C for Java Programmers

Advanced Programming

Credits
Software Construction (J. Shepherd) Operating Systems at Cornell (Indranil Gupta)

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

Overview
Why learn C after Java? A brief background on C C preprocessor Modular C programs

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

Why learn C (after Java)?

Both high-level and low-level language
OS: user interface to kernel to device driver

Better control of low-level mechanisms

memory allocation, specific memory locations

Performance sometimes better than Java (Unix, NT!)

usually more predictable (also: C vs. C++)

Java hides many details needed for writing OS code But,.

Memory management responsibility Explicit initialization and error detection generally, more lines for same functionality More room for mistakes
Advanced Programming Spring 2002 4

18-Mar-14

Why learn C, contd.

Most older code is written in C (or C++)
Linux, *BSD Windows Most Java implementations Most embedded systems

Philosophical considerations:
Being multi-lingual is good! Should be able to trace program from UI to assembly (EEs: to electrons)

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

C pre-history
1960s: slew of new languages
COBOL for commercial programming (databases) FORTRAN for numerical and scientific programs PL/I as second-generation unified language LISP, Simula for CS research, early AI Assembler for operating systems and timingcritical code

Operating systems:
OS/360 MIT/GE/Bell Labs Multics (PL/I)
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 6

C pre-history
Bell Labs (research arm of Bell System -> AT&T -> Lucent) needed own OS BCPL as Multics language Ken Thompson: B Unix = Multics bits Dennis Ritchie: new language = B + types Development on DEC PDP-7 with 8K 16-bit words

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

C history
C
Dennis Ritchie in late 1960s and early 1970s systems programming language
make OS portable across hardware platforms not necessarily for real applications could be written in Fortran or PL/I

C++
Bjarne Stroustrup (Bell Labs), 1980s object-oriented features

Java
James Gosling in 1990s, originally for embedded systems object-oriented, like C++ ideas and some syntax from C
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 8

C for Java programmers

Java is mid-90s high-level OO language C is early-70s procedural language C advantages:
Direct access to OS primitives (system calls) Fewer library issues just execute

(More) C disadvantages:
language is portable, APIs are not memory and handle leaks preprocessor can lead to obscure errors
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 9

C vs. C++
Well cover both, but C++ should be largely familiar Very common in Windows Possible to do OO-style programming in C C++ can be rather opaque: encourages clever programming

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

10

Aside: generations and abstraction levels

Binary, assembly Fortran, Cobol PL/I, APL, Lisp, C, Pascal, Ada C++, Java, Modula3 Scripting: Perl, Tcl, Python, Ruby, XML-based languages: CPL, VoiceXML

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

11

C vs. Java
Java object-oriented C function-oriented

strongly-typed
polymorphism (+, ==)

can be overridden
very limited (integer/float)
(mostly) single name space, fileoriented

classes for name space

macros are external, rarely used

macros common (preprocessor)

layered I/O model

byte-stream I/O

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

12

C vs. Java
Java automatic memory management no pointers C function calls (C++ has some support) pointers (memory addresses) common

by-reference, by-value
exceptions, exception handling concurrency (threads)

by-value parameters
if (f() < 0) {error} OS signals library functions

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

13

C vs. Java
Java
length of array string as type dozens of common libraries

C
on your own just bytes (char []), with 0 end OS-defined

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

14

C vs. Java
Java program
collection of classes class containing main method is starting class running java StartClass invokes StartClass.main method
JVM loads other classes as required

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

15

C program
collection of functions one function main() is starting function running executable (default name a.out) starts main function typically, single program with all user code linked in but can be dynamic libraries (.dll, .so)

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

16

C vs. Java
public class hello { public static void main (String args []) { System.out.println (Hello world); } } #include <stdio.h> int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { puts(Hello, World); return 0; }

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

17

What does this C program do ?

