The C Programming Language: Comprehensive Guide

C Language

The C programming language is one of the most popular and widely used in the IT industry.

Created in the 1970s by Dennis Ritchie, it has been used to build operating systems such as Windows and Linux, desktop applications, system software, drivers, and firmware.

The C language was designed to be portable, efficient, and flexible. It is a low-level language that allows direct access to computer memory, but also a high-level language that enables writing complex programs.

In this comprehensive guide to the C language, we will learn how to program in C from the basics to more advanced concepts.

The following table summarizes the main features of the C language:

Feature Description
First version year 1972
Programming paradigm Imperative, Procedural, Structured
Designed by Dennis Ritchie
Typing Static, Manifest, Nominal, Weak
Compilation Compiled
Memory management Manual
Platform Cross-platform
Standard C89, C99, C11, C17, C23
File extension .c, .h
Table 1: Main features of the C language

The following table lists the main C language compilers:

Compiler Description
GCC Most widely used open-source C and C++ compiler
Clang Open-source C and C++ compiler
Visual Studio Microsoft's C and C++ compiler
Intel C++ Compiler Intel's C and C++ compiler
C++Builder C and C++ compiler by Embarcadero (formerly Borland)
Table 2: Main C language compilers

Fundamentals

  1. A First Program in C
  2. The Anatomy of a C program
  3. Comments
  4. Variables
  5. Reading Keyboard Input
  6. Defining Constants
  7. Identifiers
  8. Tokens
  9. Programs and Processes
  10. Introduction to the printf Function
  11. Introduction to the scanf Function

Expressions

  1. Introduction to Expressions
  2. Assignment Operators
  3. Increment and Decrement Operators
  4. Evaluation of Expressions
  5. Expressions as Statements
  6. Logical Expressions

Conditional Statements

  1. if Statement
  2. switch Statement
  3. Conditional Expressions
  4. Boolean Data Type

Iteration Statements

  1. while loop
  2. do-while loop
  3. for loop
  4. Exiting loops
  5. goto Statement
  6. Null Statement

Basic Types

  1. Integer types
  2. Integer Constants
  3. Reading and Writing Integers
  4. Integer Overflow
  5. Floating Point types
  6. Floating Point Constants
  7. Reading and Writing Floating Point Numbers
  8. char Type
  9. Functions for Characters
  10. Type Conversion
  11. Type Casting
  12. Defining Types with typedef
  13. sizeof Operator

Static Arrays

  1. Static One Dimensional Arrays
  2. Static Multidimensional Arrays
  3. Variable Length Arrays in C99

Functions and Scope

  1. Introduction to Functions
  2. Defining Functions
  3. Invoking Functions
  4. Function Declarations
  5. Functions and Arguments
  6. Arrays as Function Arguments
  7. Functions and Return Values
  8. Functions with a Variable Number of Arguments
  9. Local Variables
  10. Global Variables
  11. Code Blocks
  12. Variables Visibility or Scope
  13. Pure and Impure Functions and Side Effects
  14. Function Call Stack
  15. Recursive Functions

Pointers

  1. Introduction to the Memory and Pointers
  2. Pointers
  3. Pointers as Function Arguments
  4. Pointers as Return Values of Functions
  5. Pointer Arithmetic
  6. Pointers and Arrays
  7. Pointers and Multidimensional Arrays
  8. NULL Pointers
  9. void Pointers

Strings

  1. Introduction to Strings
  2. String variables
  3. Printing and Reading Strings
  4. Accessing Characters of a String
  5. Copying Strings
  6. Determining the Length of a String
  7. Concatenating Strings
  8. Comparing Strings
  9. String Arrays
  10. Command Line Arguments

Preprocessor

  1. Introduction to the Preprocessor
  2. Defining Macros
  3. Parametric Macros
  4. Operators for Macros
  5. General Properties of Macros
  6. Details on Macros Syntax
  7. Predefined Macros
  8. Macros with Variable Number of Arguments
  9. Conditional Compilation
  10. Miscellaneous Preprocessor Directives

Structures, Unions and Enumerations

  1. Struct Variables
  2. Struct as Data Type
  3. Structures and Functions
  4. Nested Structures and Arrays
  5. Structures and Pointers
  6. Unions
  7. Enumerations

Source Code Organization

  1. Source Files and the Compilation Process
  2. Introduction to Header Files
  3. Writing Header Files
  4. Nested Header Files
  5. General Schema of a Header File

Pointers: Advanced Concepts

  1. Dynamic Memory Allocation
  2. Dynamic String allocation
  3. Dynamic Array allocation
  4. Dynamic Memory Access Functions: Under construction
  5. Pointers to Pointers
  6. Dynamic String Arrays: Under construction
  7. Function Pointers
  8. Function Pointers as Function Arguments
  9. Restricted Pointers
  10. Flexible Array Members in C99

Declarations

  1. Declarations and their syntax
  2. Storage Classes
  3. Storage Classes for Functions
  4. Summary on Storage Classes
  5. Type Qualifiers
  6. Declarators
  7. Initializers
  8. Inline Functions

Low-Level Programming

  1. Bitwise Operators
  2. Accessing Individual Bits

Input and Output

  1. Introduction to Input/Output and Streams
  2. Text Files and Binary Files
  3. Opening a File
  4. Closing a File
  5. Passing File Names as Command Line Arguments
  6. Temporary Files
  7. Files and Buffering
  8. Deleting or Renaming a File
  9. Formatted Input and Output
  10. Detecting End of File and I/O Errors
  11. Character Input and Output
  12. Line Input and Output
  13. Binary Input and Output
  14. File Positioning
  15. String Input and Output
  16. Format Specifiers for Output
  17. Format Specifiers for Input

Error Handling and Diagnostics

  1. Assertions
  2. Static Assertions
  3. Introduction to Error Handling
  4. The Global Variable errno
  5. The perror and strerror Functions

Mathematical Features

  1. Determining the Characteristics of Floating Point Numbers
  2. Determining the Characteristics of Integers
  3. The Standard Mathematical Library
  4. The Mathematical Execution Environment: Floating Point Environment
  5. Standard Library Mathematical Functions
  6. Rounding and Remainder Mathematical Functions
  7. Comparison Functions for Floating Point Numbers
  8. Classification and Manipulation Functions for Floating Point Numbers