C Programming Language Tutorial

C language Tutorial with programming approach for beginners and professionals, helps you
to understand the C language tutorial easily. Our C tutorial explains each topic with
programs.

The C Language is developed by Dennis Ritchie for creating system applications that directly
interact with the hardware devices such as drivers, kernels, etc.

C programming is considered as the base for other programming languages, that is why it is
known as mother language.

It can be defined by the following ways:

1. Mother language
2. System programming language
3. Procedure-oriented programming language
4. Structured programming language
5. Mid-level programming language

1) C as a mother language
C language is considered as the mother language of all the modern programming languages
because most of the compilers, JVMs, Kernels, etc. are written in C language, and most
of the programming languages follow C syntax, for example, C++, Java, C#, etc.

It provides the core concepts like the array, strings, functions, file handling, etc. that are being
used in many languages like C++, Java, C#, etc.

2) C as a system programming language

A system programming language is used to create system software. C language is a system
programming language because it can be used to do low-level programming (for example
driver and kernel). It is generally used to create hardware devices, OS, drivers, kernels, etc.
For example, Linux kernel is written in C.

It can't be used for internet programming like Java, .Net, PHP, etc.

3) C as a procedural language
A procedure is known as a function, method, routine, subroutine, etc. A procedural language
specifies a series of steps for the program to solve the problem.

A procedural language breaks the program into functions, data structures, etc.

C is a procedural language. In C, variables and function prototypes must be declared before

being used.

4) C as a structured programming language

A structured programming language is a subset of the procedural language. Structure means
to break a program into parts or blocks so that it may be easy to understand.

In the C language, we break the program into parts using functions. It makes the program
easier to understand and modify.

5) C as a mid-level programming language

C is considered as a middle-level language because it supports the feature of both low-level
and high-level languages. C language program is converted into assembly code, it supports
pointer arithmetic (low-level), but it is machine independent (a feature of high-level).

A Low-level language is specific to one machine, i.e., machine dependent. It is machine

dependent, fast to run. But it is not easy to understand.

A High-Level language is not specific to one machine, i.e., machine independent. It is easy
to understand.

C Program
In this tutorial, all C programs are given with C compiler so that you can quickly change the
C program code.

File: main.c

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

printf("Hello C Programming\n");

return 0;
 }

A detailed description of above program is given in next chapters.

History of C Language

History of C language is interesting to know. Here we are going to discuss a brief history of
the c language.

C programming language was developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at bell laboratories of

AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph), located in the U.S.A.

Dennis Ritchie is known as the founder of the c language.

It was developed to overcome the problems of previous languages such as B, BCPL, etc.

Initially, C language was developed to be used in UNIX operating system. It inherits many
features of previous languages such as B and BCPL.

Let's see the programming languages that were developed before C language.

Language Year Developed By

Algol 1960 International Group

BCPL 1967 Martin Richard

B 1970 Ken Thompson

Traditional C 1972 Dennis Ritchie

K&RC 1978 Kernighan & Dennis Ritchie

ANSI C 1989 ANSI Committee

ANSI/ISO C 1990 ISO Committee

C99 1999 Standardization Committee

History of C Language

History of C language is interesting to know. Here we are going to discuss a brief history of
the c language.
C programming language was developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at bell laboratories of
AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph), located in the U.S.A.

Dennis Ritchie is known as the founder of the c language.

It was developed to overcome the problems of previous languages such as B, BCPL, etc.

Initially, C language was developed to be used in UNIX operating system. It inherits many
features of previous languages such as B and BCPL.

Let's see the programming languages that were developed before C language.

Language Year Developed By

Algol 1960 International Group

BCPL 1967 Martin Richard

B 1970 Ken Thompson

Traditional C 1972 Dennis Ritchie

K&RC 1978 Kernighan & Dennis Ritchie

ANSI C 1989 ANSI Committee

ANSI/ISO C 1990 ISO Committee

C99 1999 Standardization Committee

Features of C Language

C is the widely used language. It provides many features that are given below.

1. Simple
2. Machine Independent or Portable
3. Mid-level programming language
4. structured programming language
5. Rich Library
6. Memory Management
7. Fast Speed
8. Pointers
9. Recursion
10. Extensible

1) Simple
C is a simple language in the sense that it provides a structured approach (to break the
problem into parts), the rich set of library functions, data types, etc.

2) Machine Independent or Portable

Unlike assembly language, c programs can be executed on different machines with some
machine specific changes. Therefore, C is a machine independent language.

3) Mid-level programming language

Although, C is intended to do low-level programming. It is used to develop system
applications such as kernel, driver, etc. It also supports the features of a high-level
language. That is why it is known as mid-level language.

4) Structured programming language

C is a structured programming language in the sense that we can break the program into
parts using functions. So, it is easy to understand and modify. Functions also provide code
reusability.

5) Rich Library
C provides a lot of inbuilt functions that make the development fast.

6) Memory Management
It supports the feature of dynamic memory allocation. In C language, we can free the
allocated memory at any time by calling the free() function.

7) Speed
The compilation and execution time of C language is fast since there are lesser inbuilt
functions and hence the lesser overhead.
8) Pointer
C provides the feature of pointers. We can directly interact with the memory by using the
pointers. We can use pointers for memory, structures, functions, array, etc.

9) Recursion
In C, we can call the function within the function. It provides code reusability for every
function. Recursion enables us to use the approach of backtracking.

