ì

Computer Systems and Networks

ECPE 170 – Dr. Pallipuram– University of the Pacific

C Programming 2
The slides are credited to Dr. Shafer
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ì
C-Strings (Arrays of Characters)
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C Strings

ì There is no such thing as a “string” in C!

ì What do you get? An array of characters

ì Terminated by the null character '\0'

ì Must manipulate element by element…

ì Not enough room in the array? Need a bigger array

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Arrays of Characters

ì char phrase[]="Math";

phrase

phrase[0] phrase[1] phrase[2] phrase[3] phrase[4]

M A T H \0

Null terminator character

(End of string)
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Arrays of Characters

ì char phrase[8]="Math";
phrase

phrase[0] phrase[1] phrase[2] phrase[3] phrase[4] phrase[5] phrase[6] phrase[7]

M A T H \0 ??? ??? ???

printf("%s\n", phrase); Prints until it reaches

the \0 character!
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Helpful Library for Character Arrays

ì #include <string.h>

ì Useful functions
ì strcpy - String copy
ì strcmp - String compare
ì strlen - String length
ì strcat - String concatenate

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String Copy

ì char phrase1[] = "Math";

ì char phrase2[8];

ì strcpy(phrase2, phrase1);
phrase phrase1[0] phrase1[1] phrase1[2] phrase1[3] phrase1[4]

1
M A T H \0

phrase phrase2[0] phrase2[1] phrase2[2] phrase2[3] phrase2[4] phrase2[5] phrase2[6] phrase2[7]

2
M A T H \0 ??? ??? ???
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String Concatenation

ì char phrase1[8] = “Comp”;

ì char phrase2[] = “Sci”;

ì strcat(phrase1, phrase2);
phrase phrase1[0] phrase1[1] phrase1[2] phrase1[3] phrase1[4] phrase1[5] phrase1[6] phrase1[7]

1
C O M P S C I \0

phrase phrase2[0] phrase2[1] phrase2[2] phrase2[3]

2 You cannot do this:

S C I \0 phrase2=
phrase1+phrase2;
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ctype Library

ì Useful for character manipulation

ì #include <ctype.h>

ì toupper(char) / tolower(char) – Converts

character to uppercase or lowercase
ì Example:

char c = toupper('a');
printf("%c", c); // A

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ctype Library

ì isalpha(char) – Is the character a letter?

ì isdigit(char) – Is the character a number 0-9?

ì isspace(char) – Is the character whitespace?

(space or newline character)

ì ispunct(char) – Is the character punctuation?

(technically, a visible character that is not whitespace, a
letter, or a number)

ì … and several other variations

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ì
File I/O
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File I/O Functions

ì fopen – opens a text file

ì fclose – closes a text file

ì feof – test for end-of-file

ì fgets – reads a string from a file, stopping at EOF or

newline
ì fwrite – writes array of characters to a file

ì fgetc – reads a character from a file

ì fputc – prints a character to a file

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#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
FILE *ptr_file;
char buf[1000];

ptr_file = fopen("input.txt","r");
if (!ptr_file)
return 1;

while (fgets(buf,1000, ptr_file)!= NULL)

printf("%s", buf);

fclose(ptr_file);
return 0;
}

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Pointer Arithmetic

ì Only addition and subtraction are allowed with

pointers

ì All pointers increase and decrease by the length of

the data-type they point to

ì Example
ì If an integer pointer, iptr holds address 32, then
after the expression iptr++, iptr will hold 36
(assuming integer is 4 bytes).

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Problem 1
The name of the array is actually a pointer pointing to the first element of the array.

Subscript [0] [1] [2] [3] [4]

Value 5 6 4 8 2
Address 65528 65532 65536 65540 65544

Consider an integer array named array.

printf(“\n %u:”, array); //prints 65528
printf(“\n %u:”, array+2); //prints 65536
printf(“\n %u:”, *(array+1));
//literally translates to array[1]. Prints 6

printf(“\n”, %u:”, array+3); //prints?______

printf(“\n”, %u:”, *(array+3)); //prints?______ P1
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Pointers and Functions:

Call by value vs. Call by reference
Call by value Call by reference (pointer)
main(){ main(){
a=5,b=6; a=5,b=6;
update(a,b); update(&a,&b);
printf(“%d”,a); printf(“%d”,a);
} }

update(int a, int b) { update(int *a,int *b) {

a=a-b; *a=*a-*b;
} }

These are just copies. Modification to actual variable

No change to original
variables
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ì
Dynamic Memory Management
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Memory Allocation with malloc()

