Identifiers are user-defined tokens used to name variables, functions, etc. An identifier consists of a sequence of letters and digits. Underscore is also used. However, the first character of the identifier should a letter or an underscore. Though there is logically no restriction on the length of the number of characters in an identifier, however … Read more
Keywords are those tokens or words whose meaning are already defined within the C language and cannot be changed. As an analogy, in English language the meaning of verbs, adjectives, common nouns, and so on is pre-defined and can’t be changed. These tokens of English language are its keywords. Similarly, in C language some tokens … Read more
In C language the smallest unit of a program is called Token. Tokens are created using the C character set. These tokens are delimited from each other by white spaces just like words in English language are delimited by white spaces. The Syntax Rule of the C language dictates how to create tokens in C … Read more
The character set of C comprises of wide range of symbols that can be used to create tokens. These symbols are available on all modern personal computers. These characters can be grouped into following categories: 1. Letters 2. Digits 3. Special Characters 4. White Spaces Table – 1 shows the complete set of characters supported … Read more
Though C language has rich set of features and have enormous advantages, however it suffers from some disadvantages. These include: 1. C does not have OOPS feature. 2. There is no runtime checking in C language. 3. There is no strict type checking. 4. C doesn’t have the concept of namespace. 5. C imposes few … Read more
C language has in-numerous advantages. The important advantages of C language are described as follows: 1. Easy to Understand: C language is a structured programming language. The program written in C language is easy to understand and modify. 2. Middle Level Language: C language has combined features of low level language (such as assembly language) … Read more
C language has a rich set of features. These include: 1. There are a small, fixed number of keywords, including a full set of control flow primitives. This means there is not much vocabulary to learn. 2. C is a powerful, flexible language that provides fast program execution and imposes few constraints on the programmer. … Read more
In 1965, Bell Telephone Laboratories, General Electric Company and Massachusetts Institute of Technology where working together to develop a new operating system called MULTICS. In 1969, Bell Laboratories ended its participation in the project. However, the participating members of Bell Labs, mainly Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, still had an intention to create such kind … Read more
One may argue that if there is plethora of programming languages available, then what makes C language so special? There are two answers to this question. First, C language has been used by programmers for past 30-40 years to develop every kind of utility. This means the language is well understood, the issues with the … Read more
In order to communicate any idea, thought, instruction or information, humans make use of spoken language. The fact is that you have just understood the very first sentence of this chapter all due to that. However, spoken languages are not understood by machines. Not only machines but also other living creatures of this planet do … Read more