Getting Started in C

3 top reasons for learning C:

• Good base for learning C++,C# or Java later.
• Unix,Linux,Windows,Gaming frameworks are written in C.
• C offers better interaction with H/W.

Constants = literals-> cannot change.

Variable=identifiers->May change.

Types of variables:

• Primary
• Secondary

Types of primary variables:

• Integer variables
• Real/float variables
• Character variables

Types of constants:

• Primary
• Secondary

Types of primary constants:

• Integer constants
• Real/float constant
• Character constants

Ranges:

1. 2 byte integers: -32768 to +32767
2. 4 bytes integers: -2147483648 to +2147483647
3. float: -3.4*10^38 to +3.4*10^38

• In a char constant both quotes must slant to the left like ‘A’.

Variable has two meanings:

1. It is an entity whose value can change
2. It is a name given to a location in memory

• Variable names are case sensitive and must begin with an alphabet.
• Total keywords = 32 .e.g char,int,float etc.
• printf( ) is a function that can print multiple constants and variables.
• Formate specifiers in printf( ),scanf( ): int- %i, float- %f,char- %c.
• main( ) is a function that must always return an integer value: 0- if it meets success, 1 – if it encounters failure.
• Use /*………*/ for a comment in a program.
• & is ‘address of’ operator and must be used before a variable in scanf( ).

Source: “Let Us C’ by Yashavant Kanetkar