ì #include <stdlib.h>

ì void * malloc(int size)

ì Allocate region in memory (aka “new”)
ì Argument: Size of region in bytes to allocate
ì Return value: Pointer to the region

ì void free(void * ptr)

ì De-allocate region in memory (aka “delete”)
ì Argument: Pointer to the region

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Memory Allocation with malloc()

ì void * calloc(int count, int size)

ì Basically the same as malloc!
ì Imagine you want an array of elements…
ì Argument 1: # of elements to allocate
ì Argument 2: Size of each element in bytes
ì Return value: Pointer to the region

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Memory Allocation with malloc()

ì void * realloc(void *ptr, int size);

ì Resize a dynamic region of memory
ì Note that it might move to a new address!
ì Argument: Pointer to the original region
ì Argument 2: Desired size in bytes of new region
ì Return value: Pointer to the new region
ì It might be at the same address if you made it smaller
ì It might be at a new address if you made it larger

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Malloc – 1D

int *array; //array of integers

array (pointer variable)

value: ???? 60
pointer addr: 32

array = (int *)malloc(sizeof(int)*5);

address: 60 64 68 72 76
value: array[0] array[1] array[2] array[3] array[4]

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Malloc – 2D
Allocate 4x5 integers (Hint for lab 4)
int **array; //a double pointer

array = (int **)malloc(sizeof(int *)*4);

for(i=0;i<4;i++)
array[i] = (int *)malloc(sizeof(int)*5);

array of ints
array of ints
array of ints

array of ints

an array of integer pointers

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Malloc – 3D
int ***array; //a triple pointer

a ‘cuboid’ of integers
an array of a matrix of
double pointers single pointers

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Problem 2

ì Dynamically allocate space for a 3-D color image of

width, w; height, h; color channel, c. Any pixel is
accessed as image[height][width][c].

P2
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ì
Memory Management Internals
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Memory Management

ì Who implemented malloc()?

ì C Standard Library: #include <stdlib.h>

ì There are different C Standard Library

implementations!
ì Android: Bionic
ì Apple: BSD-based / Proprietary
ì Microsoft: Proprietary C Runtime Library
ì Linux: GNU C Library (glibc)
http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/

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Memory Management

ì Where does the malloc() memory come from?

ì The Heap:
ì A region of memory for dynamic memory allocation
ì Per-process – each program gets its own heap
ì Managed by malloc() and related functions
ì Different from the stack, which is for static variables
(known at compile-time)

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Memory Management

ì malloc() outline:

1. Call malloc() and request memory

2. malloc() checks existing heap size

ì Sufficient? Update bookkeeping to mark space as
“used” and return address to your program
ì Insufficient?
1. Call operating system via brk()/nmap() to grow
the heap (plus a little extra for future requests)
2. Update bookkeeping and return address to your
program

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Memory Management

ì Why do we need to call free() after calling

malloc()?
ì Memory leak
ì malloc() cannot re-use that space ever, because
its internal bookkeeping still thinks that region is
used
ì Will only be recovered upon terminating program
ì Operating system wipes out all the memory allocated
to your process (stack, heap, etc…)

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Memory Management
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (32 or 64 bit)
ì OS creates virtual
memory space for
process when started

ì Region is huge (full 32 Virtual Memory Space

or 64 bit space)
for new process
ì Not fully mapped to
physical memory
ì Otherwise you
could only fit 1
program in memory

0x0000000000000000
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Memory Management
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (32 or 64 bit)
ì OS loads in the
program from
disk

ì “Text” region
ì Program code

ì “Data” region
ì Program fixed
data Data (Program data)

Text (Program code)

0x0000000000000000
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Memory Management
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (32 or 64 bit)
ì Stack created to Stack
track program
function calls
and local
variables

Data (Program data)

Text (Program code)

0x0000000000000000
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Memory Management
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (32 or 64 bit)
ì Heap created to Stack
store dynamic
memory from
malloc()and
(Unused / unmapped virtual memory)
related functions

ì Not to scale –
this unused Heap
region is huge!
Data (Program data)

Text (Program code)

0x0000000000000000
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Memory Management
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (32 or 64 bit)
ì Program starts Stack
running