10) Extensible
C language is extensible because it can easily adopt new features.

First C Program
Before starting the abcd of C language, you need to learn how to write, compile and run the
first c program.

To write the first c program, open the C console and write the following code:

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main(){

3. printf("Hello C Language");
4. return 0;

5. }

#include <stdio.h> includes the standard input output library functions. The printf()
function is defined in stdio.h .

int main() The main() function is the entry point of every program in c language.

printf() The printf() function is used to print data on the console.

return 0 The return 0 statement, returns execution status to the OS. The 0 value is used for
successful execution and 1 for unsuccessful execution.

How to compile and run the c program

There are 2 ways to compile and run the c program, by menu and by shortcut.

By menu

Now click on the compile menu then compile sub menu to compile the c program.

Then click on the run menu then run sub menu to run the c program.

By shortcut

Or, press ctrl+f9 keys compile and run the program directly.

You will see the following output on user screen.

You can view the user screen any time by pressing the alt+f5 keys.

Now press Esc to return to the turbo c++ console.

Compilation process in c
What is a compilation?
The compilation is a process of converting the source code into object code. It is done with
the help of the compiler. The compiler checks the source code for the syntactical or structural
errors, and if the source code is error-free, then it generates the object code.

The c compilation process converts the source code taken as input into the object code or
machine code. The compilation process can be divided into four steps, i.e., Pre-processing,
Compiling, Assembling, and Linking.

The preprocessor takes the source code as an input, and it removes all the comments from the
source code. The preprocessor takes the preprocessor directive and interprets it. For example,
if <stdio.h>, the directive is available in the program, then the preprocessor interprets the
directive and replace this directive with the content of the 'stdio.h' file.

The following are the phases through which our program passes before being transformed
into an executable form:

 Preprocessor
 Compiler
 Assembler
 Linker
Preprocessor

The source code is the code which is written in a text editor and the source code file is given
an extension ".c". This source code is first passed to the preprocessor, and then the
preprocessor expands this code. After expanding the code, the expanded code is passed to the
compiler.

Compiler

The code which is expanded by the preprocessor is passed to the compiler. The compiler
converts this code into assembly code. Or we can say that the C compiler converts the pre-
processed code into assembly code.

Assembler

The assembly code is converted into object code by using an assembler. The name of the
object file generated by the assembler is the same as the source file. The extension of the
object file in DOS is '.obj,' and in UNIX, the extension is 'o'. If the name of the source file is
'hello.c', then the name of the object file would be 'hello.obj'.

Linker

Mainly, all the programs written in C use library functions. These library functions are pre-
compiled, and the object code of these library files is stored with '.lib' (or '.a') extension. The
main working of the linker is to combine the object code of library files with the object code
of our program. Sometimes the situation arises when our program refers to the functions
defined in other files; then linker plays a very important role in this. It links the object code of
these files to our program. Therefore, we conclude that the job of the linker is to link the
object code of our program with the object code of the library files and other files. The output
of the linker is the executable file. The name of the executable file is the same as the source
file but differs only in their extensions. In DOS, the extension of the executable file is '.exe',
and in UNIX, the executable file can be named as 'a.out'. For example, if we are using printf()
function in a program, then the linker adds its associated code in an output file.

Let's understand through an example.

hello.c

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()

3. {
4. printf("Hello javaTpoint");

5. return 0;
6. }

Now, we will create a flow diagram of the above program:

In the above flow diagram, the following steps are taken to execute a program:

 Firstly, the input file, i.e., hello.c, is passed to the preprocessor, and the preprocessor
converts the source code into expanded source code. The extension of the expanded source
code would be hello.i.
 The expanded source code is passed to the compiler, and the compiler converts this
expanded source code into assembly code. The extension of the assembly code would be
hello.s.
 This assembly code is then sent to the assembler, which converts the assembly code into
object code.
 After the creation of an object code, the linker creates the executable file. The loader will
then load the executable file for the execution.

printf() and scanf() in C

The printf() and scanf() functions are used for input and output in C language. Both functions
are inbuilt library functions, defined in stdio.h (header file).

printf() function

The printf() function is used for output. It prints the given statement to the console.

The syntax of printf() function is given below:

1. printf("format string",argument_list);

The format string can be %d (integer), %c (character), %s (string), %f (float) etc.

scanf() function

The scanf() function is used for input. It reads the input data from the console.

1. scanf("format string",argument_list);

Program to print cube of given number

Let's see a simple example of c language that gets input from the user and prints the cube of
the given number.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){

3. int number;
4. printf("enter a number:");

5. scanf("%d",&number);
6. printf("cube of number is:%d ",number*number*number);
 7. return 0;
8. }

Output

enter a number:5
cube of number is:125

The scanf("%d",&number) statement reads integer number from the console and stores the
given value in number variable.

The printf("cube of number is:%d ",number*number*number) statement prints the cube

of number on the console.

Program to print sum of 2 numbers

Let's see a simple example of input and output in C language that prints addition of 2
numbers.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){

3. int x=0,y=0,result=0;
4.

5. printf("enter first number:");

6. scanf("%d",&x);

7. printf("enter second number:");

8. scanf("%d",&y);

9.
10. result=x+y;

11. printf("sum of 2 numbers:%d ",result);

12.

13. return 0;
14. }

Output

enter first number:9

enter second number:9
sum of 2 numbers:18