The “C” Programming Language course syllabus
(CLA – C Programming Language Certified Associate)

Course description

The course fully covers the basics of programming in the “C” programming language and demonstrates fundamental programming techniques, customs and vocabulary including the most common library functions and the usage of the preprocessor.

Learning objectives

• To familiarize the trainee with basic concepts of computer programming
  and developer tools.
• To present the syntax and semantics of the “C” language as well
  as data types offered by the language
• To allow the trainee to write their own programs using standard
  language infrastructure regardless of the hardware or software platform

Course outline

• Introduction to compiling and software development
• Basic scalar data types and their operators
• Flow control
• Complex data types: arrays, structures and pointers
• Structuring the code: functions and modules
• Preprocessing source code

Chapters:

Absolute basics

• languages: natural and artificial
• machine languages
• high-level programming languages
• obtaining the machine code: compilation process
• recommended readings
• your first program
• variable – why?
• integer values in real life and in “C”, integer literals

Data types

• floating point values in real life and in “C”, float literals
• arithmetic operators
• priority and binding
• post- and pre -incrementation and -decrementation
• operators of type op=
• char type and ASCII code, char literals
• equivalence of int and char data
• comparison operators
• conditional execution and if keyword
• printf() and scanf() functions: absolute basics

Flow control

• conditional execution continued: the “else” branch
• more integer and float types
• conversions – why?
• typecast and its operators
• loops – while, do and for
• controlling the loop execution – break and continue
• logical and bitwise operators

Arrays

• switch: different faces of ‘if’
• arrays (vectors) – why do you need them?
• sorting in real life and in a computer memory
• initiators: a simple way to set an array
• pointers: another kind of data in “C”
• an address, a reference, a dereference and the sizeof operator
• simple pointer and pointer to nothing (NULL)
• & operator
• pointers arithmetic
• pointers vs. arrays: different forms of the same phenomenon
• using strings: basics
• basic functions dedicated to string manipulation

Memory management and structures

• the meaning of array indexing
• the usage of pointers: perils and disadvantages
• void type
• arrays of arrays and multidimensional arrays
• memory allocation and deallocation:  malloc() and free() functions
• arrays of pointers vs. multidimensional arrays
• structures – why?
• declaring, using and initializing structures
• pointers to structures and arrays of structures
• basics of recursive data collections

Functions

• functions – why?
• how to declare, define and invoke a function
• variables' scope, local variables and  function parameters
• pointers, arrays and structures as function parameters
• function result and return statement
• void as a parameter, pointer and result
• parameterizing the main function
• external function and the extern declarator
• header files and their role

Files and streams

• files vs. streams: where does the difference lie?
• header files needed for stream operations
• FILE structure
• opening and closing a stream, open modes, errno variable
• reading and writing to/from a stream
• predefined streams: stdin, stdout and stderr
• stream manipulation: fgetc(), fputc(), fgets() and fputs() functions
• raw input/output: fread() and fwrite() functions

Preprocessor and complex declarations

• preprocessor – why?
• #include: how to make use of a header file
• #define: simple and parameterized macros
• #undef directive
• predefined preprocessor symbols
• macrooperators: # and ##
• conditional compilation: #if and #ifdef directives
• avoiding multiple compilations of the same header files
• scopes of declarations, storage classes
• user -defined types – why?
• pointers to functions
• analyzing and creating complex declarations