C programming vocabulary

static

a class of variable; holds its value between calls of a function, and defined once and once only

shell

a command language in an operating system that can be part of a user interface

header file

a file included at the beginning of a source program that links the program to a given library

main()

a function which must be included in every C program; the program starts where main() is

pre-processor

a phase which occurs before compilation of a program; allows external files to be included and allows macros to be defined

compiler

a program that converts source programs into machine code

comment

a remark ignored by the compiler, made for humans to read; delimited by /**/

variable

a sequence of program code with a name, or identifier

pointer

a special type of variable which holds the address or location of another variable

return()

a statement that allows a function to produce some usable output

declaration

a statement that tells the type and name of a variable in the program

'&'

an operator which signifies, essentially, "the address of..."

"*"

an operator which signifies, essentially, "the contents of the location pointed to by..."

syntax error

code is not written correctly; this is caught at first stage of compilation

libraries

collections of code appended to programs that provide frequently used functionality

\\

control character; backslash

\b

control character; backspace

\r

control character; carriage return, bringing cursor to start of line

\xddd

control character; character ddd where ddd is an ASCII code given in hexidecimal or base 16

\ddd

control character; character ddd where ddd is an ASCII code given in octal or base 8

\"

control character; double quotes

\f

control character; form feed

\t

control character; horizontal tab

\n

control character; new line

\'

control character; single quote

\v

control character; vertical tab

cast operator

converts one type of variable to another; format is variablename = (newtype) originalvariable

type

conveys to the compiler what sort of data is stored in the variable

initialization

declaring a variable and assigning a value to it simultaneously

macros

defined in the pre-processor stage, these are words which can be defined to stand for something complicated

low-level

detailed instructions that tell a computer exactly what to do, almost literally

.exe

file extension for a final program

.c

file extension for a source program

.o

file extension for an object

compiling

first phase of compilation: scans code and converts it to simplified form; makes separate object file for each separate source file

strings

groups of char

high-level

leaving out the details from the actual code you write; the compiler must convert it into the machine code or assembly language

object/executable file

machine code translation of the source text

control characters

non-printable characters; denoted by backslash

value parameter

one-way communication carrying information into a function from somewhere outside

actual parameters

original values that are handed over to a function

unsigned

placed in front of variable type, meaning that only positive or zero values can be used

printf()

print-format: prints out a string of text, and can also include variables

operating system

program that controls a computer, consisting of a user interface and filing system

linking

second phase of compilation: appends standard library code to object file so object can stand alone

exit()

terminates a program at any point, and closes any open files

function

the basic building block of a C program

formal parameters

the copies that work inside the function that was called

stdin

the file from which C normally gets its input; it's typically the keyboard

stdout

the file from which C normally sends its output; it's typically the monitor

command language

the instruction we give to the system itself, in order to run programs, etc.

semicolon

the mark used to denote the end of a statement

math.h

the mathematics library header file

stdio.h

the most commonly used header file; belongs to a subset of the standard C library which deals with file handling

user interface

the part of the program that is the route to all input and output

intention error

the program "works," but it does not do what you intended it to do

comments, preprocessor commands, function, declarations, variables, and statements

the six basic elements of a C program

libc

the standard C library, which is linked to every program

source program

the text files containing the written code of the program

call

to pass control to a given function

variable parameter

two-way communication, into and out of a function

float

type of variable; a floating point or real number (short)

double

type of variable; a long floating point number

long float

type of variable; a long floating point number

long

type of variable; a long integer

long int

type of variable; a long integer (usually 64-bits)

short int

type of variable; a short integer

short

type of variable; a short integer, (usually 16-bits)

char

type of variable; a single ASCII character from values -128 to 127

int

type of variable; a standard integer (usually 32-bits)

parameters

values that pass outside information to a function

local or automatic variables

variables that are defined in, and only work within, their braces

global variables

variables that are defined outside of all functions

extern

word placed in front of variable declaration for a variable that was defined in another file

reserved words

words that have special meaning in the context of C or in the context of a library