Fundamental of C Programming Language and Basic Input/Output Function
This document covers the fundamentals of the C programming language including its development environment, program structure, basic data types, input/output functions, and common programming errors. Key concepts such as preprocessor directives, variable declarations, and the use of functions like printf and scanf are explained. Additionally, the document highlights the syntax rules, identifiers, constants, and types of errors that can occur during programming.
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Chapter 3: Fundamentalof C and Input/Output
In this chapter you will learn about:
C Development Environment
C Program Structure
Basic Data Types
Input/Output function
Common Programming Error
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C Development Environment
DiskPhase2 :
Preprocessor
program
processes the
code.
DiskCompilerPhase 3 :
Compiler
creates object
code and stores
it on Disk.
Preprocessor
DiskLinkerPhase 4 :
EditorPhase 1 :
Program is
created using the
Editor and
stored on Disk.
Disk
Linker links object
code with libraries,
creates a.out and
stores it on Disk
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C Development Environmentcont
LoaderPhase 5 :
:
.
Primary
Memory
Loader puts
Program in
Memory
C P U (execute)Phase 6 :
:
.
Primary
Memory
CPU takes each
instruction and
executes it, storing
new data values as
the program executes.
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C Program Structure
Anexample of simple program in C
#include <stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
printf(“I love programmingn”);
printf(“You will love it too once ”);
printf(“you know the trickn”);
}
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Preprocessor directives
a Cprogram line begins with # provides an
instruction to the C preprocessor
It is executed before the actual compilation is
done.
Two most common directives :
#include
#define
In our example (#include<stdio.h>) identifies
the header file for standard input and output
needed by the printf().
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Function main
Identify thestart of the program
Every C program has a main ( )
'main' is a C keyword. We must not use it
for any other variable.
4 common ways of main declaration
int main(void)
{
return 0;
}
void main(void)
{
}
main(void)
{
}
main( )
{
}
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The curly braces{ }
Identify a segment / body of a program
The start and end of a function
The start and end of the selection or repetition
block.
Since the opening brace indicates the start of
a segment with the closing brace indicating
the end of a segment, there must be just as
many opening braces as closing braces
(this is a common mistake of beginners)
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Statement
A specification ofan action to be taken by the
computer as the program executes.
Each statement in C needs to be terminated with
semicolon (;)
Example:
#include <stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
printf(“I love programmingn”);
printf(“You will love it too once ”);
printf(“you know the trickn”);
}
statement
statement
statement
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Statement cont…
Statement hastwo parts :
Declaration
The part of the program that tells the compiler
the names of memory cells in a program
Executable statements
Program lines that are converted to machine
language instructions and executed by the
computer
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C program skeleton
Inshort, the basic skeleton of a C program
looks like this:
#include <stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
statement(s);
}
Preprocessor directives
Function main
Start of segment
End of segment
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Identifiers
Words used torepresent certain program
entities (variables, function names, etc).
Example:
int my_name;
my_name is an identifier used as a program
variable
void CalculateTotal(int value)
CalculateTotal is an identifier used as a
function name
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Rules for namingidentifiers
Rules Example
Can contain a mix of characters and numbers.
However it cannot start with a number
H2o
First character must be a letter or underscore Number1;
_area
Can be of mixed cases including underscore
character
XsquAre
my_num
Cannot contain any arithmetic operators R*S+T
… or any other punctuation marks… #@x%!!
