What is Programming Language ? and Introduction to C Programming.

 

C Programming Tutorial

C is a procedural and general-purpose programming language that is used most widely for system programming. Dennis Ritchie initially developed C between 1972 and 1973 at Bell Labs.  American National Standard Institute (ANSI) later formalized this programming language in 1988. The initial purpose of the development of the C programming language was to make utilities of the UNIX-based operating system. Directly or indirectly many other computer programming languages have taken/borrowed features from the C programming language. Program written in C can be very efficiently mapped to machine instructions which make C programming very much popular to use for any embedded software application development which runs on a microcontroller.

Why do we need to learn C?

• C is the most widely and commonly used programming language to develop different operating systems. Popular operating systems like UNIX and LINUX are written in C.
• C program allows programs to maintain portable and compact code along with maintaining performance and minimizing CPU constraints like memory and execution time etc.
• C programming language allows programmers to control memory allocation and reallocation which will be very helpful while working with software development for small embedded systems.
• C is a middle-level language and very fast in terms of execution compared to other programming languages.
• Different algorithms and data structures can be implemented using C language very efficiently which can be used in many software applications.
• Due to the portability feature of the C programming language, the C program written for one computer platform can easily be run on different other platforms with very little modification in code.
• Various compilers that are used for other programming languages can be very efficiently designed and developed using the C programming language.

Applications of C

• To develop and design system software like compilers for other programming languages.
• To develop different operating systems for embedded devices and kernels.
• To develop graphics-related software like gaming applications.
• To design and develop network device software.
• To develop a software system where memory and execution time is constraint like software for microcontrollers which is mainly used for small embedded systems.
• Used for systems that require direct access/modification of data from memory.

Introduction to C

C is the commonly used system programming language that can be applied to any kind of system development, such as for a system application development process, a software application development process, or even for web-based application development. It works with an in-built compiler, as it works on converting C from being a programming language into a machine-readable coded language. It is the most preferred language for decades now due to its high performance, remarkable efficiency, and portability.

Prerequisites for learning C Language

You need to know nothing much before starting learning C. Basic knowledge about logic building skills, and mathematics are enough to start learning it.

Understanding C

There are a fixed structure and syntax for writing a program in any language, and writing it in any other form will give a compilation error. It means that we have a fixed structure for writing a C program as well.

Structure of C

Uses

• Operating Systems: It is used to program Operating systems like Windows, Linux, Mac. Kernel, which is also known as a central part of an OS, is mostly developed in the C language.
• Mobile Phone: Mobile phone kernels are also written using this language. So, the smartphones which we have in our hands all the time are running on C kernel.
• Mobile Applications: Languages like C++, C#, Objective-C is derived from it and are used to make phone and web applications.
• Databases: Many popular databases like MySQL, Oracle Database, MS SQL Server are written using this language.
• 3D movies, Animation, Computer Graphics: Applications that make 3D movies, Animation, Computer Graphics need to be fast and efficient. Therefore, we code these applications in C, as it is very efficient and fast.
• Embedded Systems: Embedded systems like Mp3 player, Alarm clock, radio, microwave, coffee making machine, sensors in the car, etc., are coded and programmed in C.

Advantages

Below are the advantages:

• Portable: Its portability allows code to run on different computers and different operating systems without making any changes.
• Efficient: It is a general-purpose programming language. Therefore it works efficiently.
• Case-sensitive: You need to be very careful while writing the code as it treats lowercase and uppercase letter differently.
• Memory Manipulation and allocation: It can manipulate arbitrary memory addresses. It also allows allocating the memory dynamically.
• Middle-level language: It merges the features of both low-level and high-level languages in itself.

Therefore, it can be used for both:

1. Low-level programming:  Like in the development of Kernels
2. High-level programming: Like in the development of applications.

• Structured programming language: It is a structured programming language. Therefore, a complex program can be broken into different functions.
• Ability to extend itself: Since the library supports it, it allows us to add our own functions to its library.

Why should we use C Language?

We should use this language because of the following reasons:

• First, it makes the code size small.
• It is efficient, portable, structured, and well understood.
• It has only 32 keywords that are easy to remember.
• It is near to Assembly language as code is written in C language runs as fast as code written in assembly language.
• It has Pointers that connect hardware like kernel, drivers to a system; because of this reason, C will always be in use.

Scope

Though many people do not use it, it is still one of the most valuable and sought skills. Moreover, it is worth learning it because there is a lack of C programmers, and work is not less.