Chapter 1: Introduction to C
1. History and Evolution:
- C was developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs.
- It was designed for system programming and building operating systems like UNIX.
- C is considered the mother of many modern programming languages such as C++, Java, and Python.
2. Features of C:
- Simple and efficient
- Procedural language
- Rich set of operators and functions
- Portability and modularity
- Low-level access to memory via pointers
- Fast compilation and execution
3. Structure of a C Program:
- A basic C program structure includes:
```c
#include <stdio.h> // Preprocessor directive
int main() { // Main function
printf("Hello, World!\n"); // Output statement
return 0; // Return statement
```
- Sections: Documentation, Preprocessor directives, Global declarations, main(), and user-defined
functions.
4. Compilation and Execution Process:
- Writing the code (.c file)
- Compiling using a compiler (like gcc)
- Linking object files and libraries
- Executing the output executable
5. Use Cases:
- System software (Operating Systems, Compilers)
- Embedded systems
- Game development
- Real-time systems
6. C Program Lifecycle:
- Code -> Preprocessing -> Compilation -> Assembly -> Linking -> Executable
Understanding the basics and structure of C programming sets the foundation for more advanced concepts.