elemes/content/introduction_to_c.md

---LESSON_INFO--- Learning Objectives:

• Understand basic syntax and structure of C programs
• Learn how to write your first C program
• Familiarize with the compilation process

Prerequisites:

• Basic understanding of programming concepts
• Familiarity with command line interface (optional)

---END_LESSON_INFO---

Introduction to C Programming

C is a general-purpose, procedural computer programming language supporting structured programming, lexical variable scope, and recursion, with a static type system. By design, C provides constructs that map efficiently to typical machine instructions, which has made it one of the most widely used programming languages.

Your First C Program Exercise

Write a C program that prints your name and your favorite programming language to the console.

Requirements:

• Use printf to output your name
• Include your favorite programming language in the output
• Make sure to include the standard input/output library
• The output should be in the format: "Hello, I am [Your Name] and my favorite programming language is [Language]"

Example Output:

Hello, I am John and my favorite programming language is C

Try writing your solution in the code editor below!

History of C

C was originally developed at Bell Labs by Dennis Ritchie between 1972 and 1973. It was created to re-implement the Unix operating system, which was previously coded in assembly language.

Basic Structure of a C Program

A basic C program consists of:

• Preprocessor directives
• Function definitions
• Variable declarations
• Comments
• Executable statements

Here's a simple example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    printf("Hello, World!\n");
    return 0;
}

Key Concepts

1. Variables: Storage locations with a name and data type
2. Data Types: Define what kind of value a variable can hold
3. Functions: Blocks of code that perform specific tasks
4. Control Structures: Direct the flow of program execution

---

Common Data Types in C

Type	Description	Example
int	Integer values	int age = 25;
float	Floating-point numbers	float price = 19.99;
char	Single character	char grade = 'A';
double	Double precision float	double pi = 3.14159;

---EXERCISE---

Your First C Program Exercise

Write a C program that prints your name and your favorite programming language to the console.

Requirements:

• Use printf to output your name
• Include your favorite programming language in the output
• Make sure to include the standard input/output library
• The output should be in the format: "Hello, I am [Your Name] and my favorite programming language is [Language]"

Expected Output:

Hello, I am John and my favorite programming language is C

Try writing your solution in the code editor below!

---EXPECTED_OUTPUT--- Hello, I am John and my favorite programming language is C

---END_EXPECTED_OUTPUT---

---INITIAL_CODE--- #include <stdio.h>

int main() { // Write your code here printf("Hello, World!\n"); return 0; } ---END_INITIAL_CODE---

---SOLUTION_CODE--- #include <stdio.h>

int main() { // Write your code here printf("Hello, I am John and my favorite programming language is C\n"); return 0; } ---END_SOLUTION_CODE---