Lecture 03

Introduction to C Programming
CSE115: Computing Concepts
Semantics and Syntax
• Semantics – the meaning of the language within a given
context
• Syntax - Syntax are the rules to join words
together in forming a correct expression or phrase.
• In natural languages it is often possible to assemble a
sentence in more than one correct ways.
C Programming Language
Why 'C' ?
• Because based on 'B'; developed at Bell Laboratories
• Developed by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Laboratories in the
1960s
• In cooperation with Ken Thomson it was used for Unix
systems
• The C Language was only vaguely defined, not
standardized, so that almost everyone had his own
perception of it, to such an extend that an urgent need for
a standard code was creeping up
A Simple Program in C
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main()
{
printf("Hello world!\n");
return 0;
}
A Simple Program in C
#include <stdio.h>
standard Library, input-output, header-file
#include <stdlib.h>

int main()
{
printf("Hello world!\n");
return 0;
}
A Simple Program in C
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
Beginning of program

int main()
{
printf("Hello world!\n");
return 0;
}
A Simple Program in C
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main()
Start of Segment
{
printf("Hello world!\n");
return 0;
}
End of Segment
A Simple Program in C
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main()
{ Function for printing text

printf("Hello world!\n");
return 0; End of statement

} Insert a new line

Output

Hello world!
General Form of a C Program

preprocessor directives
main function heading
{
declarations
executable statements
}
A Simple Program in C
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main()
{
printf("Hello world!\n");
return 0;
}
A Simple Program in C
#include <stdio.h>
standard Library, input-output, header-file
#include <stdlib.h>
Beginning of program

int main()
Start of Segment
{ Function for printing text

printf("Hello world!\n");
return 0; End of statement

} Insert a new line

End of Segment
Preprocessor Directives
• A C program begins with # which 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 operations.
Function main()
• Identify the start of the program
• Every C program has a main( )
• 'main' is a C keyword. We must not use it for any other
purpose.
• 4 common ways of main declaration

int main(void) void main(void) main(void) main( )

{ { { {

return 0;
} } } }
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)
Statement
• Specifying an 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>
int main()
{
printf(“I love programming\n”); statement
printf(“You will love it too once ”); statement
printf(“you know the trick\n”); statement
return 0; statement

}
Statement
• Statement has two 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
An Example
/*
Converts distance in miles
to kilometres.
*/
#include <stdio.h> //printf, scanf definitions
#define KMS_PER_MILE 1.609 //conversion constant

int main(void) {
float miles, // input – distance in miles
kms; // output – distance in kilometres

//Get the distance in miles

printf("Enter distance in miles: ");
scanf("%f", &miles);

//Convert the distance to kilometres

kms = KMS_PER_MILE * miles;

//Display the distance in kilometres

printf("That equals %f km.\n", kms);

return 0;
}
 An Example
/*
Converts distance in miles
to kilometres.
*/ standard header file
preprocessor #include <stdio.h> //printf, scanf definitions
directives #define KMS_PER_MILE 1.609 //conversion constant
constant
int main(void) {
float miles, // input – distance in miles
reserved kms; // output – distance in kilometres
words
//Get the distance in miles
variables printf("Enter distance in miles: "); comments
scanf("%f", &miles);

functions //Convert the distance to kilometres

kms = KMS_PER_MILE * miles;
special //Display the distance in kilometres
symbols printf("That equals %f km.\n", kms);

return 0;
} punctuations
An Example
/*
Converts distance in miles
to kilometres.
*/
#include <stdio.h> //printf, scanf definitions
#define KMS_PER_MILE 1.609 //conversion constant

int main(void) {
float miles, // input – distance in miles
declarations
kms; // output – distance in kilometres

//Get the distance in miles

printf("Enter distance in miles: ");
scanf("%f", &miles);

//Convert the distance to kilometres

kms = KMS_PER_MILE * miles;

//Display the distance in kilometres Executable

printf("That equals %f km.\n", kms); statements

return 0;
}
An Example
/*
Converts distance in miles
to kilometres.
*/
#include <stdio.h> //printf, scanf definitions
#define KMS_PER_MILE 1.609 //conversion constant

int main(void) {
float miles, // input – distance in miles
kms; // output – distance in kilometres