#include <stdio.h> struct list{int data; struct list *next}; struct list *start, *end; void add(struct list *head, struct list *list, int data}; int delete(struct list *head, struct list *tail); void main(void){ start=end=NULL; add(start, end, 2); add(start, end, 3); printf(First element: %d, delete(start, end)); } void add(struct list *head, struct list *tail, int data}{ if(tail==NULL){ head=tail=malloc(sizeof(struct list)); head->data=data; head->next=NULL; } else{ tail->next= malloc(sizeof(struct list)); tail=tail->next; tail->data=data; tail->next=NULL; } }

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

18

What does this C program, do contd?

void delete (struct list *head, struct list *tail){ struct list *temp; if(head==tail){ free(head); head=tail=NULL; } else{ temp=head->next; free(head); head=temp; } }

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

19

Simple example
#include <stdio.h> void main(void) { printf(Hello World. \n \t and you ! \n ); /* print out a message */ return; }

$Hello World. and you ! $

18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 20

Dissecting the example

#include <stdio.h>

include header file stdio.h

# lines processed by pre-processor No semicolon at end Lower-case letters only C is case-sensitive

void main(void){ } is the only code executed printf( /* message you want printed */ ); \n = newline, \t = tab \ in front of other special characters within printf.

printf(Have you heard of \The Rock\ ? \n);

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

21

Executing the C program

int main(int argc, char argv[])

argc is the argument count argv is the argument vector

array of strings with command-line arguments

the int value is the return value

convention: 0 means success, > 0 some error can also declare as void (no return value)

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

22

Executing a C program
Name of executable + space-separated arguments $ a.out 1 23 third arg
argc
4 argv

a.out
18-Mar-14

23

third arg
23

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

Executing a C program
If no arguments, simplify:
int main() { puts(Hello World); exit(0); }

Uses exit() instead of return same thing.

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

24

Executing C programs
Scripting languages are usually interpreted
perl (python, Tcl) reads script, and executes it sometimes, just-in-time compilation invisible to user

Java programs semi-interpreted:

javac converts foo.java into foo.class not machine-specific byte codes are then interpreted by JVM

C programs are normally compiled and linked:

gcc converts foo.c into a.out a.out is executed by OS and hardware
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 25

Executing C programs
x.pl perl data x.java javac args java results

x.c, x.cc

gcc, g++

a.out

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

26

The C compiler gcc

gcc invokes C compiler gcc translates C program into executable for some target default file name a.out also cross-compilation
$ gcc hello.c $ a.out Hello, World!

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

27

gcc
Behavior controlled by command-line switches:
-o file -Wall -c -g -p -l -E output file for object or executable all warnings use always! compile single module (non-main) insert debugging code (gdb) insert profiling code library preprocessor output only

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

28

Using gcc
Two-stage compilation
pre-process & compile: gcc c hello.c link: gcc o hello hello.o

Linking several modules:

gcc c a.c a.o gcc c b.c b.o gcc o hello a.o b.o

Using math library

gcc o calc calc.c -lm

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

29

Error reporting in gcc

Multiple sources
preprocessor: missing include files parser: syntax errors assembler: rare linker: missing libraries

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

30

Error reporting in gcc

If gcc gets confused, hundreds of messages
fix first, and then retry ignore the rest

gcc will produce an executable with warnings

dont ignore warnings compiler choice is often not what you had in mind

Does not flag common mindos

if (x = 0) vs. if (x == 0)

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

31

gcc errors
Produces object code for each module Assumes references to external names will be resolved later Undefined names will be reported when linking:
undefined symbol first referenced in file _print program.o ld fatal: Symbol referencing errors No output written to file.

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

32

C preprocessor
The C preprocessor (cpp) is a macroprocessor which
manages a collection of macro definitions reads a C program and transforms it Example:
#define MAXVALUE 100 #define check(x) ((x) < MAXVALUE) if (check(i) { }

becomes
if ((i) < 100) {}

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

33

C preprocessor
Preprocessor directives start with # at beginning of line:
define new macros input files with C code (typically, definitions) conditionally compile parts of file

gcc E shows output of preprocessor Can be used independently of compiler

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

34

C preprocessor
#define name const-expression #define name (param1,param2,) expression #undef symbol replaces name with constant or expression textual substitution symbolic names for global constants in-line functions (avoid function call overhead)
mostly unnecessary for modern compilers

type-independent code
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 35

C preprocessor
Example: #define MAXLEN 255

Lots of system .h files define macros invisible in debugger getchar(), putchar() in stdio library Caution: dont treat macros like function calls
#define valid(x) ((x) > 0 && (x) < 20) if (valid(x++)) {} valid(x++) -> ((x++) > 0 && (x++) < 20)

