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C: History
When writing an OS kernel, efficiency is crucial This requires low-level access to the underlying hardware:
e.g. programmer can leverage knowledge of how data is laid out in memory, to enable faster data access
UNIX originally written in low-level assembly language but there were problems:
No structured programming (e.g. encapsulating routines as functions, methods, etc.) code hard to maintain Code worked only for particular hardware not portable
C: Characteristics
Direct access to memory layout through pointer manipulation Concise syntax, small set of keywords
Block structure Some encapsulation of code, via functions Type checking (pretty weak)
C: Dangers
Cant hide data as private or protected fields You can follow standards to write C code that looks object-oriented, but you have to be disciplined will the other people working on your code also be disciplined?
Low-level tricks may make your C code run well on one platform but the tricks might not work elsewhere
The compiler and runtime system will rarely stop your C program from doing stupid/bad things
Compile-time type checking is weak No run-time checks for array bounds errors, etc. like in Java
CS 3090: Safety Critical Programming in C
Separate compilation
A C program consists of source code in one or more files Each source file is run through the preprocessor and compiler, resulting in a file containing object code Object files are tied together by the linker to form a single executable program
Source code file1.c Source code file2.c
Preprocessor/ Compiler Preprocessor/ Compiler
Libraries
Linker
Separate compilation
When modifying a program, a programmer typically edits only a few source code files at a time. With separate compilation, only the files that have been edited since the last compilation need to be recompiled when re-building the program. For very large programs, this can save a lot of time.
To compile and link a C program that is contained entirely in one source file: cc program.c The executable program is called a.out by default. If you dont like this name, choose another using the o option: cc program.c o exciting_executable To compile and link several C source files: cc main.c extra.c more.c This will produce object (.o) files, that you can use in a later compilation: cc main.o extra.o more.c Here, only more.c will be compiled the main.o and extra.o files
will be used for linking.
To produce object files, without linking, use -c: cc c main.c extra.c more.c
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The preprocessor
The preprocessor takes your source code and following certain directives that you give it tweaks it in various ways before compilation. A directive is given as a line of source code starting with the # symbol The preprocessor works in a very crude, wordprocessor way, simply cutting and pasting it doesnt really know anything about C!
Your source code Enhanced and obfuscated source code Object code
Preprocessor
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Compiler
CS 3090: Safety Critical Programming in C
Input
First line: pairs of nonnegative integers, separated by whitespace, then terminated by a negative integer x1 y1 x2 y2 xn yn -1 Each subsequent line: a string of characters For each string S, output substrings of S:
Output
First, the substring starting at location x1 and ending at y1; Next, the substring starting at location x2 and ending at y2; Finally, the substring starting at location xn and ending at xn.
Sample input/output
Initial input: 0 2 5 7 10 12 -1 Next input line: deep C diving Output: deeC ding Next input line: excitement! Output: exceme! continue ad nauseum Terminate with ctrl-D (signals end of keyboard input)
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Use of comments
/* ** This program reads input lines from the standard input and prints ** each input line, followed by just some portions of the lines, to
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Comments on comments
Dont use /* */ to comment out code it wont work if the commented-out code contains comments
/* Comment out the following code int f(int x) { return x+42; /* return the result */ } */ This will not!
Anyway, commenting out code is confusing, and dangerous (easy to forget about) avoid it
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Preprocessor directives
#include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h>
The #include directives paste the contents of the files stdio.h, stdlib.h and string.h into your source code, at the very place where the directives appear. These files contain information about some library functions used in the program:
stdio stands for standard I/O, stdlib stands for standard library, and string.h includes useful string
manipulation functions.
Preprocessor directives
#define MAX_COLS 20 #define MAX_INPUT 1000
every instance of MAX_COLS is replaced with 20, and every instance of MAX_INPUT is replaced with 1000.
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Function prototypes
int void read_column_numbers( int columns[], int max ); rearrange( char *output, char const *input, int n_columns, int const columns[] );
These look like function definitions they have the name and all the type information but each ends abruptly with a semicolon. Wheres the body of the function what does it actually do? (Note that each function does have a real definition, later in the program.)
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Function prototypes
Q: Why are these needed, if the functions are defined later in the program anyway? A: C programs are typically arranged in top-down order, so functions are used (called) before theyre defined.
(Note that the function main() includes a call to read_column_numbers().) When the compiler sees a call to read_column_numbers() , it must check whether the call is valid (the right number and types of parameters, and the right return type). But it hasnt seen the definition of read_column_numbers() yet!
The prototype gives the compiler advance information about the function thats being called.
Of course, the prototype and the later function definition must match in terms of type information.
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execution.
int main( void ) {
void indicates that the function takes no arguments int indicates that the function returns an integer value Q: Integer value? Isnt the program just printing out some stuff and then exiting? Whats there to return? A: Through returning particular values, the program can indicate whether it terminated nicely or badly; the operating system can react accordingly.
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printf()
FormatString: String of text to print Exprs: Values to print FormatString has placeholders to show where to put the values (note: #placeholders should match #Exprs)
Placeholders:
%f (print as floating-point)
Text line printed only when \n encountered Dont forget \n when printing final results
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return EXIT_SUCCESS;
EXIT_SUCCESS is a constant defined in stdlib ; returning this value signifies successful termination. Contrast this with the exit statement in the function read_column_numbers():
EXIT_FAILURE is another constant, signifying that something bad happened requiring termination. exit differs from return in that execution terminates immediately control is not passed back to the calling function main().
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In this program, the notions of string, array, and pointer seem to be somewhat interchangeable:
In main(), an array of characters is declared, for purposes of holding the input string:
char input[MAX_INPUT];
Yet when its passed in as an argument to the rearrange() function, input has morphed into a pointer to a character (char *):
void rearrange( char *output, char const *input,
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A pointer is simply a memory address. The type char * pointer to character signifies that the data at the pointers address is to be interpreted as a character. An array is simply a pointer of a special kind:
The array pointer is assumed to point to the first of a sequence of data items stored sequentially in memory. How do you get to the other array elements? By incrementing the pointer value.
A string is simply an array of characters unlike Java, which has a predefined String class.
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o
(char)
i
(char)
n
(char)
t
(char)
e
(char)
r
(char)
NUL
(char)
input What is input? Its a string! Its a pointer to char! Its an array of char!
How do we get to the n? Follow the input pointer, then hop 3 to the right *(input + 3) - or input[3]
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