CE143: COMPUTER CONCEPTS & PROGRAMMING

Chapter – 1

Introduction to ‘C’ language

Devang Patel Institute of Advance Technology And Research

 Objectives
 To get understanding of evolution of ‘C’ Language
 To develop programming skills using the fundamentals and basics
of C language
 To impart the knowledge about basic structure which is the
backbone of programming
 To understand the significance of ‘C’ language
 To teach the basics of preprocessors available with C compiler
 To Develop an understanding of the compilation process

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-1 History of C
 C is a programming language which born at “AT & T’s Bell
Laboratory” of USA in 1972.

 C was written by Dennis Ritchie, that is why he is also

called as father of c programming language.

 C language was created for a specific purpose i.e designing

the UNIX operating system (which is currently base of
many UNIX based OS).

 From the beginning, C was intended to be useful to allow

busy programmers to get things done because C is such a
powerful and dominant language
Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language
1-1 History of C Continued…
Why Name “C” was given to Language ?

Many of C’s principles and ideas were derived from the earlier
language B. (Ken Thompson was the developer of B Language.)

BCPL and CPL are the earlier ancestors of B Language , CPL is

combined Programming Language. In 1967, BCPL Language ( Basic
CPL ) was created as a scaled down version of CPL.

As many of the features were derived from “B” Language that

is why it was named as “C”.

After 7-8 years C++ came into existence which was first example
of object oriented programming .

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-1 History of C Continued…

Chapter - 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-2 Characteristics of C
1. Simple and Clear----C has richest collection of data types(int,float,char),
operators(symbolic representation) and inbuilt functions.

2. Stuctured Approach----C provide the fundamental control flow

constructions required for well structured program like statement
grouping, decision making(if-else),switch-case, break etc.

3. Portable----C has the characteristics of portability .Portable means

computer independent. The programs made in C on one computer can be
run on different computers by not changing anything.

4. Case Sensitive----Case Sensitive means that almost everything in C

program is written in small case.

Chapter - 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-2 Characteristics of C Continued
5. Easily Available and Quick----The C compiler are very easily available
and require very less disk space .

TURBO C is the compiler which is very easy to load in your computer.

[Link]----Modular means the programs can be easily divided into small

modules with the use of functions.

[Link] Error detection Whenever we compile the program after typing it

in the editor, the errors are immediately displayed on the screen pointing to
the line numbers where they are actually coming.

8. Availability of recursive function----This help us to reduce the writing

of definition of functions by calling same function again and again reduce
the lines of codes as well and are easy to remember.

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-3 Basic Structure of ‘C’ Program
• Structure of C Program

Chapter - 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-3 Basic Structure of ‘C’ Program
• Structure of C Program

return 0 – successful execution

Chapter – 4 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language
1-3 Basic Structure of ‘C’ Program
Continued..
Pre-Processor Directive :
Pre-Processor Directives tells the compiler to include Input/Output
information for your program.
Preprocessor directives start with #
#include copies a file into the source code

#include <systemFilename>

Eg.
#include<stdio.h> // Standard Input/Output
#include<math.h> //Advanced Math
Function([Link])
#include<conio.h> // Console Input / Output
#include<stdlib.h> // Arithmetic and Sorting & Searching

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

 The #define directive
 It is a preprocessor compiler directive and not a statement., and
therefore it should not end with a semicolon
 Symbolic constants are generally written in uppercase so that
they are distinguished from lowercase variable names.
 Placed generally before the main() function.

Eg. #define PI 3.14

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-3 Basic Structure of ‘C’ Program
Continued..
Global Declaration
A global variable is a variable that is declared outside all functions.
A global variable can be used in all functions.
Eg. #include<stdio.h>
int a;
int b; //Global Declaration
int main()
{
int Sum;
Sum=add();
printf(“Answer : %d”,Sum);
return 0;
}
int add ()
{
return a+b; // As Declared Global can used in all function
}
Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language
1-3 Basic Structure of ‘C’ Program
Continued..
The main() function :
Programs must have a main() function.
Allowed Format :
1. main()
2. main(void)
3. int main()
4. int main(void)
5. void main()
6. void main(void)

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-3 Basic Structure of ‘C’ Program
Continued..
Local Definition :
 A local variable can only be used in the function where it is declared.
Eg.
int main()
{
int a,b,c; // Local Declaration
printf(“Hello”);
return 0;
}
int add()
{
return a+b; // Cannot accessible outside main() function as declared
as Local
}

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-3 Basic Structure of ‘C’ Program
Continued..
printf() function :
It is used to print standard output (Screen).
It can take variable number of argument.
The first argument must be a String.