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

36

C preprocessor file inclusion

#include filename.h #include <filename.h>

inserts contents of filename into file to be compiled filename relative to current directory <filename> relative to /usr/include gcc I flag to re-define default import function prototypes (cf. Java import) Examples:
#include <stdio.h> #include mydefs.h #include /home/alice/program/defs.h

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

37

C preprocessor conditional compilation

#if expression code segment 1 #else code segment 2 #endif preprocessor checks value of expression if true, outputs code segment 1, otherwise code segment 2 machine or OS-dependent code can be used to comment out chunks of code bad!
#define OS linux #if OS == linux puts(Linux!); #else puts(Something else); #endif
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 38

C preprocessor - ifdef
For boolean flags, easier:
#ifdef name code segment 1 #else code segment 2 #endif

preprocessor checks if name has been defined

#define USEDB

if so, use code segment 1, otherwise 2

18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 39

Advice on preprocessor
Limit use as much as possible
subtle errors not visible in debugging code hard to read

much of it is historical baggage there are better alternatives for almost everything:
#define INT16 -> type definitions #define MAXLEN -> const #define max(a,b) -> regular functions comment out code -> CVS, functions

limit to .h files, to isolate OS & machine-specific code

18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 40

Comments
/* any text until */ // C++-style comments careful! no /** */, but doc++ has similar conventions Convention for longer comments:
/* * AverageGrade() * Given an array of grades, compute the average. */

Avoid **** boxes hard to edit, usually look ragged.

18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 41

Numeric data types

type char short int, long bytes (typ.) 1 2 4 range -128 127 -6553665535
-2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 264 3.4E+/-38 (7 digits) 1.7E+/-308 (15 digits)

long long
float double

8
4 8

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

42

Remarks on data types

Range differs int is native size, e.g., 64 bits on 64-bit machines, but sometimes int = 32 bits, long = 64 bits Also, unsigned versions of integer types
same bits, different interpretation

char = 1 character, but only true for ASCII and other Western char sets

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

43

Example
#include <stdio.h> void main(void) { int nstudents = 0; /* Initialization, required */ printf(How many students does Columbia have ?:); scanf (%d, &nstudents); /* Read input */ printf(Columbia has %d students.\n, nstudents); return ; } $ How many students does Columbia have ?: 20000 (enter) Columbia has 20000 students.
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 44

Type conversion
#include <stdio.h> void main(void) { int i,j = 12; /* i not initialized, only j */ float f1,f2 = 1.2;

i = (int) f2; f1 = i;

/* explicit: i <- 1, 0.2 lost */ /* implicit: f1 <- 1.0 */

f1 = f2 + (int) j; /* explicit: f1 <- 1.2 + 12.0 */ f1 = f2 + j; /* implicit: f1 <- 1.2 + 12.0 */

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

45

Explicit and implicit conversions

Implicit: e.g., s = a (int) + b (char) Promotion: char -> short -> int -> If one operand is double, the other is made double

If either is float, the other is made float, etc. Explicit: type casting (type) Almost any conversion does something but not necessarily what you intended
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 46

Type conversion
int x = 100000; short s; s = x; printf(%d %d\n, x, s); 100000 -31072

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

47

C no booleans
C doesnt have booleans Emulate as int or char, with values 0 (false) and 1 or non-zero (true) Allowed by flow control statements:
if (n = 0) { printf(something wrong); }

Assignment returns zero -> false

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

48

User-defined types
typedef gives names to types:
typedef short int smallNumber; typedef unsigned char byte; typedef char String[100]; smallNumber x; byte b; String name;

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

49

Defining your own boolean

typedef char boolean; #define FALSE 0 #define TRUE 1

Generally works, but beware:

check = x > 0; if (check == TRUE) {}

If x is positive, check will be non-zero, but may not be 1.

