C Language Basics

Outline
1. First C program & Language Syntax
2. Variables and Assignment Operators
3. Identifiers, Reserved Words, Predefined
Identifiers
4. Data Types, Numeric Constants, String Literals
5. Console Input/Output Using scanf() and
printf()

2
1. Overview of C Language
1 #include <stdio.h> Basic structure of a C
2 program:
3 int main(void) Standard
4 { libraries
#include <stdio.h>
to load
5 printf("Hello, world!\n");
6 printf("Hello, universe!\n"); int main(void)
Entrance
{
7 point of C
The start statement_1;
program
8 return 0; of block statement_2;
9 } …
10 The end
return 0; This program
11 of block } is done!
12
Statements are executed
Hello, world!
sequentially.
Hello, universe!
1.1. Language Syntax

• Every programming language has its own syntax

(defined by a set of rules)
– Like grammar in English language

• Program source code containing syntax errors cannot

be compiled into an executable program
– Remember: computers cannot follow malformed instructions!

You may see something like this

when a syntax error is found when
compiling. Read carefully for hints
to fix your code!

4
1 #include <stdio.h>
2 Can you spot
3 int main(void) { the error(s)?
4 Printf("Hello, world!\n");
5 Printf("Hello, universe!\n");
6 return 0;
7 }
8
9

Some Basic Rules

• C language is case sensitive.

• During syntax checking, compilers usually consider whitespace

characters (space, newline [Enter] and tab) flexibly.

• Proper use of spaces makes program easy to read.

– Spacing in front is called indentation as a good programming style

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1.2. Comments
1 /*
2 This is a comment
3 */
4 #include <stdio.h>
5
6 int main(void) {
7 printf("Hello, world!\n"); // This is also a
8 comment
9 return 0;
}
 Comments are used for documentation aid; they are ignored by
compiler.
 Two commenting styles
 Text starting with /* and ends at the next */
 Can span multiple lines
 Text begins with // and extend to the end of the line

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1.3. The printf() function
• You may notice that the most interesting
statement in our very generic example is

printf("Hello, world!\n");

• This is called the printf function; the

function allows us to output a piece of text to
the screen
• Formally, the piece of text "Hello, world!\n"
is called a string constant
7
1.4. String Constant
• A string constant must be enclosed by a pair of double-
quote characters (")
– e.g.: "0123456789", "\n", "Hello World!"

• Without the double-quote characters ("), the C

compiler will not treat the text as a string constant
• In other words, the following code will cause the
program to fail to compile:

printf(Hello, world!\n); 

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1.4. String Constant
• You are probably thinking: What if I want to print a
double quotation mark? What if I want to print the
"Enter" key for a new line of text?

• These characters need to be expressed as escaped

sequences in a string constant.
e.g., Escaped Sequence Character
\\ Backslash (\)
\" Double quote (")
\n Newline
\t Tab

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1.4. String Constant
• e.g.: This string constant
"\\ is \"backslash\" and /
is \"slash\""

represents the following string (and thus output on

screen)
\ is "backslash" and / is "slash"

• A string constant cannot span multiple lines.

"The first line.
The second line." 
"The first line.\nThe second line." 
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2. Variables and Assignment Operators
Key concepts
• What is a variable?

• How to use a variable in a program?

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2. Variables
• Variables are used to store data in a program.

• A variable has a name and a type.

– The type determines what kind of values the
variable can hold.

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1 #include <stdio.h>
2 Declaring three variables:
3 int main(void) side, perimeter, and
4 {
5 int side, perimeter, area; area.
6
7 side = 3; The type of the three variables
8 perimeter = 4 * side; is int, indicating that the
9 area = side * side; variables are for storing
10
11 integers.
printf("Side : %d\n", side);
12 printf("Perimeter : %d\n", perimeter);
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area);
14
15 return 0;
16 }
Side : 3
Perimeter : 12
Area : 9

Example 2: Computing the perimeter and the area of a square. 13

2.1. Declaring Variables
• Variables must be declared first before they can be
used in the program to store data.

Syntax
type1 var1;
Declaring a single variable of type type1

type2 var1, var2, …, varN;

Declaring multiple variables of type2

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1 #include <stdio.h>
2 When the program runs, the
3 int main(void) statements are executed
4 { sequentially one by one.
5 int side, perimeter, area;
6
7 side = 3;
8 perimeter = 4 * side;
9 area = side * side;
10
11 printf("Side : %d\n", side);
12 printf("Perimeter : %d\n", perimeter);
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area);
14
15 return 0;
16 }

