#Learn To Code C

Goals

• Understand the topics listed in the curriculum.
• Complete a personal project written in C.
• Contribute to an open source project that is written in C.

Prerequisites

• Familiarity with Command Line Interface (pwd, cd, ls, mkdir, rmdir, cp, mv, rm)
• The compiler setup

Week 1: Compilation

• Why Learn C?
  • Slides on "Why Learn C?"
• Compiling and Running C Programs
  • gcc demo
  • clang demo
  • clang versus gcc from clang.llvm.org
• The "Main" Function
• Exercises:
  • Hello World
  • Formatted Printing from "Learn C The Hard Way" (Ignore the comments about using Make.)
  • Fahrenheit to Celsius from "The C Programming Language" (Sections 1.2-1.4)
  • Fizz Buzz
  • Bonus: Euler Problem #1: Multiples of 3 and 5
  • Bonus: Euler Problem #2: Even Fibonacci Numbers
  • Bonus: Euler Problem #3: Largest Prime Factor

Week 2: Basics Part 1

• Variable Declaration
• Data Types
  • Exercise: Types of Variables from "Learn C The Hard Way"
  • Exercise: Finding the Size of Data Types
• Strings in C
  • Exercise: Arrays and Strings from "Learn C The Hard Way" (Read the error output from the "break it" section here)
• Printing
• Conditionals
  • Exercise: If, Else-If, Else from "Learn C The Hard Way" (Bonus: This exercise uses command line arguments.)
• Loops
  • Exercise: Word Counter from "The C Programming Language" (Sections 1.5.1-1.5.2)
• Arithmetic Operations from "The C Programming Language" (Sections 2.5-2.6)
  • Exercise: More Variables, Some Math from "Learn C The Hard Way"
• More Exercises:
  • Bonus: Switch Statement from "Learn C The Hard Way"
  • Bonus: Arrays of Strings, Looping from "Learn C The Hard Way"
  • Bonus: While-Loop And Boolean Expressions from "Learn C The Hard Way"

Week 3: Basics Part 2

• Syntax Review
• Type Conversion from "The C Programming Language" (Section 2.7)
• Getting User Input
• Exercises:
  • Sizes and Arrays from "Learn C The Hard Way"
  • Writing and Using Functions from "Learn C The Hard Way"
  • Project: Make a Game
  • Bonus: Recursion Exercise from "The C Programming Language" (Section 4.10)

Week 4: C Specific Basics

• C Libraries
• Using multiple files in a project
• Advanced Compilation
  • Exercise: Variations of Fizz Buzz
• External Variables
  • Exercise: RPN Calculator from "The C Programming Language" (Sections 4.3-4.6)
• make and Makefiles
  • Exercise: Make some Makefiles
• reading and writing to files
  • Exercise: Caesar Cipher

Week 5: Pointers and Standard Libraries

• Pointers:
  • Pointers and Memory: Hands-on example of pointers and memory
  • Chapter 5: Pointers and Arrays from "The C Programming Language" (Chapter 5)
  • Pointers Dreaded Pointers from "Learn C The Hard Way"
  • Pointers to Functions from "Learn C The Hard Way"
  • Example: Caesar Cipher using Pointers
  • Slides on Pointers and Memory from our lightning talk (Thanks @hazmatzo)
• Standard Libraries:
  • C Standard libraries from Wikibooks "C Programming"
  • Appendix B. Standard Library from "The C Programming Language" (Appendix B.)

Week 6: Memory Allocation

• Allocating Memory with malloc: summary of sections 5.4, 5.6, 6.5, and 7.8.5 from "The C Programming Language"
• Freeing Memory: continued summary of memory management
• Reference Documentation for Malloc from Wikibooks "C Programming"
• Memory Allocation Intro Slides from U of Washington
• C Memory Management Examples from TutorialsPoint
• Exercises:
  • Reimplementing malloc and free from "The C Programming Language" (Section 5.4)
  • Reversing User Input Tutorial Dynamic Array Example/Tutorial from CodeCall Forum

Week 7: Data Types

• Structs
• TypeDef from "The C Programming Language" section 6.7
• Unions
• Enums
• Slides on Data Structures
• Bonus Reading:
  • More about Structs from "The C Programming Language" sections 6.1-6.2
  • More about Unions from "The C Programming Language" section 6.8
• Exercises:
  • Structs and Pointers To Them from "Learn C The Hard Way"
  • Arrays of Structures from "The C Programming Language" section 6.3
• Bonus:
  • Pirate Treasure Game Tutorial
  • Heap and Stack Memory Allocation (uses Structs) from "Learn C The Hard Way"
  • A Simple Object System (Uses Enum, Struct) from "Learn C The Hard Way"
  • Input, Output, Files (Uses Enum, Struct) from "Learn C The Hard Way"

Week 8: Advanced Topic

• Binary Numbers:
  • Intro to Binary and Hexadecimal Number Systems 🎥 from Khan Academy (for those who are not familiar with binary) or
  • Binary Numbers Slides from Boston University CS101
• Bitwise Operators:
• Bitwise Operators in C from TutorialsPoint
• Bitwise Operators Section 2.9 from The C Programming Language
• Exercises:
  • ✨ Twiddling Bits Challenge Part 1 ✨
• Two's Compliment:
• Two's Compliment
• More Exercises:
  • ✨ Twiddling Bits Challenge Part 2 ✨

##Bonus Material:

• C Snacks (Tips and Tricks)

###Small Tools

• Small Tools Intro
• Command Line Options & Arguments
  • Exercise: Tip Calculator
  • Exercise: D&D Character Generator

##Resources

Much of the material for this course was drawn from the following:

• "The C Programming Language" by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie
• "Learn C The Hard Way" by Zed Shaw