Cannot be a C keyword/reserved word struct; printf;
Cannot contain a space My height
… identifiers are case sensitive Tax != tax
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Variables
Variable aname associated with a
memory cell whose value can change
Variable Declaration: specifies the type of a
variable
Example: int num;
Variable Definition: assigning a value to the
declared variable
Example: num = 5;
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Basic Data Types
Thereare 4 basic data types :
int
float
double
char
int
used to declare numeric program variables of
integer type
whole numbers, positive and negative
keyword: int
int number;
number = 12;
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Basic Data Typescont…
float
fractional parts, positive and negative
keyword: float
float height;
height = 1.72;
double
used to declare floating point variable of higher
precision or higher range of numbers
exponential numbers, positive and negative
keyword: double
double valuebig;
valuebig = 12E-3;
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Basic Data Typescont…
char
equivalent to ‘letters’ in English language
Example of characters:
Numeric digits: 0 - 9
Lowercase/uppercase letters: a - z and A - Z
Space (blank)
Special characters: , . ; ? “ / ( ) [ ] { } * & % ^ < > etc
single character
keyword: char
char my_letter;
my_letter = 'U';
In addition, there are void, short, long, etc.
The declared character must be
enclosed within a single quote!
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Constants
Entities that appearin the program code as fixed
values.
Any attempt to modify a CONSTANT will result in error.
4 types of constants:
Integer constants
Positive or negative whole numbers with no fractional part
Example:
– const int MAX_NUM = 10;
– const int MIN_NUM = -90;
Floating-point constants (float or double)
Positive or negative decimal numbers with an integer part,
a decimal point and a fractional part
Example:
– const double VAL = 0.5877e2; (stands for
0.5877 x 102)
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Constants cont…
Character constants
Acharacter enclosed in a single quotation mark
Example:
– const char letter = ‘n’;
– const char number = ‘1’;
– printf(“%c”, ‘S’);
» Output would be: S
Enumeration
Values are given as a list
Example: enum Language {
Malay,
English,
Arabic
};
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Constant example –volume of a cone
#include <stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
const double pi = 3.412;
double height, radius, base, volume;
printf(“Enter the height and radius of the cone:”);
scanf(“%lf %lf”,&height, &radius);
base = pi * radius * radius;
volume = (1.0/3.0) * base * height;
printf(“nThe volume of a cone is %f ”, volume);
}
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#define
You may alsoassociate constant using #define preprocessor
directive
#include <stdio.h>
#define pi 3.412
void main(void)
{
double height, radius, base, volume;
printf(“Enter the height and radius of the cone:”);
scanf(“%lf %lf”,&height,&radius);
base = pi * radius * radius;
volume = (1.0/3.0) * base * height;
printf(“nThe volume of a cone is %f ”, volume);
}
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Input/Output Operations
Input operation
aninstruction that copies data from an input
device into memory
Output operation
an instruction that displays information stored
in memory to the output devices (such as the
monitor screen)
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Input/Output Functions
A Cfunction that performs an input or output
operation
A few functions that are pre-defined in the
header file stdio.h such as :
printf()
scanf()
getchar() & putchar()
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The printf function
Usedto send data to the standard output
(usually the monitor) to be printed
according to specific format.
General format:
printf(“string literal”);
A sequence of any number of characters
surrounded by double quotation marks.
printf(“format string”, variables);
Format string is a combination of text,
conversion specifier and escape sequence.
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The printf functioncont…
Example:
printf(“Thank you”);
printf (“Total sum is: %dn”, sum);
%d is a placeholder (conversion specifier)
– marks the display position for a type integer
variable
n is an escape sequence
– moves the cursor to the new line
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Escape Sequence
Escape SequenceEffect
a Beep sound
b Backspace
f Formfeed (for printing)
n New line
r Carriage return
t Tab
v Vertical tab
Backslash
” “ sign
o Octal decimal
x Hexadecimal
O NULL
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Placeholder / ConversionSpecifier
No Conversion
Specifier
Output Type Output Example
1 %d Signed decimal integer 76
2 %i Signed decimal integer 76
3 %o Unsigned octal integer 134
4 %u Unsigned decimal integer 76
5 %x Unsigned hexadecimal (small letter) 9c
6 %X Unsigned hexadecimal (capital letter) 9C
7 %f Integer including decimal point 76.0000
8 %e Signed floating point (using e notation) 7.6000e+01
9 %E Signed floating point (using E notation) 7.6000E+01
10 %g The shorter between %f and %e 76
11 %G The shorter between %f and %E 76
12 %c Character ‘7’
13 %s String ‘76'
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The scanf function
Readdata from the standard input device
(usually keyboard) and store it in a variable.
