What foundation is needed to learn C language

C language is actually an introductory language for programming. Many people learn C language when they first come into contact with programming, so they don’t need much foundation in C language at the beginning. All you need is some basic knowledge of mathematics and English.

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Extended content

C language is a general-purpose programming language that is process-oriented and abstract and is widely used. Developed at the bottom. C language can compile and process low-level memory in a simple way. C language is an efficient programming language that only generates a small amount of machine language and can run without any operating environment support. Although the C language provides many low-level processing functions, it still maintains cross-platform characteristics. C language programs written in a standard specification can be used on many computer platforms, including some operating platforms such as embedded processors and supercomputers. to compile.

Main Features

C language is a structured language with a clear hierarchy, and programs can be written in the form of modules. , which is very conducive to program debugging, and the processing and performance capabilities of the C language are very powerful. Relying on very comprehensive operators and diverse data types, various data structures can be easily constructed, and memory can be manipulated through pointer types. Direct addressing and direct manipulation of hardware can be used to develop both system programs and application software. Through research and analysis of C language, its main characteristics are summarized as follows:

(1) Concise language

C language contains only 9 various control statements There are only 32 keywords. The program writing requirements are not strict and mostly use lowercase letters. Many unnecessary parts have been streamlined. In fact, the composition of statements is rarely related to hardware, and the C language itself does not provide hardware-related input, output, file management and other functions. If such functions are needed, programming needs to be done with various libraries supported by the compilation system. , so the C language has a very simple compilation system.

(2) Structured control statements

C language is a structured language, and the control statements provided have structured features, such as for statements, if⋯else statement and switch statement, etc. It can be used to implement logical control of functions and facilitate process-oriented programming.

(3) Rich data types

C language contains a wide range of data types, including not only traditional character types, integer types, floating point types, and array types and other data types, and also has data types that other programming languages ​​do not have. Among them, pointer type data is the most flexible to use, and various data structures can be calculated through programming.

(4) Rich operators

The C language contains 34 operators. It treats assignments, parentheses, etc. as operators to operate, making the C program The expression types and operator types are very rich.

(5) Direct manipulation of physical addresses

The C language allows direct reading and writing of hardware memory addresses, so that the main functions of assembly language can be realized. And can directly operate the hardware. C language not only has the good characteristics of high-level languages, but also contains many advantages of low-level languages, so it is widely used in the field of system software programming.

(6) The code has good portability

C language is a process-oriented programming language. Users only need to focus on the problem being solved, and There is no need to spend too much effort to understand the relevant hardware, and for different hardware environments, the code when using C language to implement the same function is basically the same, and the transplantation can be completed without or only a small amount of changes. This means that, A C program written for one computer can be easily run on another computer, thus greatly reducing the intensity of program transplantation.

(7) High-quality target code that can be generated, and programs with high execution efficiency

Compared with other high-level languages, C language can generate high-quality and high-efficiency programs Target code, so it is usually used in writing embedded system programs that require high code quality and execution efficiency.

Unique features

C language is the most universal computer programming language. It can not only bring out the advantages of high-level programming languages It also has the advantages of assembly language, so it has its own unique characteristics compared to other programming languages. Specifically reflected in the following three aspects:

First, extensiveness. The size of the operation range of C language directly determines its advantages and disadvantages. The C language contains 34 operators, so the range of operations exceeds that of many other languages. In addition, the expression forms of its operation results are also very rich. In addition, the C language includes various data structure forms such as character type and pointer type. Therefore, it can also handle larger data structure operations.

Second, Simplicity. 9 types of control statements and 32 KEYWORDS are the basic features of C language, which make it widely applicable in computer application writing. It can not only be suitable for the operations of programmers and improve their work efficiency, but also support advanced Programming avoids the tediousness of language switching.

Third, The structure is perfect. C language is a structured language that can implement modular applications by forming module units. It has significant advantages in system description. At the same time, this feature also enables it to adapt to a variety of different programming requirements, and High execution efficiency.

Disadvantages

1. The shortcomings of C language are mainly reflected in the encapsulation of data, which makes C in terms of data security. There are big flaws, which is also a major difference between C and C.

　2. The syntax restrictions of C language are not too strict, and the type constraints of variables are not strict, which affects the security of the program. There is no check for out-of-bounds array subscripts, etc. From an application perspective, C language is more difficult to master than other high-level languages. In other words, people who use C language are required to be more proficient in programming.

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