diff --git a/c.html.markdown b/c.html.markdown new file mode 100644 index 00000000..a8df2e1b --- /dev/null +++ b/c.html.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,336 @@ +--- +language: c +author: Adam Bard +author_url: http://adambard.com/ +--- + +Ah, C. Still the language of modern high-performance computing. + +C is the lowest-level language most programmers will ever use, but +it more than makes up for it with raw speed. Just be aware of its manual +memory management and C will take you as far as you need to go. + +```c +// Single-line comments start with // +/* +Multi-line comments look like this. +*/ + +// Import headers with #include +#include +#include + +// Declare function signatures in advance in a .h file, or at the top of +// your .c file. +void function_1(); +void function_2(); + +// Your program's entry point is a function called +// main with an integer return type. +int main(){ + +// print output using printf, for "print formatted" +// %d is an integer, \n is a newline +printf("%d\n", 0); // => Prints 0 +// All statements must end with a semicolon + +/////////////////////////////////////// +// Types +/////////////////////////////////////// + +// Variables must always be declared with a type. + +// 32-bit integer +int x_int = 0; + +// 16-bit integer +short x_short = 0; + +// 8-bit integer, aka 1 byte +char x_char = 0; +char y_char = 'y'; // Char literals are quoted with '' + +long x_long = 0; // Still 32 bytes for historical reasons +long long x_long_long = 0; // Guaranteed to be at least 64 bytes + +// 32-bit floating-point decimal +float x_float = 0.0; + +// 64-bit floating-point decimal +double x_double = 0.0; + +// Integer types may be unsigned +unsigned char ux_char; +unsigned short ux_short; +unsigned int ux_int; +unsigned long long ux_long_long; + +// Arrays must be initialized with a concrete size. +char my_char_array[20]; // This array occupies 1 * 20 = 20 bytes +int my_int_array[20]; // This array occupies 4 * 20 = 80 bytes + + +// You can initialize an array to 0 thusly: +char my_array[20] = {0}; + +// Indexing an array is like other languages -- or, +// rather, other languages are like C +my_array[0]; // => 0 + +// Arrays are mutable; it's just memory! +my_array[1] = 2; +printf("%d\n", my_array[1]); // => 2 + +// Strings are just lists of chars terminated by a null (0x00) byte. +char a_string[20] = "This is a string"; + +/* +You may have noticed that a_string is only 16 chars long. +Char #17 is a null byte, 0x00 aka \0. +Chars #18, 19 and 20 have undefined values. +*/ + +printf("%d\n", a_string[16]); + +/////////////////////////////////////// +// Operators +/////////////////////////////////////// + +int i1 = 1, i2 = 2; // Shorthand for multiple declaration +float f1 = 1.0, f2 = 2.0; + +// Arithmetic is straightforward +i1 + i2; // => 3 +i2 - i1; // => 1 +i2 * i1; // => 2 +i1 / i2; // => 0 (0.5, but truncated towards 0) + +f1 / f2; // => 0.5, plus or minus epsilon + +// Modulo is there as well +11 % 3; // => 2 + +// Comparison operators are probably familiar, but +// there is no boolean type in c. We use ints instead. +// 0 is false, anything else is true +3 == 2; // => 0 (false) +3 != 2; // => 1 (true) +3 > 2; // => 1 +3 < 2; // => 0 +2 <= 2; // => 1 +2 >= 2; // => 1 + +// Logic works on ints +!3; // => 0 (Logical not) +!0; // => 1 +1 && 1; // => 1 (Logical and) +0 && 1; // => 0 +0 || 1; // => 1 (Logical or) +0 || 0; // => 0 + +// Bitwise operators! +~0x0F; // => 0xF0 (bitwise negation) +0x0F & 0xF0; // => 0x00 (bitwise AND) +0x0F | 0xF0; // => 0xFF (bitwise OR) +0x04 | 0x0F; // => 0x0A (bitwise XOR) +0x01 << 1; // => 0x02 (bitwise left shift (by 1)) +0x02 >> 1; // => 0x01 (bitwise right shift (by 1)) + +/////////////////////////////////////// +// Control Structures +/////////////////////////////////////// + +if(0){ + printf("I am never run\n"); +}else if(0){ + printf("I am also never run\n"); +}else{ + printf("I print\n"); +} + +// While loops exist +int ii = 0; +while(ii < 10){ + printf("%d, ", ii++); // ii++ increments ii in-place, after using its value. +} // => prints "0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, " + +printf("\n"); + +int kk = 0; +do{ + printf("%d, ", kk); +}while(++kk < 10); // ++kk increments kk in-place, before using its value +// => prints "0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, " + +printf("\n"); + +// For loops too +int jj; +for(jj=0; jj < 