General format:
scanf(“Format string”, &variable);
Notice ampersand (&) operator :
C address of operator
it passes the address of the variable instead of
the variable itself
tells the scanf() where to find the variable to
store the new value
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The scanf functioncont…
Example :
int age;
printf(“Enter your age: “);
scanf(“%d”, &age);
Common Conversion Identifier used in printf and
scanf functions. printf scanf
int %d %d
float %f %f
double %f %lf
char %c %c
string %s %s
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The scanf functioncont…
If you want the user to enter more than one
value, you serialise the inputs.
Example:
float height, weight;
printf(“Please enter your height and weight:”);
scanf(“%f%f”, &height, &weight);
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getchar() and putchar()
getchar()- read a character from standard
input
putchar() - write a character to standard
output
Example: #include <stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
char my_char;
printf(“Please type a character: ”);
my_char = getchar();
printf(“nYou have typed this character: ”);
putchar(my_char);
}
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getchar() and putchar()cont
Alternatively, you can write the previous code
using normal scanf and %c placeholder.
Example
#include <stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
char my_char;
printf(“Please type a character: ”);
scanf(“%c”,&my_char);
printf(“nYou have typed this character: %c ”, my_char);
}
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Few notes onC program…
C is case-sensitive
Word, word, WorD, WORD, WOrD, worD, etc are all
different variables / expressions
Eg. sum = 23 + 7
What is the value of Sum after this addition ?
Comments (remember 'Documentation'; Chapter 2)
are inserted into the code using /* to start and */ to end a
comment
Some compiler support comments starting with ‘//’
Provides supplementary information but is ignored by the
preprocessor and compiler
/* This is a comment */
// This program was written by Hanly Koffman
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Few notes onC program cont…
Reserved Words
Keywords that identify language entities such
as statements, data types, language
attributes, etc.
Have special meaning to the compiler, cannot
be used as identifiers (variable, function
name) in our program.
Should be typed in lowercase.
Example: const, double, int, main, void,printf,
while, for, else (etc..)
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Few notes onC program cont…
Punctuators (separators)
Symbols used to separate different parts of
the C program.
These punctuators include:
[ ] ( ) { } , ; “: * #
Usage example:
void main (void)
{
int num = 10;
printf (“% d”,num);
}
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Few notes onC program cont…
Operators
Tokens that result in some kind of computation
or action when applied to variables or other
elements in an expression.
Example of operators:
* + = - /
Usage example:
result = total1 + total2;
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Common Programming Errors
Debugging Process removing errors
from a program
Three (3) kinds of errors :
Syntax Error
a violation of the C grammar rules, detected
during program translation (compilation).
statement cannot be translated and
program cannot be executed
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Common Programming Errorscont…
Run-time errors
An attempt to perform an invalid operation,
detected during program execution.
Occurs when the program directs the
computer to perform an illegal operation,
such as dividing a number by zero.
The computer will stop executing the
program, and displays a diagnostic
message indicates the line where the error
was detected
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Common Programming Errorscont…
Logic Error/Design Error
An error caused by following an incorrect
algorithm
Very difficult to detect - it does not cause run-
time error and does not display message
errors.
The only sign of logic error – incorrect program
output
Can be detected by testing the program
thoroughly, comparing its output to calculated
results
To prevent – carefully desk checking the
algorithm and written program before you
actually type it
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Summary
In this chapter,you have learned the following items:
environment of C language and C programming
C language elements
Preprocessor directives, curly braces, main (), semicolon,
comments, double quotes
4 basics data type and brief explanation on variable
6 tokens : reserved word, identifier, constant, string
literal, punctuators / separators and operators.
printf, scanf, getchar and putchar
Usage of modifiers : placeholder & escape sequence
Common programming errors : syntax error, run-time
error and logic error