a C program is as follows:
- The components of the above structure are:
- Header Files Inclusion: The first and foremost component is the inclusion of the Header files in a C program.
A header file is a file with extension .h which contains C function declarations and macro definitions to be shared between several source files.
Some of C Header files:- stddef.h – Defines several useful types and macros.
- stdint.h – Defines exact width integer types.
- stdio.h – Defines core input and output functions
- stdlib.h – Defines numeric conversion functions, pseudo-random network generator, memory allocation
- string.h – Defines string handling functions
- math.h – Defines common mathematical functions
- Main Method Declaration: The next part of a C program is to declare the main() function. The syntax to declare the main function is:
Syntax to Declare the main method:
- Header Files Inclusion: The first and foremost component is the inclusion of the Header files in a C program.
int main()
{}- Variable Declaration: The next part of any C program is the variable declaration. It refers to the variables that are to be used in the function. Please note that in the C program, no variable can be used without being declared. Also in a C program, the variables are to be declared before any operation in the function.
Example:
int main()
{
int a;
.
.- Body: The body of a function in the C program, refers to the operations that are performed in the functions. It can be anything like manipulations, searching, sorting, printing, etc.
Example:
int main()
{
int a;
printf("%d", a);
.
.- Return Statement: The last part of any C program is the return statement. The return statement refers to the returning of the values from a function. This return statement and return value depend upon the return type of the function. For example, if the return type is void, then there will be no return statement. In any other case, there will be a return statement and the return value will be of the type of the specified return type.
Example:
int main()
{
int a;
printf("%d", a);
return 0;
}- Writing first program:
Following is first program in C
- C
- Let us analyze the program line by line.
Line 1: [ #include <stdio.h> ] In a C program, all lines that start with # are processed by a preprocessor which is a program invoked by the compiler. In a very basic term, the preprocessor takes a C program and produces another C program. The produced program has no lines starting with #, all such lines are processed by the preprocessor. In the above example, the preprocessor copies the preprocessed code of stdio.h to our file. The .h files are called header files in C. These header files generally contain declarations of functions. We need stdio.h for the function printf() used in the program.
Line 2 [ int main(void) ] There must be a starting point from where execution of compiled C program begins. In C, the execution typically begins with the first line of main(). The void written in brackets indicates that the main doesn’t take any parameter . main() can be written to take parameters also. We will be covering that in future posts.
The int was written before main indicates return type of main(). The value returned by main indicates the status of program termination.
Line 3 and 6: [ { and } ] In C language, a pair of curly brackets define scope and are mainly used in functions and control statements like if, else, loops. All functions must start and end with curly brackets.
Line 4 [ printf(“BLOGGER”); ] printf() is a standard library function to print something on standard output. The semicolon at the end of printf indicates line termination. In C, a semicolon is always used to indicate end of a statement.
Line 5 [ return 0; ] The return statement returns the value from main(). The returned value may be used by an operating system to know the termination status of your program. The value 0 typically means successful termination.
- How to execute the above program:
In order to execute the above program, we need to have a compiler to compile and run our programs. There are certain online compilers like https://ide.geeksforgeeks.org/, http://ideone.com/, or http://codepad.org/ that can be used to start C without installing a compiler.Windows: There are many compilers available freely for the compilation of C programs like Code Blocks and Dev-CPP. We strongly recommend Code Blocks.
Linux: For Linux, gcc comes bundled with Linux, Code Blocks can also be used with Linux. YOU CAN SEE THE PROCESS OF DOWNLOADING THE C SOFTWATE AND COMPILERS IN THE LINK GIVEN BELOW FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING ...
https://computer-languages-at-ease-4-u.blogspot.com/2022/04/c-programing-software-download-vs-code.html
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