15
1 #include <stdio.h>
2 Immediately after the variables
3 int main(void) are being declared,
4 { their values are undefined (we
5 int side, perimeter, area;
do not know what their values
6
7 side = 3; are).
8 perimeter = 4 * side;
9 area = side * side; We say that these variables are
10 uninitialized.
11 printf("Side : %d\n", side);
12 printf("Perimeter : %d\n", perimeter);
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area);
14
15 return 0;
16 }

side perimeter area

? ? ?
16
1 #include <stdio.h>
2
3 int main(void)
4 {
5 int side, perimeter, area;
6
7 side = 3; Assigning 3 to side.
8 perimeter = 4 * side;
9 area = side * side;
10
11 printf("Side : %d\n", side);
12 printf("Perimeter : %d\n", perimeter);
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area);
14
15 return 0;
16 }

side perimeter area

3 ? ?
17
2.2. Assigning Value to a Variable
• We use an assignment operator (=) to copy/assign a
value to a variable.
Syntax
variable = expression;
Copy the value of expression to variable

• An expression is made up of values and operators, and

can be evaluated to a value in the program. For
examples,
100
someVariable
200 + var1 * var2
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1 #include <stdio.h>
2
3 int main(void) Assigning the value of 4 *
4 { side to perimeter.
5 int side, perimeter, area;
6  The expression 4 * side is
7 side = 3; evaluated first.
8 *3side;
perimeter = 412  The result, 12, is then assigned to
9 area = side * side; perimeter.
10
11 printf("Side : %d\n", side);
12 printf("Perimeter : %d\n", perimeter);
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area);
14
15 return 0;
16 }

side perimeter area

3 12 ?
19
1 #include <stdio.h>
2
3 int main(void)
4 {
5 int side, perimeter, area;
6
7 side = 3;
8 perimeter = 4 * side; Assigning the value of side *
9 area = side * side; side to area.
10
3 9 3
11 printf("Side : %d\n", side);
12 printf("Perimeter : %d\n", perimeter);
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area);
14
15 return 0;
16 }

side perimeter area

3 12 9
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2.3. Outputting a variable to screen
printf("Side : %d\n", side);

• "Side : %d\n"
– Text to print, called the format string
– The format specifier %d specifies that the value of the
corresponding expression is to be printed in the format of a
decimal integer.
• side
– The expression whose value is to be supplied to the format string.
• Compare to:
printf("Hello world!\n");

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1 #include <stdio.h>
2
3 int main(void)
4 {
5 int side, perimeter, area;
6
7 side = 3; printf() outputs the given
8 perimeter = 4 * side; text (string) but with the %d
9 area = side * side; replaced by the value of side.
10
11 printf("Side : %d\n", side);
12 printf("Perimeter : %d\n", perimeter);
13 printf("Area : %d\n", area);
14
15 return 0;
16 }
Side : 3

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3. Naming Variables
Key concepts
• How to name variables?

• What is a reserved word?

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3.1. Identifier
• An identifier is a name used to identify variables,
functions, etc. in a program.

• An identifier must satisfy the following rules. It:

1. Must contain only
 Alphabets ('A' – 'Z', 'a' – 'z')
 Digits ('0' – '9')
 The underscore character ('_')
2. Must not start with a digit
3. Cannot be one of the reserved words

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3.2. Reserved Words
• Reserved words or keywords are names that have
special meaning in the C language. You will eventually
learn all about them later.
auto do goto signed unsigne
d
break double if sizeof void
case else int static volatil
e
char enum long struct while
const extern registe switch
r
continu float return typedef
e
3.3. Predefined Identifiers
• There are also Predefined identifiers that have
already been used as names for standard
usages:
– e.g., main, printf, scanf

• Avoid using them as identifiers in your program

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Naming Variables – Challenge
Which of the following are valid identifiers?
1. $abc 11. printf
2. _1_abc_1_ 12. engg1110
3. 1_1 13. engg_1110
4. Domain-name 14. _
5. URL 15. A100xC200
6. int 16. tab
7. main 17. include
8. Int 18. VARIABLE
9. 32bits 19. www_yahoo_com
10. c 20. Hong Kong

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3.4. Naming Conventions (Guidelines)
• Be meaningful
– Avoid names like: a, b, c, d, a1, a2, a3, xyz

• Be consistent
interest_rate (Use underscore in place of space)
or
interestRate (camelCase – Mixed case starting with lower
case)

• Avoid using names with all uppercase letters

– They are usually used for named constants
Image source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2011_Trampeltier_1528.JPG
Author: J. Patrick Fischer; License: CC BY-SA 3.0

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5. Console Input and Output
Key concepts
• How to read numbers from a user?