//Get the distance in miles

printf("Enter distance in miles: ");
scanf("%f", &miles);

//Convert the distance to kilometres

kms = KMS_PER_MILE * miles;

//Display the distance in kilometres

printf("That equals %f km.\n", kms);

return 0; Sample Run

} Enter distance in miles: 10.5
That equals 16.89 km.
An Example
 What happens in the computer memory?

memory memory memory

MileToKm.exe MileToKm.exe MileToKm.exe

miles miles miles

? 10.5 10.5

kms kms kms

? ? 16.89

At the beginning After user enters: After this line is

Do not assume that
uninitialised variables 10.5 to executed:
contain zero! (Very
common mistake.) scanf("%f", &miles); kms = KMS_PER_MILE * miles;
Variables
• Variable  a name 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;
Basic Data Types
• There are 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;
….
…
number = 7;
Basic Data Types
• 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; (is equal to 12X10-3)
Basic Data Types
• char
• A single symbol that can be typed using the keyboard
• 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 d; The declared character must be
d = 128; enclosed within a single quote!
• In addition, there are void, short, long, etc.
Data types (summary)
Type Storage Value range Precision
size

char 1 byte -128 to 127 or 0 to 255 n/a

-2,147,483,648 to n/a
int 4 bytes 2,147,483,647

unsigned 4 bytes 0 to 4,294,967,295 n/a

int

float 4 byte 1.2E-38 to 3.4E+38 6 decimal places

double 8 byte 2.3E-308 to 1.7E+308 15 decimal places

Here unsigned is a modifier; a modifier is a C keyword that can be used in front

of a data type to modify the behavior of that data type
A closer look at variables

Memory

28
A closer look at variables

int a = 139, b = -5;

Memory

29
A closer look at variables

int a = 139, b = -5;

Memory

a 139

b -5

30
A closer look at variables

int a = 139, b = -5;

Memory

a 139

b -5

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 132 bits

31
A closer look at variables

int a = 139, b = -5;

Memory

a 139

b -5

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 132 bits
32
 ------------------------------------ 2’s complement of 5 ------------------------
A closer look at variables
char c = ‘H’;

0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 bits
A closer look at variables
char c = ‘H’;

0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 bits

?
A closer look at variables
char c = 0x2A;//stores (00101010)2=(2A)16

0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 bits

?
10010002 = 7210
Input/Output Operations
• Input operation
• an instruction 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)
Input/Output Functions
• A C function 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()
The printf function
• Used to 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.
The printf function

• Example:
• printf(“Thank you”);
• printf (“Total sum is: %d\n”, 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
Placeholder / Conversion Specifier
No Conversion Output Type Output Example
Specifier
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 7.6000e+01
notation)
9 %E Signed floating point (using E 7.6000E+01
notation)
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'
Escape Sequence
Escape Sequence Effect
\a Beep sound
\b Backspace
\n New line
\t Tab
\v Vertical tab
\\ Backslash
\” “ sign
Formatting output
int meters = 21, feet = 68 , inches =
11;
printf("Results:%3d meters=%4d ft.%2d
in.\n", meters, feet, inches);

R e s u l t s : 2 1 m e t e r s = 6 8 f t . 1 1 i n .

printf("Results:%03d meters=%04d ft.%02d

in.\n", meters, feet, inches);
R e s u l t s : 0 2 1 m e t e r s = 0 0 6 8 f t . 1 1 i n .
Formatting output
Formatting output
• Displaying x Using Format String Placeholder %6.2f
The scanf function
• Read data 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 (in the RAM) to find the variable to store
the new value
The scanf function
• Example :
int age;
printf(“Enter your age: “);
scanf(“%d”, &age);

• Common Conversion specifier used in printf and scanf

functions.

printf scanf
int %d %d
float %f %f
double %lf %lf
char %c %c
string %s %s
The scanf function

• If you want the user to enter more than one value, you
serialize the inputs.
• Example:
float height, weight;

printf(“Please enter your height and weight:”);

scanf(“%f%f”, &height, &weight);