10; jj++){ + printf("%d, ", jj); +} // => prints "0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, " + +printf("\n"); + +/////////////////////////////////////// +// Typecasting +/////////////////////////////////////// + +// Everything in C is stored somewhere in memory. You can change +// the type of a variable to choose how to read its data + +int x_hex = 0x01; // You can assign vars with hex literals + +// Casting between types will attempt to preserve their numeric values +printf("%d\n", x_hex); // => Prints 1 +printf("%d\n", (short) x_hex); // => Prints 1 +printf("%d\n", (char) x_hex); // => Prints 1 + +// Types will overflow without warning +printf("%d\n", (char) 257); // => 1 (Max char = 255) +printf("%d\n", (short) 65537); // => 1 (Max short = 65535) + +/////////////////////////////////////// +// Pointers +/////////////////////////////////////// + +// You can retrieve the memory address of your variables, +// then mess with them. + +int x = 0; +printf("%p\n", &x); // Use & to retrive the address of a variable +// (%p formats a pointer) +// => Prints some address in memory; + +int x_array[20]; // Arrays are a good way to allocate a contiguous block of memory +int xx; +for(xx=0; xx<20; xx++){ + x_array[xx] = 20 - xx; +} // Initialize x_array to 20, 19, 18,... 2, 1 + +// Pointer types end with * +int* x_ptr = x_array; +// This works because arrays are pointers to their first element. + +// Put a * in front to de-reference a pointer and retrieve the value, +// of the same type as the pointer, that the pointer is pointing at. +printf("%d\n", *(x_ptr)); // => Prints 20 +printf("%d\n", x_array[0]); // => Prints 20 + +// Pointers are incremented and decremented based on their type +printf("%d\n", *(x_ptr + 1)); // => Prints 19 +printf("%d\n", x_array[1]); // => Prints 19 + +// Array indexes are such a thin wrapper around pointer +// arithmatic that the following works: +printf("%d\n", 0[x_array]); // => Prints 20; +printf("%d\n", 2[x_array]); // => Prints 18; + +// The above is equivalent to: +printf("%d\n", *(0 + x_ptr)); +printf("%d\n", *(2 + x_ptr)); + +// You can give a pointer a block of memory to use with malloc +int* my_ptr = (int*) malloc(sizeof(int) * 20); +for(xx=0; xx<20; xx++){ + *(my_ptr + xx) = 20 - xx; +} // Initialize memory to 20, 19, 18, 17... 2, 1 (as ints) + +// Dereferencing memory that you haven't allocated gives +// unpredictable results +printf("%d\n", *(my_ptr + 21)); // => Prints who-knows-what? + +// When you're done with a malloc'd block, you need to free it +free(my_ptr); + +// Strings can be char arrays, but are usually represented as char +// pointers: +char* my_str = "This is my very own string"; + +printf("%d\n", *my_str); // 84 (The ascii value of 'T') + +function_1(); +} // end main function + +/////////////////////////////////////// +// Functions +/////////////////////////////////////// + +// Function declaration syntax: +// () + +int add_two_ints(int x1, int x2){ + return x1 + x2; // Use return a return a value +} + +/* +Pointers are passed-by-reference (duh), so functions +can mutate their values. + +Example: in-place string reversal +*/ + +// A void function returns no value +void str_reverse(char* str_in){ + char tmp; + int ii=0, len = strlen(str_in); // Strlen is part of the c standard library + for(ii=0; ii ".tset a si sihT" +*/ + +/////////////////////////////////////// +// User-defined types and structs +/////////////////////////////////////// + +// Typedefs can be used to create type aliases +typedef int my_type; +my_type my_type_var = 0; + +// Structs are just collections of data +struct rectangle { + int width; + int height; +}; + + +void function_1(){ + + struct rectangle my_rec; + + // Access struct members with . + my_rec.width = 10; + my_rec.height = 20; + + // You can declare pointers to structs + struct rectangle* my_rec_ptr = &my_rec; + + // Use dereferencing to set struct pointer members... + (*my_rec_ptr).width = 30; + + // ... or use the -> shorthand + my_rec_ptr->height = 10; // Same as (*my_rec_ptr).height = 10; +} + +// You can apply a typedef to a struct for convenience +typedef struct rectangle rect; + +int area(rect r){ + return r.width * r.height; +} + +``` + +## Further Reading + +Best to find yourself a copy of [K&R, aka "The C Programming Language"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C_Programming_Language) + +Other than that, Google is your friend.