C Language – Programming Basics (C1)

Programming, C, C++

Created in the early 1970s by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs, C was built as a low-level, portable and efficient language to implement operating systems such as Unix. Interpreted languages like Python also rely on C for core implementations.

This course is updated to the C23 standard and offers a practical, platform-agnostic introduction to C. You will learn the toolchain, the standard library, and core concepts used in embedded and operating system development.

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The course:

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• Introduction to the C programming language
1. Language and library according to C23 and POSIX.1-2024
2. Historical perspective on C and UNIX
3. Modern industrial applications

• Working with the toolchain
1. Building programs
2. Compiler and linker options
3. Debugging compilation errors

• Basic input and output
1. Formatted output with printf
2. Streams for input and output
3. Reading with scanf and fgets

• Variables and expressions
1. Local variables and constants
2. Numeric types and operations
3. Expressions and operators

• Structured data types
1. Fixed-size arrays
2. Simple structs
3. Variable initialization

• Structured programming
1. Loops and branching (while, if)
2. Iterating structures (for)
3. Loop control (break, continue)

• Splitting programs into functions
1. Defining and calling functions
2. Arguments and return values
3. Passing structured data

• Enumerations and branching
1. Branching by enum value (switch)
2. Anonymous enums and constants
3. Using enums for flags

• Basic error handling
1. Checking return values
2. Return codes and error codes
3. Different responses to errors

• Arrays and buffers
1. Calculating static array size (sizeof)
2. Using enums to index arrays
3. Static arrays terminated by a sentinel

• Practical array uses
1. Text strings as static arrays
2. Handling command-line arguments
3. Arrays of structs and multidimensional arrays

• Working with text
1. C strings (char arrays)
2. Encoding and text files
3. String operations and standard functions

• Binary data
1. Structured data and offsets
2. Reading and writing binary files
3. Representing packets and messages

• Memory allocation
1. Compile-time reserved memory (static)
2. Stack-allocated variables
3. Dynamic allocation with malloc (heap)

• Pointers and arrays
1. Providing buffers for data
2. Passing and storing pointers
3. Lifetime of objects and pointers

• Abstract data types
1. Structs for related data
2. A set of methods implemented as functions
3. Documented as a single abstraction

• Integration with the operating system (POSIX)
1. Environment variables and command-line arguments
2. Working with files and file systems
3. Timing and time-related functions

• Bonus: Libraries and interfaces
1. Writing reusable code
2. Maintaining a simple interface
3. Working with header files

Assumed knowledge:

Experience programming in another language.

Recommended previous course:

Introduction to Programming (PRG)

Recommended subsequent course:

C++ – Fundamentals of Modern C++ Programming (CPP1)

Schedule:

3 days (9:00 AM - 5:00 PM )

Language: