2. Tutorial 1
Session Objective
• History of C language
• Benefits
• Common Terms for programmer
• Compilation Process
• Structure of Programming
3. Tutorial 1
Introduction
• C programming language was developed 1972 by Dennis
Ritchie in Bell Laboratories.
• It’s an offspring of “Basic combined programming” called ‘B’
which was developed by Ken Thomson
• B language was interpreter-based but it was very slow
• So Dennis Ritchie modified the ‘B’ language and named it
as ‘C’
• Everything before this is known as “K&R C”
4. Tutorial 1
History
• Standardized in 1989 by ANSI (American National
Standards Institute) known as ANSI C
• International standard (ISO) in 1990 which was
adopted by ANSI and is known as C89
• As part of the normal evolution process the
standard was updated in 1995 (C95) and 1999
(C99)
• C++ and C
– C++ extends C to include support for Object
Oriented Programming and other features that
facilitate large software development projects
– C is not strictly a subset of C++, but it is
possible to write “Clean C” that conforms to
both the C++ and C standards.
5. Tutorial 1
Benefits
• C programs are efficient, fast & Highly portable
• It can be written in one computer and can be run
in another computer without any Modification.
• Its easy for debugging, testing & maintenance
because of structured programming
• Functions can be used many Number of building
blocks
6. Tutorial 1
Common Terms for Programmer
• Compiler
• Interpreter
• Assembler
• Linker
• Loader
7. Tutorial 1
Compiler
• A compiler is a computer program (or set of
programs) that transforms source code written in a
computer language (the source language) into
another computer language (the target language,
often having a binary form known as object code).
• The most common reason for wanting to transform
source code is to create an executable program.
• The name "compiler" is primarily used for programs
that translate source code from a high-level
programming language to a lower level language
(e.g., assembly language or machine code).
8. Tutorial 1
Interpreter
• An interpreter translates some form of source
code into a target representation that it can
immediately execute and evaluate
• Translates source code into some efficient
intermediate representation (code) and
immediately executes this
• Provides color coding in the program which helps
in self debugging while writing programs
9. Tutorial 1
Compiler vs. Interpreter
• A complier converts the high level instruction into
machine language while an interpreter converts
the high level instruction into an intermediate
form.
• Before execution, entire program is executed by
the compiler whereas after translating the first
line, an interpreter then executes it and so on.
• List of errors is created by the compiler after the
compilation process while an interpreter stops
translating after the first error.
• Compiler executes program faster as compared to
interpreter
10. Tutorial 1
Assembler
• An assembler is a program that takes basic
computer instructions and converts them into a
pattern of bits
• The assembler program takes each program
statement in the source program and generates a
corresponding bit stream or pattern
• The output of the assembler program is called the
object code
• The sequence of 0's and 1's that constitute the
object program is sometimes called machine code
11. Tutorial 1
Linker
• Linker is a program that takes one or more
objects generated by a compiler and combines
them into a single executable program
• The compiler automatically invokes the linker as
the last step in compiling a program.
12. Tutorial 1
Loader
• Responsible for loading the program
• It places programs into memory and prepares
them for execution
• Loading a program involves reading the contents
of executable file, the file containing the program
text, into memory, and then carrying out other
required preparatory tasks to prepare the
executable for running