Eg.
printf(“Message”, Variable or Variable List);

printf(“Hello”);
Printf(“Answer : %d”,Sum);

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-4 Compilation of C Program

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language
1-4 Compilation of C Program
Continued…
Pre-Processor
Before a C program is compiled in a compiler, source code is processed by a
program called preprocessor. This process is called preprocessing.
Commands used in preprocessor are called preprocessor directives and
they begin with “#” symbol.
The main function of the C preprocessor is to remove comments from the
source code and interpret preprocessor directives which are given by the
statements that begin with #.
The #include statement can either be called with
#include<file.h>
or with
#include ‘‘file.h’’
The first method tells the preprocessor to look for the file in the standard
include directories.
The second method, which uses the quotes, tells the preprocessor that the
file to be included is in the local directory.
Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language
1-4 Compilation of C Program
Continued…
Compiler
The compiler translates the C code into assembly language, which
is a machine level code that contains instructions.
Converted assembly language code having extension “.s”.

Assembler
Assembler translates the assembly language code into machine
language.
Converted code having extension “.o” (Object file)

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-4 Compilation of C Program
Continued…
Linker
The object file hello.o contains a binary version of the machine language
that was created from your source code hello.c. In order to create the
executable hello or [Link], you need to use the linker to process your main
function.
In example, we used the printf function. The printf function is a standard
function that is provided by the C compiler that your current object file
knows nothing about.
In order to use this function, we need to use the linker in order to link our
program with the precompiled libraries provided to us by the C compiler.
The linker links other precompiled object files or libraries together and
creates the executable hello.

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

1-3 Compiler & Interpreter

Chapter – 1 –: Introduction
Chapter to ‘C’
4 : Introduction to Language
‘C’ Language
1-3 Procedural Oriented Programming (POP)
 A program in a procedural
language is a list of instruction
where each statement tells the
computer to do something. It
focuses on procedure (function) &
algorithm is needed to perform
the derived computation.
 When program become larger, it
is divided into function & each
function has clearly defined
purpose. Dividing the program
into functions & module is one of
the cornerstones of structured
programming.
 E.g.:- c, basic, FORTRAN.

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

 1-3 Difference between Object Oriented
Programming(OOP) and Procedural Oriented
Programming (POP) Continued…

Chapter – 1 –: Introduction
Chapter to ‘C’
4 : Introduction to Language
‘C’ Language
Questions from previous year papers
1. What is the significance of Compiler?
(2 Marks)
2. Which are the Pre-processer directive? (2 Marks)
3. Define any two chracteristics of C Language with
example. (3 Marks)
4. What is the purpose of Linker?(2 Marks)

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

Questions from previous year papers
Fill in the blanks

1. C was developed by _________

2. _______ is a group of C statements that are executed
together.
3. Execution of the C program begins at ________.
4. In memory, characters are stored as _________.
5. The statement return 0; returns 0 to the __________.
6. A C program ends with a ____________.

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

Questions from previous year papers
State True or False
 
1. We can have only one function in a C program.
2. Header files are used to store the program’s source code.
3. Stdio.h is used to store the source code of the program.
4. The closing brace of the main() is the logical end of the
program.
5. The declaration section gives instruction to the
computer.
6. Declaration of the variables can be done anywhere in the
program.

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language

Questions from previous year papers
Review Questions
1. Explain the difference between declaration and
definition.
2. Give the structure of C program.
3. Why do we include <stdio.h> in our programs?
4. Explain the utility of #define and #include statements.
5. Draw and explain the process of compiling and running a
C program.
6. Write the various forms of main that are allowed.
7. Draw a flowchart describing the history of C.
8. Explain the importance of C (in points).

Chapter – 1 : Introduction to ‘C’ Language