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

50

Enumerated types
Define new integer-like types as enumerated types:
typedef enum { Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet } Color; enum weather {rain, snow=2, sun=4};

look like C identifiers (names) are listed (enumerated) in definition treated like integers
can add, subtract even color + weather cant print as symbol (unlike Pascal) but debugger generally will

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

51

Enumerated types
Just syntactic sugar for ordered collection of integer constants:
typedef enum { Red, Orange, Yellow } Color;

is like
#define Red 0 #define Orange 1 #define Yellow 2

typedef enum {False, True} boolean;

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

52

Objects (or lack thereof)

C does not have objects (C++ does) Variables for Cs primitive types are defined very similarly:
short int x; char ch; float pi = 3.1415; float f, g;

Variables defined in {} block are active only in block Variables defined outside a block are global (persist during program execution), but may not be globally visible (static)
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 53

Data objects
Variable = container that can hold a value
in C, pretty much a CPU word or similar

default value is (mostly) undefined treat as random

compiler may warn you about uninitialized variables ch = a; x = x + 4;

Always pass by value, but can pass address to function:

scanf(%d%f, &x, &f);
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 54

Data objects
Every data object in C has
a name and data type (specified in definition) an address (its relative location in memory) a size (number of bytes of memory it occupies) visibility (which parts of program can refer to it) lifetime (period during which it exists)

Warning:
int *foo(char x) { return &x; } pt = foo(x); *pt = 17;
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 55

Data objects
Unlike scripting languages and Java, all C data objects have a fixed size over their lifetime
except dynamically created objects

size of object is determined when object is created:

global data objects at compile time (data) local data objects at run-time (stack) dynamic data objects by programmer (heap)

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

56

Data object creation

int x; int arr[20]; int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { int i = 20; {into x; x = i + 7;} } int f(int n) { int a, *p; a = 1; p = (int *)malloc(sizeof int); }
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 57

Data object creation

malloc() allocates a block of memory Lifetime until memory is freed, with free(). Memory leakage memory allocated is never freed:
char *combine(char *s, char *t) { u = (char *)malloc(strlen(s) + strlen(t) + 1); if (s != t) { strcpy(u, s); strcat(u, t); return u; } else { return 0; } }
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 58

Memory allocation
Note: malloc() does not initialize data
void *calloc(size_t n, size_t elsize)

does initialize (to zero) Can also change size of allocated memory blocks:
void *realloc(void *ptr, size_t size) ptr points to existing block, size is new size

New pointer may be different from old, but content is copied.

18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 59

Memory layout of programs

0

Header info
100 Code 400

all malloc()s
560

Data - Heap

Dynamic memory

all normal vars

18-Mar-14

1010

Data - stack
1200
Advanced Programming Spring 2002

Local memory + function call stack

60

Data objects and pointers

The memory address of a data object, e.g., int x
can be obtained via &x has a data type int * (in general, type *) has a value which is a large (4/8 byte) unsigned integer can have pointers to pointers: int **

The size of a data object, e.g., int x

can be obtained via sizeof x or sizeof(x) has data type size_t, but is often assigned to int (bad!) has a value which is a small(ish) integer is measured in bytes

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

61

Data objects and pointers

Every data type T in C/C++ has an associated pointer type T * A value of type * is the address of an object of type T If an object int *xp has value &x, the expression *xp dereferences the pointer and refers to x, thus has type int
xp

&x int *
18-Mar-14

42
int
Advanced Programming Spring 2002 62

Data objects and pointers

If p contains the address of a data object, then *p allows you to use that object *p is treated just like normal data object
int a, b, *c, *d; *d = 17; /* BAD idea */ a = 2; b = 3; c = &a; d = &b; if (*c == *d) puts(Same value); *c = 3; if (*c == *d) puts(Now same value); c = d; if (c == d) puts (Now same address);
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 63

void pointers
Generic pointer Unlike other pointers, can be assigned to any other pointer type:
void *v; char *s = v;

Acts like char * otherwise:

v++, sizeof(*v) = 1;

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

64

Control structures
Same as Java sequencing: ; grouping: {...} selection: if, switch iteration: for, while

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

65

Sequencing and grouping

statement1 ; statement2; statement n;
executes each of the statements in turn a semicolon after every statement not required after a {...} block

{ statements} {declarations statements}

treat the sequence of statements as a single operation (block) data objects may be defined at beginning of block

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

66

The if statement
Same as Java
if (condition1) {statements1} else if (condition 2) {statements2} else if (condition n-1) {statements else {statementsn}
n-1}|

evaluates statements until find one with nonzero result executes corresponding statements

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

67

The if statement
Can omit {}, but careful
if (x > 0) printf(x > 0!); if (y > 0) printf(x and y > 0!);

