CHAPTER 2

THE STRUCTURE OF C LANGUAGE

PART 1

Prepared by: Shazana Md Zin

Faculty of Info.Technology & Multimedia
A216-05
 CONTENTS
Part 1

Introduction to C language

Basic C

Function Variable

Part 2

Constant and Identifier

Data Types

Pre-processor Directives

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CHAPTER 2
 Introduction to C Language
• What is C language?

– C is a computer programming language

– C is one of thousands of programming languages currently in
use
– C is what we called as compiled language. This means that
once you write your C program, you must run it through a
compiler to turn your program into an executable that the
computer can run (execute)
– Not a user friendly language and provides a terse and
unreadable syntax

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 Introduction to C Language…cont.

• Advantages of C language:

– It lets you write programs that resemble

everyday English.
– C is an easy language to learn
– One of the most important/popular
programming language for developing new
software packages for different platforms
and on many computers
Compiler

• A compiler is necessary to make your source code

(.c, .cpp, or .cc files) into a running program.
• If you're just starting out, you'll need to make sure that
you have one before you start programming.
• There are many compilers available on the internet and
sold commercially in stores or online.
• If you have Mac OS X, Linux, or other *nix variant (such
as Unix or FreeBSD), you likely have a compiler such as
gcc or g++ installed already.
• Windows: Microsoft Visual C++

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 Comment in Program

Programmers can make a program easier to understand
by using comments


This is to describe the purpose of the program, the use
of identifier and the purpose of each program step


Comments are part of the program documentation
because it help others read and understand the program


Compiler will IGNORE the comments and there are not
translated into machine language.


In C a comment will start with /* and ends with */
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 • Example Comment of Program

/*This is a single line comment */

/* This is a multiline
* comment in C */

/****************************************************
* This style of commenting is used for functions
****************************************************/

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 Questions
1) C programs are converted into machine
language with the help of?

a) An Editor
b) A compiler
c) An operating system
d) None of the above

Answer:

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CHAPTER 2
 Questions
2) What is the error?

/*This is a single line comment */

/* This is a multiline
* comment in C /

/****************************************************
* This style of commenting is used for functions
****************************************************/

Answer:

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CHAPTER 2
 Basic C

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CHAPTER 2
Library File
• E.g : #include <stdio.h>

• # sign indicates that a preprocessor command (directive) will

follow

• The processor command causes the library file called stdio.h to be

included in your program

• Typically, include files are library files, also called header files,
that are provided by the language compiler

• We can include our own library files, called user-defined libraries, in

the similar manner
Main () Function

• C program is a collection of functions

• Each function is dedicated to do a specific job in
the program
• Function main() indicates the logical beginning
of the program
• When you run a C program, the main() is
invoked and program execution starts from the
first line of executable code in the program
• Has a header and a body
 First C program
/*A simple C program that displays a message*/

#include <stdio.h>

int main() /*function header*/

{
printf(“This is my first C program.\n”); Function
body

return 0;
}
 Variables (1 of 2)
Function Variable
• The function of variable is to hold the data in your program

 It is a location (or set of locations) in memory where a value can

be stored for use by a program

 For example, if your program requests a value from the user, or

if it calculates a value, you will want to remember it somewhere
so you can use it later. The way your program remembers
things is by using variables. For example:

int b;

 You can use the value in b by saying something like:

printf("%d", b);
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CHAPTER 2
 Variable Names
 In C all the variables should be declared before it can be used.

 You cannot re-declare a variable once it has been already

declared.

 A variable name can either begin with an alphabet or

underscore

• No other special character except underscore is allowed

• Maximum characters recognized is 31 (compiler dependent)

• Variable names are case sensitive and keywords cannot be used

as variable names
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CHAPTER 2
 cont.
• Variable names in C are made up of letters (upper and lower
case) and digits.

• The underscore character ("_") is also permitted.

• Names must not begin with a digit.

• Unlike some languages (such as Perl and some BASIC

dialects), C does not use any special prefix characters on
variable names.

