Published by Que Publishing (August 2, 2013) © 2014
Greg Perry | Dean MillerUpdated for C11
Write powerful C programs…without becoming a technical expert! This book is the fastest way to get comfortable with C, one incredibly clear and easy step at a time. You’ll learn all the basics: how to organize programs, store and display data, work with variables, operators, I/O, pointers, arrays, functions, and much more. C programming has neverbeen this simple!
Who knew how simple C programming could be?
This is today’s best beginner’s guide to writing C programs–and to learning skills you can use with practically any language. Its simple, practical instructions will help you start creating useful, reliable C code, from games to mobile apps. Plus, it’s fully updated for the new C11 standard and today’s free, open source tools! Here’s a small sample of what you’ll learn:
• Discover free C programming tools for Windows, OS X, or Linux
• Understand the parts of a C program and how they fit together
• Generate output and display it on the screen
• Interact with users and respond to their input
• Make the most of variables by using assignments and expressions
• Control programs by testing data and using logical operators
• Save time and effort by using loops and other techniques
• Build powerful data-entry routines with simple built-in functions
• Manipulate text with strings
• Store information, so it’s easy to access and use
• Manage your data with arrays, pointers, and data structures
• Use functions to make programs easier to write and maintain
• Let C handle all your program’s math for you
• Handle your computer’s memory as efficiently as possible
• Make programs more powerful with preprocessing directives
C Programming Absolute Beginner's Guide, Third Edition
Updated for C11
PART I: JUMPING RIGHT IN
1 What Is C Programming, and Why Should I Care?
2 Writing Your First C Program
3 What Does This Do? Clarifying Your Code with Comments
4 Your World Premiere—Putting Your Program’s Results
5 Adding Variables to Your Programs6 Adding Words to Your Programs
7 Making Your Programs More Powerful with #include and #define
8 Interacting with Users
PART II: PUTTING C TO WORK FOR YOU
9 Crunching the Numbers—Letting C Handle Math for You
10 Powering Up Your Variables with Assignments and Expressions11 The Fork in the Road—Testing Data to Pick a Path
12 Juggling Several Choices with Logical Operators13 A Bigger Bag of Tricks–Some More Operators for Your Programs
PART III: FLESHING OUT YOUR PROGRAMS
14 Code Repeat—Using Loops to Save Time and Effort
15 Looking for Another Way to Create Loops16 Breaking in and out of Looped Code
18 Increasing Your Program’s Output (and Input)
19 Getting More from Your Strings20 Advanced Math (for the Computer, Not You!) .
PART IV: MANAGING DATA WITH YOUR C PROGRAMS
21 Dealing with Arrays
22 Searching Arrays23 Alphabetizing and Arranging Your Data
25 Arrays and Pointers
27 Setting Up Your Data with Structures
PART V: FILES AND FUNCTIONS
28 Saving Sequential Files to Your Computer
29 Saving Random Files to Your Computer30 Organizing Your Programs with Functions
32 Returning Data from Your Functions
APPENDIXES
A The ASCII Table
B The Draw Poker Program