ì malloc()
allocates some (Unused / unmapped virtual memory)
memory

Heap

Data (Program data)

Text (Program code)

0x0000000000000000
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Memory Management
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (32 or 64 bit)
ì Original heap Stack
space eventually
fills up
(Unused / unmapped virtual memory)
ì malloc()
requests New
space
additional space Heap
from the kernel
by using brk()
system call Data (Program data)

Text (Program code)

0x0000000000000000
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Memory Management
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (32 or 64 bit)
ì free() Stack
deallocates
blocks from the
heap (Unused / unmapped virtual memory)

Heap

Data (Program data)

Text (Program code)

0x0000000000000000
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Memory Management
0xFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (32 or 64 bit)
ì Program Stack
terminates

ì OS expunges (Unused / unmapped virtual memory)

entire virtual
address space
ì Everything is Heap
deleted

Data (Program data)

Text (Program code)

0x0000000000000000
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Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

ì What is a buffer overflow bug?

ì char buf1[8]="";
char buf2[8]="";
strcat(buf1, "excessive");

ì End up overwriting two characters beyond buf1!

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Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

ì Why is a buffer overflow bug dangerous?

ì What is beyond my buffer in memory?

ì Other variables and data? (probably buf2)
ì The stack? (further out)
ì The return address to jump to after my function
finishes?

ì If app is running as administrator, attacker now has

full access!

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Memory Management

ì Limitless opportunities in C for errors regarding memory

L
ì Forgetting to free() some dynamic memory
ì Trying to free() dynamic memory more than once
ì Losing a pointer to dynamic memory (memory is “lost”)
ì Accessing array elements past the end of the array
ì Mis-calculating array pointers that miss their desired
target

ì Will learn a tool (Valgrind) in Lab 5 to analyze your

program and detect / trace errors

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What’s the Error?

char *a = malloc(128*sizeof(char));
char *b = malloc(128*sizeof(char));
b = a;
free(a);
free(b);

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/C++MemoryCorruptionAndMemoryLeaks.html

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What’s the (Potential) Error?

char *a = malloc(128*sizeof(char));

dataLen = <some value...>

// Copy “dataLen” bytes

// starting at *data to *a
memcpy(a, data, dataLen);

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/C++MemoryCorruptionAndMemoryLeaks.html
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What’s the Error?

ptr = (char *) malloc(strlen(string_A));

strcpy(ptr, string_A);

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/C++MemoryCorruptionAndMemoryLeaks.html

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What’s the Error?

int *get_ii()
{
int ii = 2; // Local stack variable
return &ii;
}
main()
{
int *ii;
ii = get_ii();
... Do stuff using ii pointer
}

http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/C++MemoryCorruptionAndMemoryLeaks.html
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http://xkcd.com/371/

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Memory Management

ì What’s a NULL pointer?

ì Pointer value is 0x000000000
ì Meaning is that the pointer is not pointing anywhere

ì What happens if you dereference a NULL pointer?

ì Telling the computer to read from (or write) to the
value stored in the pointer, which is 0x000000000
ì Behavior undefined and generally unpleasant on
various computer systems

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Memory Management

ì “Segfault” = Segmentation Fault

ì Your program tried to read or write a virtual memory

address that is not allowed
ì Tried to read memory outside of program bounds?
ì Tried to write read-only memory regions? (used for
program data)

ì “Segmentation” was the name of an old system (back

before Intel 386 processors) used to divide physical
computer memory into many virtual address regions,
one per application process
ì The Segfault name stuck even though we now use paging
to manage virtual memory

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ì
Structures
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Structures
struct database
{
Useful way to group
int id_number; related variables!
int age;
float salary;
};

int main()
{
struct database employee;
employee.age = 22;
employee.id_number = 1;
employee.salary = 12000.21;
}
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Problem
Declare a structure called board that contains:
• a double character pointer matrix
• two integer variables height and width denoting the
number of rows and columns in the matrix.

Inside main, do the following:

1. Create a structure object called myboard,

initialize matrix to NULL, set height to 7 and width to 7
2. Dynamically allocate matrix to hold height x
width elements
P3
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Problem
Continue with the code from Problem 3.

free() is actually a reverse operation of malloc. The steps you use for free are opposite
of the steps for malloc. Free the dynamically allocated 2D matrix you created in
Problem 3.

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You’re ready to

for Lab 4!
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