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

68

The switch statement

Allows choice based on a single value
switch(expression) { case const1: statements1; break; case const2: statements2; break; default: statementsn; }

Effect: evaluates integer expression looks for case with matching value executes corresponding statements (or defaults)
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 69

The switch statement

Weather w; switch(w) { case rain: printf(bring umbrella); case snow: printf(wear jacket); break; case sun: printf(wear sunscreen); break; default: printf(strange weather); }
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 70

Repetition
C has several control structures for repetition
Statement while(c) {} do {...} while(c)
for (start; cond; upd)

repeats an action... zero or more times, while condition is 0 one or more times, while condition is 0
zero or more times, with initialization and update

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

71

The break statement

break allows early exit from one loop level
for (init; condition; next) { statements1; if (condition2) break; statements2; }

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

72

The continue statement

continue skips to next iteration, ignoring rest of loop body does execute next statement
for (init; condition1; next) { statement2; if (condition2) continue; statement2; }

often better written as if with block

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

73

Structured data objects

Structured data objects are available as
object array [] struct union property enumerated, numbered from 0 names and types of fields occupy same space (one of)

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

74

Arrays
Arrays are defined by specifying an element type and number of elements
int vec[100]; char str[30]; float m[10][10];

For array containing N elements, indexes are 0..N-1 Stored as linear arrangement of elements Often similar to pointers

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

75

Arrays
C does not remember how large arrays are (i.e., no length attribute) int x[10]; x[10] = 5; may work (for a while) In the block where array A is defined:
sizeof A gives the number of bytes in array can compute length via sizeof A /sizeof A[0]

When an array is passed as a parameter to a function

the size information is not available inside the function array size is typically passed as an additional parameter
PrintArray(A, VECSIZE);

or as part of a struct (best, object-like) or globally

#define VECSIZE 10
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 76

Arrays
Array elements are accessed using the same syntax as in Java: array[index] Example (iteration over array):
int i, sum = 0; ... for (i = 0; i < VECSIZE; i++) sum += vec[i];

C does not check whether array index values are sensible (i.e., no bounds checking)
vec[-1] or vec[10000] will not generate a compiler

warning! if youre lucky, the program crashes with

Segmentation fault (core dumped)
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 77

Arrays
C references arrays by the address of their first element array is equivalent to &array[0] can iterate through arrays using pointers as well as indexes:
int *v, *last; int sum = 0; last = &vec[VECSIZE-1]; for (v = vec; v <= last; v++) sum += *v;

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

78

2-D arrays
2-dimensional array
int weekends[52][2];

[0][0]

[0][1]

[1][0]

[1][1]

[2][0]

[2][1]

[3][0]

. . .

weekends

weekends[2][1] is same as *(weekends+2*2+1) NOT *weekends+2*2+1 :this is an int !

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

79

Arrays - example
#include <stdio.h> void main(void) { int number[12]; /* 12 cells, one cell per student */ int index, sum = 0; /* Always initialize array before use */ for (index = 0; index < 12; index++) { number[index] = index; } /* now, number[index]=index; will cause error:why ?*/ for (index = 0; index < 12; index = index + 1) { sum += number[index]; /* sum array elements */ } return; }

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

80

Aside: void, void *

Function that doesnt return anything declared as void No argument declared as void Special pointer *void can point to anything
#include <stdio.h> extern void *f(void); void *f(void) { printf("the big void\n"); return NULL; } int main(void) { f(); }
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 81

Overriding functions function pointers

overriding: changing the implementation, leave prototype in C, can use function pointers returnType (*ptrName)(arg1, arg2, ...); for example, int (*fp)(double x); is a pointer to a function that return an integer double * (*gp)(int) is a pointer to a function that returns a pointer to a double

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

82

structs
Similar to fields in Java object/class definitions components can be any type (but not recursive) accessed using the same syntax struct.field Example:
struct {int x; char y; float z;} rec; ... r.x = 3; r.y = a; r.z= 3.1415;

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

83

structs
Record types can be defined
using a tag associated with the struct definition wrapping the struct definition inside a typedef

Examples:
struct complex {double real; double imag;}; struct point {double x; double y;} corner; typedef struct {double real; double imag;} Complex; struct complex a, b; Complex c,d;

a and b have the same size, structure and type a and c have the same size and structure, but different types
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 84

structs
Overall size is sum of elements, plus padding for alignment:
struct { char x; int y; char z; } s1; sizeof(s1) = ? struct { char x, z; int y; } s2; sizeof(s2) = ?

