Module 1.1 - Programming Basics

• Introduction
• Connect
• Apply
• Reflect
• Extend

So far, we've covered the basics of building a C program; namely

• Rules for syntax and grammer (How to write code that will compile and run)
• How to add comments to make the code easier to read and understand, and
• How to compile a program to run.

But the program we've built doesn't do anything very interesting. To build programs that actually do something worthwhile, we'll be introducing you to a couple of new concepts; variables (Like variables in algebra, these C concepts can hold values that can change) and data types (These dictate what kind of data can be placed in a variable).

To understand these concepts, we'll make use of the other c programs in the week1 directory; sumi.c, sumf.c, producti.c, and productf.c.

Take an early look at these programs and read through the comments in each of them to get a sense of what these new concepts do to increase the capabilities of c programs, and to prepare yourself for the next module.

In addition, you can get a lot of help with C programming online; take a look at these web sites for more information on programming in C:

• If you can get past the annoying always flashing animated ads, About.com has a good set of C Tutorials that cover most of what we're covering, in the order that we cover it; they're initial tutorial is also the classic Hello World example.
• The HowStuffWorks web site also contains C Tutorials, including a modified Hello World example (Minus the annoying pop-up and animated ads). They include some good information on the concept of program compilation.

If you want more, do what we are all doing more and more often; Google C Programming Basics, or go to this Google Directory for C Tutorials!

Next up: Module 1.2 Programming Basics - Variables & Data Types ->