Baby Steps In C Programming

C is one of most used Programming language till date. It is one of the most powerful language and mother of many modern Programming language (eg. Python , Ruby)

🍭 C is a compiled language, unlike Python or Ruby , C programs must be translated from human readable code to machine readable code.

The program which translates human readable C code to machine readable code is called a compiler

You'll be Astonished to know that the most Compilers of C (eg. GCC) is also written in C

You'll find people who says , C is so hard but i say nothing is hard it just needs a good teacher to explain everything.

So without further talking let's take our first step in the world of C Programming.

Setting Up Workspace

As i mentioned earlier C is a compiled language so you need a compiler such as GCC to compile C programs.

Today we'll be using Repl.it to compile and Run C programs online.

If You want to run and compile C Programs in Your local device Read This Article

To Run and Compile C programs online without installing anything , Use REPL.it

When Opening Repl.it you'll see a sample program is already written in the left pan. Clear it first.

Writing Traditional Hello World

As I mentioned earlier Hello World is traditional program which every programmer Writes at first when learning new language. Which just prints Hello World text in a console window

Hello World program in C is a bit longer than Python or Ruby.

Let's Write

#include<stdio.h>

int main()
{
    printf("Hello World\n");
    return 0;
}

Write the above code in the left pane of repl.it or if using Local device , write the above script in a file called hello.c and execute the command in terminal

gcc -o hello hello.c

If you're in repl.it click the *Run * button and if on local device execute this command

./hello if on a linux or Mac Device
Or
hello on MS Windows Device

If everything is fine, you'll see a Hello World text in console/terminal

If there's any problem, feel free to let me know in the comments bellow 👇

Otherwise Let's Go To The Next Chapter

Understanding The Hello World Program

Writing code without understanding it is really useless. Copying-Pasting will not work forever.
So, Let's Try to Understand The Above Code.

Let's Try To Understand From First Line

#include<stdio.h>

It includes instructions for C compiler and the definition of printf , this is like a dictionary for a C Compilers, from this Compilers know what to do with printf

Let's Step in the next line, We'll find this,

int main()

int is the acronym of integer

here main() is a function , everything inside a function is taken as a instructions , from this our program knows what to do. There may be other functions , but main() is a special function , in every program this function is executed first.

And this () parentheses help Compilers identify that it is a function.

Functions are like a jar which contains some special instructions of what to do.

In the next line we'll find { a curly brace , it denotes the begining of a function , it's like a the lid of a jar.

In the next line we'll find

printf("Hello World");

printf is a also like a function but pre-defined , things inside its quotation marks will be written in. Console window when we'll run our program.

Parentheses () denotes the begining and ending of the printf function

We see a Text , Hello World\n inside quotation marks this is the text which will be written in console window and at the end there's a \n which tells our program to start a new line and put the cursor in the new line.

Try changing the text and running it

Actually it's not necessary but it is necessary when working with a program which needs to print two or more lines. But you should keep it as a good practice.

You'll see a semicolon ; at the end of line, it's not for style, it's necessary , it helps compiler to understand that this line has ended now.

in the next line we'll find

return 0;

which is not actually for us , but for machine it returns 0 to the machine, and that's how machine understand that the program ran successfully and now ending.

If a program returns a number other than, Computer will think that it has not run successfully. Try Changing it and running it.

And finaly at the end , } ending curly brace denotes that our main function is ended.

Must Read This Comment : https://dev.to/tux0r/comment/4o9i

So guys that's for now, if you've any questions or got any problems please let me know in the comments below 👇

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