This document provides an overview of the basic structure and components of a C program. It discusses the main parts including preprocessor directives like #include and #define, comments, data types, variables, statements, functions, and input/output functions like printf, scanf, getchar and putchar. It explains that a C program requires a main function and can declare global variables and functions. The document also covers format specifiers and escape sequences used with functions like printf.
Structure Of aC Program
David Livingston J,
davidjlivingston@gmail.com &
Staff members of
Department of CE/IT, M.S.P.V.L PC
2.
Structure of aC program
#include <stdio.h>
void main (void)
{
printf(“nHello Worldn”);
}
Preprocessor directive (header file)
Program statement
#include <stdio.h>
#define VALUE 10
int global_var;
void main (void)
{
/* This is the beginning of the program */
int local_var;
local_var = 5;
global_var = local_var + VALUE;
printf (“Total sum is: %dn”, global_var); // Print out the result
}
} Preprocessor
directive
Global variable declaration
Comments
Local variable declaration
Variable definition
3.
Preprocessor Directives
• Thefirst statement to be checked by the compiler
• Preprocessor Directives always preceded with ‘#’ sign
• They contain information to the compiler which are required by
the compiler during compilation.
• There are a few compiler directives. But only 2 of them will be
discussed here.
– #include <stdio.h>
• Tells the compiler to include the file stdio.h during compilation
• Anything in the header file will be included a part of the program
– #define VALUE 10
• Tells the compiler to substitute the word VALUE with 10 during compilation
4.
Preprocessor Directives
#define PI3.141592654
main() {
…..
perimeter = 2*PI*radius;
area = PI*radius*radius;
…...
}
main() {
…..
perimeter = 2* 3.141592654 *radius;
area = 3.141592654 *radius*radius;
…...
}
The result of the compilation is the
same for both C program (One with
#define and the other without it).
Which one is preferred (less typing)?
Which one is more readable?
The one with constant definition using
#define preprocessor directive.
Before compilation, the pre-processor
will replace all PI with 3.141592654.
5.
Comments
• Comment meansexplanations or annotations that are
included in a program for documentation and
clarification purpose.
• Comments are completely ignored by the compiler
during compilation and have no effect on program
execution.
• Comments starts with ‘/*’ and ends with ‘*/’
• Some compiler support comments starting with ‘//’
6.
Basic Data Types
•There are 3 Basic data types in C:
– int (used to declare numeric program variables of integer type)
– char (used to declare character variable)
– double (used to declare floating point variable)
• In addition, there are float, void, short, long, etc.
• Variables are declared before they are used in a program.
Declaration specifies the type of a variable.
– Example: int local_var;
• Once defined variables are used for storing a value.
7.
Variable
• A variablecan be declared globally or locally.
• A globally declared variable can be accessed from
any part of the program.
• A locally declared variable can only be accessed
from inside the function in which the variable is
declared.
8.
Statements
• A specificationof an action to be taken by the
computer as the program executes is called a
Statement.
• In the previous example, there are 2 lines following
variable declaration that terminate with semicolon ‘;’
are statements:
global_var = local_var + VALUE;
printf (“Total sum is: %dn”, global_var);
• Each line is a statement that end with a semicolon is a
9.
Basic Functions
• AC program consists of one or more functions that contain
a group of statements which perform a specific task.
• A C program must at least have one function: the function
main.
• We can create our own function or use the functions that
has been declared in C library (called Predefined function).
• In order to use Predefined functions, we have to include
the appropriate header file (example: stdio.h).
10.
• In thissection, we will learn a few functions that are
pre-defined in the header file stdio.h
• These functions are:
– printf()
– scanf()
– getchar() & putchar()
• In addition to those functions, we will also learn about
Format Specifier and Escape Sequence which are
used with printf() and scanf().
11.
printf()
• Used tosend data to the standard output (usually the
monitor) to be printed according to specific format.
• General format:
– printf(“control string”, variables);
• Control string is a combination of text, format specifier
and escape sequence.
• Example:
– printf(“Thank you”);
– printf (“Total sum is: %dn”, global_var);
• %d is a format Specifier
• n is an escape sequence
12.
Format Specifier
No FormatSpecifier Output Type Output Example
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 notation) 7.6000e+01
9 %E Signed floating point (using E notation) 7.6000E+01
10 %g The shorter between %f and %e 76
11 %G The shorter between %f and %E 76
12 %x Character ‘7’
13 %s String ‘76'
Tells the printf() function the format of the output to be printed put.
13.
Escape Sequence
Escape SequenceEffect
a Beep sound
b Backspace
f Formfeed (for printing)
n New line
r Carriage return
t Tab
v Vertical tab
Backslash
” “ sign
o Octal decimal
x Hexadecimal
O NULL
Escape sequence is used in the printf() function to do something to
the output.
14.
scanf()
• Reads datafrom the standard input device (usually keyboard)
and store it in a variable. The General format is:
– scanf(“Control string”, &variable);
• The general format is pretty much the same as printf() except
that it passes the address of the variable (notice the & sign)
instead of the variable itself to the second function argument.
• Example:
int age;
printf(“Enter your age: “);
scanf(“%d”, &age);
15.
getchar() and putchar()
•getchar() - reads a character from standard input
• putchar() - writes a character to standard output
• Example:
#include <stdio.h>
void main(void)
{
char my_char;
printf(“Please type a character: “);
my_char = getchar();
printf(“nYou have typed this character: “);
putchar(my_char);
}