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

85

structs - example
struct person { char name[41]; int age; float height; struct { /* embedded structure */ int month; int day; int year; } birth; }; struct person me; me.birth.year=1977; struct person class[60]; /* array of info about everyone in class */ class[0].name=Gun; class[0].birth.year=1971;

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

86

structs
Often used to model real memory layout, e.g.,
typedef struct unsigned int unsigned int unsigned int unsigned int unsigned int u_int16 seq; u_int32 ts; } rtp_hdr_t; { version:2; p:1; cc:4; m:1; pt:7;

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

87

Dereferencing pointers to struct elements

Pointers commonly to structs
(*sp).element = 42; y = (*sp).element;

Note: *sp.element doesnt work Abbreviated alternative:

sp->element = 42; y = sp->element;

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

88

Bit fields
On previous slides, labeled integers with size in bits (e.g., pt:7) Allows aligning struct with real memory data, e.g., in protocols or device drivers Order can differ between little/big-endian systems Alignment restrictions on modern processors natural alignment Sometimes clearer than (x & 0x8000) >> 31
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 89

Unions
Like structs:
union u_tag { int ival; float fval; char *sval; } u;

but occupy same memory space can hold different types at different times overall size is largest of elements

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

90

More pointers
int month[12]; /* month is a pointer to base address 430*/

month[3] = 7;

/* month address + 3 * int elements => int at address (430+3*4) is now 7 */

ptr = month + 2; /* ptr points to month[2], => ptr is now (430+2 * int elements)= 438 */ ptr[5] = 12; /* ptr address + 5 int elements => int at address (434+5*4) is now 12. Thus, month[7] is now 12 */ ptr++; /* ptr <- 438 + 1 * size of int = 442 */ (ptr + 4)[2] = 12; /* accessing ptr[6] i.e., array[9] */

Now , month[6], *(month+6), (month+4)[2], ptr[3], *(ptr+3) are all the same integer variable.
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 91

Functions - why and how ?

If a program is too long Modularization easier to code debug Code reuse Passing arguments to functions
By value By reference

Returning values from functions

By value By reference

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

92

Functions
Prototypes and functions (cf. Java interfaces)
extern int putchar(int c); putchar(A); int putchar(int c) { do something interesting here }

If defined before use in same file, no need for prototype Typically, prototype defined in .h file Good idea to include <.h> in actual definition
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 93

Functions
static functions and variables hide them to those outside the same file:
static int x; static int times2(int c) { return c*2; }

compare protected class members in Java.

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

94

Functions const arguments

Indicates that argument wont be changed. Only meaningful for pointer arguments and declarations:
int c(const char *s, const int x) { const int VALUE = 10; printf("x = %d\n", VALUE); return *s; }

Attempts to change *s will yield compiler warning.

18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 95

Functions - extern
#include <stdio.h> extern char user2line [20]; /* global variable defined in another file */ /* global for this file */

char user1line[30]; void dummy(void);

void main(void) { char user1line[20]; . . . } void dummy(){ extern char user1line[]; . . . }

/* different from earlier user1line[30] */ /* restricted to this func */

/* the global user1line[30] */

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

96

Overloading functions var. arg. list

Java:
void product(double x, double y); void product(vector x, vector y);

C doesnt support this, but allows variable number of arguments:

debug(%d %f, x, f); debug(%c, c);

declared as void debug(char *fmt, ...); at least one known argument

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

97

Overloading functions
must include <stdarg.h>:
#include <stdarg.h> double product(int number, ...) { va_list list; double p; int i; va_start(list, number); for (i = 0, p = 1.0; i < number; i++) { p *= va_arg(list, double); } va_end(list); }

danger: product(2,3,4) wont work, needs product(2,3.0,4.0);

18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 98

Overloading functions
Limitations:
cannot access arguments in middle
needs to copy to variables or local array

client and function need to know and adhere to type

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

99

Program with multiple files

#include <stdio.h> #include mypgm.h void main(void) { myproc(); } #include <stdio.h> #include mypgm.h void myproc(void) { mydata=2; . . . /* some code */ }

hw.c

mypgm.c
void myproc(void); int mydata;