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CHAPTER 2
 •Some examples of valid (but not very descriptive) C
variable names:
 uthm
 Uthm
 UTHM
 parit_raja
 _uthm42
_
 UtHm

•Some examples of invalid C variable names:

 2uthm (must not begin with a digit)
 Parit raja (spaces not allowed in names)
 $uthm ($ not allowed -- only letters, digits, and _)
 while (language keywords cannot be used as
names)
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CHAPTER 2
 Example: Declaring the variables

int age;
int age, count, i,j;
float amount, rateOfInterest, totalBalance;
char ch;

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 Question
1) A C variable cannot start with
a) An alphabet
b) A number
c) A special symbol other than underscore
d) both (b) and (c) above.

Answer:

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CHAPTER 2
 Common Errors
• Starting a comment line with /* but forgetting
to terminate it with */
• Placing a space between / and *, such as / *
• Using uppercase letters with the C keywords,
such as Printf
• Forgetting the ; (semicolon) at the end of each
statement
• Placing a semicolon at the end of a preprocessor
command, such as # include <stdio.h>;
• Placing a semicolon at the end of a function
header, such as int main ();
 End of Part 1

Thank you !

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 CHAPTER 2

THE STRUCTURE OF C LANGUAGE

PART 2
 Constant
• A constant can be defined as “a quantity that does not
change during the execution of a program”.
#include <stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
int a = 10;
printf(“%d”,a);
}

output :?

• Here we are declaring a variable “ a ” with its initial

value 10. 10 here is an integer constant and every time
you try to execute this program, the output will always
be 10.

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Type of Constants

 Integer Constant
 An integer constant must have at least one digit and
should not have decimal point.
 It could either be positive or negative.

Example:
const int MAX_NUM = 10;
const int MIN_NUM = -90;
const int Hexadecimal_Number = 0xf87;

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 cont.
• Real Constant
• A real constant must have at least one digit and must
have a decimal point.

Example:
0.0026
-0.97
435.29
+487.0

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 cont.
Character Constant
A character constant should be only one character and must
be enclosed in single quotes e.g. ‘A’, ‘b’, etc.

Example:
const char letter = ‘n’;
const char number = ‘1’;

printf(“%c”, ‘S’);
Output would be? ___

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 Identifier

• An identifier is used for any variable, function, data

definition, etc.
• In the C programming language, an identifier are:
– A combination of alphanumeric characters,
– the first being a letter of the alphabet or an underline,
– The remaining being any letter of the alphabet, any
numeric digit, or the underline.

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 cont.
• Two rules must be kept in mind when naming
identifiers.

I. The case of alphabetic characters is significant.

Using INDEX for a variable name is not the same as
using index and neither of them is the same as using
InDeX for a variable name. All three refer to different
variables.
II. According to the ANSI-C standard, at least 31
significant characters can be used and will be
considered significant by a conforming ANSI-C
compiler. If more than 31 are used, all characters
beyond the 31st may be ignored by any given
compiler.

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 Data Types
• Data type is a set of values and a set of operation on those values.
• The 4 basic data type are as below:
– Int
• To represent integers in C
• -10500, 435, +15, -25, 34728
• int some_number=3;
– Double
• To represent real numbers in C
• 3.14159, 0.0005, 150.00
– Char
• To represent an individual character value in C
• A letter, a digit or special symbol
• ' B ', ' C ', ' * ', ' : ', ' “ '
• Object of data type can be variables or constants
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 30

Preprocessor Directives

Preprocessor Directives is a message from
programmer to the preprocessor.

It is a unique feature of C language.

A program can use the tools provided by
preprocessor to make his program easy to
read, modify, portable and more efficient.

Preprocessor directives follow the special
syntax rules and begin with the symbol #bin
column1 and do not require any semicolon at
the end. A set of commonly used preprocessor
directives.

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 Directive Function

#define Defines a macro substitution

#undef Undefines a macro

#include Specifies a file to be included

#ifdef Tests for macro definition

#endif Specifies the end of #if

#ifndef Tests whether the macro is not def
#if Tests a compile time condition
#else Specifies alternatives when # if test fails

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 End of Part 2

Thank you !

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