• How to format numbers in the output?

29
1 #include <stdio.h>
2
3 int main(void)
4 {
5 int num1;
6
7 printf("Enter an integer:\n");
8 scanf("%d", &num1);
9
10 printf("num1 = %d\n", num1);
11
12 return 0;
13 }
14

Enter an integer:
123
num1 = 123

Example 5.1: Reading an integer from the user.

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Example 5.1 explained
• scanf("%d", &num1);
– A single %d in the format string tells scanf() to read one
integer.
– Upon success, the input value is stored in num1.
– & before the variable is a must. You will learn about this operator
later in this course.

• Behavior of scanf()
– (Line 8) Execution is paused here while scanf() waits for user
input.
– Program resumes when the user enters a value follows by pressing
the "Enter" key (denoted by the symbol '' in the sample output).

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1 #include <stdio.h>
2
3 int main(void)
4 {
5 int num1, num2;
6
7 printf("Enter two integers:\n");
8 scanf("%d%d", &num1, &num2);
9
10 printf("num1 = %d, num2 = %d\n", num1, num2);
11
12 return 0;
13 }
14

Enter two integers: Enter two integers:

123 456 123
num1 = 123, num2 = 456 or 456
num1 = 123, num2 = 456
Example 5.2: Reading two integers from the user.
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Example 5.2 explained
• scanf("%d%d", &num1, &num2);
– Two %d's in the format string (no space in between the format
specifiers) tell scanf() to read two integers.
– Upon success, the 1st input value is stored in num1 and the 2nd
input value is stored in num2.

• Behavior of scanf() when it expects two input values

– The two input values are to be separated by at least one
whitespace characters.
– (Line 8) Execution is paused here while scanf() waits for user
input.
– Program resumes when the user enters the 2nd value follows by
pressing the "Enter" key.
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1 #include <stdio.h>
2
3 int main(void)
4 { Variables r1 and r2 are of type double
5 double r1, r2; (instead of int) here. What does it mean?
6
7 printf("Enter two real numbers:\n");
8 scanf("%lf%lf", &r1, &r2);
9
10 printf("r1 = %f\n", r1);
Concerning double-typed values,
11 scanf() uses %lf (‘ell’ f);
printf("r2 = %f\n", r2);
12 printf() uses %f.
13 return 0; Looking similar but slightly different!
14 }

Enter two real numbers: printf(), by default, prints

123 456.125
r1 = 123.000000 decimal numbers (floating point
r2 = 456.125000 numbers) with 6 decimal places.
Example 5.3: Reading two floating point numbers from the user.
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Example 5.3 Explained
• You may notice that the example involved decimal numbers

• So far we have been using integers (type int)

 0, -100, 2048, 203139, 1000000

• If we need decimal places in our numbers, we use floating point

numbers (type double here)
 0.0, -10.2, 3.1416, .244

• A decimal point makes a big difference!

– 10 is treated as an integer.
– 10.0 is treated as a floating point number.
– Integers and floating point numbers are handled differently in C (will talk
about it in detail next lecture)
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1 #include <stdio.h>
2
3 int main(void)
4 { When we declare a variable, we
5 double pi = 3.1415927; can initialize its value.
6
7
8 printf("A) %f\n", pi); The format specifier, %.xf, tells
9 printf("B) %.2f\n", pi);
10 printf("C) %.7f\n", pi);
printf() to format the
11 corresponding floating point
12 return 0; number with x decimal places.
13 }
14

A) 3.141593
B) 3.14
C) 3.1415927
Example 5.4: Controlling the # of decimal places for floating point numbers.

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Notes about scanf() and printf()
• scanf() won't work "properly" if it encounters an
invalid input. For example, a user enters an alphabet
when an integer is expected.
– In this course, unless otherwise stated, you can assume the
input values are always valid.

• Examples showing incorrect uses of printf()

printf("%f", 10); // 10 is a value of type int
printf("%d", 10.0); // 10.0 is a value of type double
printf("%.2d", 10); // .2 does not apply to integer
printf("%d %d", 10); // One argument is omitted

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Summary
• Syntax: C, as a programming language, has rules that
programmers must obey.

• Variable: Holds a value; has a name and a type

• Assignment operator: For assigning a value to a variable
• Identifier: Valid name for identifying things in the program

• Expressing numeric and string constants

• Console Input/Output using scanf() and printf()

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Reading Assignment
• C: How to Program, 8th ed, Deitel and Deitel
• Chapter 2 Introduction to C Programming
– Sections 2.1 – 2.7

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