Library headers
Standard User-defined
18-Mar-14

mypgm.h
Advanced Programming Spring 2002 100

Data hiding in C
C doesnt have classes or private members, but this can be approximated Implementation defines real data structure:
#define QUEUE_C #include queue.h typedef struct queue_t { struct queue_t *next; int data; } *queue_t, queuestruct_t; queue_t NewQueue(void) { return q; }

Header file defines public data:

#ifndef QUEUE_C typedef struct queue_t *queue_t; #endif queue_t NewQueue(void);

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

101

Pointer to function

int int int int

func(); /*function returning integer*/ *func(); /*function returning pointer to integer*/ (*func)(); /*pointer to function returning integer*/ *(*func)(); /*pointer to func returning ptr to int*/

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

102

Function pointers
int (*fp)(void); double* (*gp)(int); int f(void) double *g(int); fp=f; gp=g;

int i = fp(); double *g = (*gp)(17);

18-Mar-14

/* alternative */
103

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

#include <stdio.h>

Pointer to function - example

void myproc (int d); void mycaller(void (* f)(int), int param); void main(void) { myproc(10); /* call myproc with parameter 10*/ mycaller(myproc, 10); /* and do the same again ! */ } void mycaller(void (* f)(int), int param){ (*f)(param); /* call function *f with param */ } void myproc (int d){ . . . }
18-Mar-14

/* do something with d */
Advanced Programming Spring 2002 104

Libraries
C provides a set of standard libraries for
numerical math functions
character strings character types I/O

<math.h>
<string.h> <ctype.h> <stdio.h>

-lm

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

105

The math library

#include <math.h>
careful: sqrt(5) without header file may give wrong result!

gcc o compute main.o f.o lm Uses normal mathematical notation:

Math.sqrt(2) Math.pow(x,5) sqrt(2) pow(x,5)

4*math.pow(x,3) 4*pow(x,3)

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

106

Characters
The char type is an 8-bit byte containing ASCII code values (e.g., A = 65, B = 66, ...) Often, char is treated like (and converted to) int <ctype.h> contains character classification functions:
isalnum(ch)
isalpha (ch) isdigit(ch) ispunct(ch) isspace(ch) isupper(ch) islower(ch)
18-Mar-14

alphanumeric
alphabetic digit punctuation white space upper-case lower-case
Advanced Programming Spring 2002

[a-zA-Z0-9]
[a-zA-Z] [0-9] [~!@#%^&...] [ \t\n] [A-Z] [a-z]
107

Strings
In Java, strings are regular objects In C, strings are just char arrays with a NUL (\0) terminator c a t \0 a cat = a A literal string (a cat)
is automatically allocated memory space to contain it and the terminating \0 has a value which is the address of the first character cant be changed by the program (common bug!)

All other strings must have space allocated to them by the program

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

108

Strings
char *makeBig(char *s) { s[0] = toupper(s[0]); return s; } makeBig(a cat);

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

109

Strings
We normally refer to a string via a pointer to its first character:
char *str = my string; char *s; s = &str[0]; s = str;

C functions only know string ending by \0:

char *str = my string; ... int i; for (i = 0; str[i] != \0; i++) putchar(str[i]); char *s; for (s = str; *s; s++) putchar(*s);
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 110

Strings
Can treat like arrays:
char c; char line[100]; for (i = 0; i < 100 && line[c]; i++) { if (isalpha(line[c]) ... }

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

111

Copying strings
Copying content vs. copying pointer to content s = t copies pointer s and t now refer to the same memory location strcpy(s, t); copies content of t to s
char mybuffer[100]; ... mybuffer = a cat;

is incorrect (but appears to work!) Use strcpy(mybuffer, a cat) instead

18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 112

Example string manipulation

#include <stdio.h> #include <string.h> int main(void) { char line[100]; char *family, *given, *gap; printf(Enter your name:); fgets(line,100,stdin); given = line; for (gap = line; *gap; gap++) if (isspace(*gap)) break; *gap = \0; family = gap+1; printf(Your name: %s, %s\n, family, given); return 0; }

