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Questions and Answers
Who developed the C programming language?
Who developed the C programming language?
Dennis Ritchie
What are some common uses of the C programming language? (Select all that apply)
What are some common uses of the C programming language? (Select all that apply)
C is a structured programming language.
C is a structured programming language.
True
What does the preprocessor directive #include do in a C program?
What does the preprocessor directive #include do in a C program?
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A C program is platform dependent.
A C program is platform dependent.
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How many keywords does the C programming language have?
How many keywords does the C programming language have?
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Which of the following are valid identifiers in C? (Select all that apply)
Which of the following are valid identifiers in C? (Select all that apply)
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What does the function printf() do?
What does the function printf() do?
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Match the following format specifiers with their descriptions:
Match the following format specifiers with their descriptions:
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In C programming, _________ is used to define the body of the function.
In C programming, _________ is used to define the body of the function.
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What does the escape sequence '
' do?
What does the escape sequence ' ' do?
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Study Notes
C Development and Use
- Developed by Dennis Ritchie at AT&T Laboratories in 1972.
- Originally meant for the UNIX operating system.
- Foundation for several programming languages.
- Applications include operating systems, compilers, assemblers, editors, network drivers, utilities, embedded systems, and general-purpose programs.
C Programming Language Features
- Structured programming language.
- Highly portable - Programs operate independent of platform and operating system choice.
- Blends high-level language features with bit manipulation capabilities.
- Fast compilation and execution speeds.
- Extensible by adding functions to its base set.
- Relatively easy to learn - Consists of only 32 keywords.
C Program Structure
- Comments are optional and ignored by the compiler.
- Preprocessor directive #include is used to access header files (files with extension .h), containing macro definitions and declarations of common C functions.
- The main() function is essential to all C programs.
- Global/local declarations indicate memory requirements.
- Brackets { } group statements and define function bodies - One opening bracket { requires a closing } bracket.
- The return 0; statement ends the program and returns 0 to the operating system indicating normal termination. A non-zero value like 1 indicates abnormal termination.
- C is case-sensitive.
C Language Elements
Character Set
- Alphabets: Uppercase (A-Z) and Lowercase (a-z).
- Digits: 0-9.
- Special characters: ~-'!@#%^&*()_-+=|{}[]:;"',.?/.
- White space characters: Space, newline, horizontal tab, carriage return, form feed.
Keywords (Reserved Words)
- Strictly lowercase.
- Cannot be used as identifiers.
Identifiers
- User-defined names for variables, functions, constants, and other program entities.
- Case-sensitive.
- Must contain letters (uppercase and lowercase), digits, and underscores (_).
- Cannot begin with a digit (0-9).
- Underscore can be used as the first character (e.g., _result).
- Special characters are restricted to underscores.
- Keywords cannot be used as identifiers.
- Length limits are compiler dependent.
- Identifier names should be descriptive, meaningful, and unique.
Function printf()
- Built-in C function for output operations (displaying data on screen, sending to printer or file).
- Defined in the “stdio.h” header file, which must be included when using the function.
Syntax
- printf(“format_string”, variable1, variable2, variable3,...);
Format String Components
- Plain characters: Displayed on the screen as they are.
- Format specifiers: Placeholders replaced by variable values, starting with % followed by a data type code matching the variable data type (e.g., %c for a character variable). There must be one format specifier for each variable, and they are replaced sequentially.
- Escape sequences: Control cursor or insertion point.
Format Specifiers
- Format specifier | Description | Supported data types ------------------- | --------------- | ---------------------------------------- %c | Character | char, unsigned char %d | Signed integer | short, unsigned short, int, long %e or %E | Scientific notation of float values | float, double %f | Floating point | float, double %g or %G | Similar as %e or %E | float, double %i | Signed integer | short, unsigned short, int, long %l or %ld or %li | Signed integer | long %lf | Floating point | double %Lf | Floating point | long double %lu | Unsigned integer | unsigned int, unsigned long %o | Octal representation of integer | short, unsigned short, int, unsigned int, long %p | Address of pointer to void | void * %s | String | char * %u | Unsigned integer | short, unsigned short, int, unsigned int, long %x or %X | Hexadecimal representation of unsigned integer | short, unsigned short, int, unsigned int, long %% | Prints % character |
Escape Sequences
- Escape Sequence | Name | Description ------------------- | ---------------| -------- \a | Alert | Sounds a beep \b | Backspace | Backs up 1 character \f | Form feed | Starts a new screen or page \n | New line | Moves to the beginning of the next line \r | Carriage return | Moves to the beginning of the current line \t | Horizontal tab | Moves to the next tab position \v | Vertical tab | Moves down a fixed amount \ | Back slash | Prints a back slash ' | Single quotation | Prints a single quotation " | Double quotation | Prints a double quotation ? | Question mark | Prints a question mark
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Description
This quiz covers key aspects of the C programming language, including its development, features, and structure. Designed by Dennis Ritchie, C laid the foundation for many programming languages and is known for its portability and efficiency. Test your knowledge of this vital language.