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

113

string.h library
Assumptions:
#include <string.h>

strings are NUL-terminated all target arrays are large enough

Operations:
char *strcpy(char *dest, char *source) copies chars from source array into dest array up to NUL char *strncpy(char *dest, char *source, int num) copies chars; stops after num chars if no NUL before that; appends NUL
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 114

string.h library
int strlen(const char *source) returns number of chars, excluding NUL char *strchr(const char *source, const char ch) returns pointer to first occurrence of ch in source; NUL if none char *strstr(const char *source, const char *search) return pointer to first occurrence of search in source

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

115

Formatted strings
String parsing and formatting (binary from/to text)
int sscanf(char *string, char *format, ...) parse the contents of string according to format placed the parsed items into 3rd, 4th, 5th, ... argument return the number of successful conversions int sprintf(char *buffer, char *format, ...) produce a string formatted according to format place this string into the buffer the 3rd, 4th, 5th, ... arguments are formatted return number of successful conversions

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

116

Formatted strings
The format strings for sscanf and sprintf contain
plain text (matched on input or inserted into the output) formatting codes (which must match the arguments)

The sprintf format string gives template for result string The sscanf format string describes what input should look like
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 117

Formatted strings
Formatting codes for sscanf
Code
%c %d

meaning
matches a single character matches an integer in decimal

variable
char int

%f
%s

matches a real number (ddd.dd)

matches a string up to white space

float
char *

%[^c] matches string up to next c char

char *

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

118

Formatted strings
Formatting codes for sprintf Values normally right-justified; use negative field width to get left-justified Code %nc meaning char in field of n spaces variable char

%nd
%n.mf %n.mg %n.ms
18-Mar-14

integer in field of n spaces

real number in width n, m decimals

int, long
float, double

real number in width n, m digits of float, double

precision

first m chars from string in width n char *

Advanced Programming Spring 2002 119

Formatted strings - examples

char *msg = Hello there; char *nums = 1 3 5 7 9; char s[10], t[10]; int a, b, c, n; n = sscanf(msg, %s %s, s, t); n = printf(%10s %-10s, t, s); n = sscanf(nums, %d %d %d, &a, &b, &c); printf(%d flower%s, n, n > 1 ? s : ); printf(a = %d, answer = %d\n, a, b+c);

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

120

The stdio library

Access stdio functions by
using #include <stdio.h> for prototypes compiler links it automatically defines FILE * type and functions of that

type data objects of type FILE *

can be connected to file system files for reading and writing represent a buffered stream of chars (bytes) to be written or read

always defines stdin, stdout, stderr

18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 121

The stdio library: fopen(), fclose()

Opening and closing FILE * streams:
FILE *fopen(const char *path, const char *mode) open the file called path in the appropriate mode modes: r (read), w (write), a (append), r+ (read & write) returns a new FILE * if successful, NULL otherwise int fclose(FILE *stream) close the stream FILE * return 0 if successful, EOF if not

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

122

stdio character I/O

int getchar()
read the next character from stdin; returns EOF if none

int fgetc(FILE *in)

read the next character from FILE in; returns EOF if none

int putchar(int c)
write the character c onto stdout; returns c or EOF

int fputc(int c, FILE *out)

write the character c onto out; returns c or EOF
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 123

stdio line I/O

char *fgets(char *buf, int size, FILE *in)

read the next line from in into buffer buf halts at \n or after size-1 characters have been read the \n is read, but not included in buf returns pointer to strbuf if ok, NULL otherwise do not use gets(char *) buffer overflow
int fputs(const char *str, FILE *out)

writes the string str to out, stopping at \0 returns number of characters written or EOF
18-Mar-14 Advanced Programming Spring 2002 124

stdio formatted I/O

int fscanf(FILE *in, const char *format, ...)

read text from stream according to format

int fprintf(FILE *out, const char *format, ...)

write the string to output file, according to format

int printf(const char *format, ...)

equivalent to fprintf(stdout, format, ...)

Warning: do not use fscanf(...); use

fgets(str, ...); sscanf(str, ...);

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

125

Before you go.

Always initialize anything before using it (especially pointers) Dont use pointers after freeing them Dont return a functions local variables by reference No exceptions so check for errors everywhere
memory allocation system calls Murphys law, C version: anything that cant fail, will fail

An array is also a pointer, but its value is immutable.

18-Mar-14

Advanced Programming Spring 2002

126