MY FIRST PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE.

Author: Mercy Igwe.

Welcome back to another episode of my tech corner bliss.

Today I'll go over my first programming language and my first line of code in great detail.

My first programming language is C programming, and I will put you through the fundamentals. So, enjoy this masterpiece

MAIN FACT ABOUT C PROGRAMING LANGUAGE.

C programming language is a general-purpose computer programming language. It was created in the 1970s by Dennis Ritchie after the language successes the B language and remains very widely used and influential. By design, C's features cleanly reflect the capabilities of the targeted CPUs.

It is a structured low-level programming language that is machine-independent and extensively used to write various applications, Operating Systems like Windows, and many other complex programs like Oracle database, Git, Python interpreter, and more.

In 1988, The ANSI (American National Standard Institute) formalized the c programming language, making it widely and popularly used by programmers.

ADVANTAGE OF C PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE.

• C programming language is very easy to understand and learn.

• Enables running of low-level activities or programs and the compilation can occur on various computer programs

• C programming is an efficient structured programming language.

• The C language is much faster as compared to a majority of the programming languages, such as Python, Java, and many more. And it is portable.

REASON FOR LEARNING C PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE.

The c programming language is required for both working professionals and students aspiring to be established, software engineers.

These are some of the main reasons why you should learn the C language for software development:

• For one who is skilled in the c programming language, learning other programming languages such as Python, Java, etc becomes very easier.

• The language helps you to understand computer structure and storing of information.

• A C programming language expert can work on a variety of open-source projects. For example, some of the most popular open-source projects, such as the Python interpreter, Linux kernel, SQLite database, and many others, have been written in C.

REAL-TIME IMPLEMENTATION OF C PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE.

Originally, this language was used for system development, specifically for programs that would comprise an OS (operating system). Due to the C program generating codes that are fast as those found in the written codes in assembly language, it was adopted as a system programming language.

These are a few ways the language can implement in Real-time developments.

1. Operating Systems: - With C programming language, you can write your operating system. As I said earlier Windows Kernel, Linux Kernel, and Apple’s OS X kernel are mostly written in C.

2. GUI: - The C programming language also helps in developing popular adobe software like Photoshop, Premier Pro, Illustrator, etc, using the GUI (Graphical User Interface).

3. Embedded Systems: - In daily life, we use different embedded systems like machines such as digital cameras, washing machines, microwaves, climate control systems, etc. These all are mostly programmed in C.

4. Database: -The C programming language helps in developing the popular database management system, MySQL.

5. Ease of Computation and interpretation: -C provides faster computation in programs. The implementation of algorithms and data structures is swift in C. With the help of C, you can perform high-degree calculations such as MATLAB, Mathematica, etc. It also helps develop different programming language interpreters and translation of assembled language to machine language.

6. Gaming: - C programming is relatively faster than Java or Python. It has been used in various gaming applications and graphics. C programming language also helps in creating many popular childhood games like temple run, The Snake game, etc.

7. Google: - In the Google open-source community, the projects are being handled by C/C++. And C/C++ also helped in developing the google file system and chromium browser.

8. Text Editors: - C also helped in creating various text editors like Vim, emac, etc.

9. Drivers and Network Devices: -: - Another application of C is to write driver software like Keyboard driver, Network driver, mouse driver, etc. And design network devices.

WRITING THE WORD “My name is Mercy” USING C PROGRAM

I was excited when I was learning the basics of the C language. So, you should too as am about to show how you write codes in c.

Take a look at a small conventional program written in C language that prints the phrase, “My name is Mercy” as the output.

// Basic C program to display "My name is Mercy"

// Header file for input /output functions

#include <stdio.h>

// main function -

// where the execution of the program begins

int main()

{

// prints My name is Mercy

printf("My name is Mercy");

return 0;

}

C PROGRAM TO PRINT -My name is Mercy

• 

Explanation of the code:

I know you are confused about the code above but let me make you understand the terminologies of the above program:

COMMENT – (// basic c program to display “My name is Mercy”)-

This is a single line of comment. A comment is used to display additional program information. A comment contains no programming logic because it is not read by the compiler. When a compiler encounters a comment, it simply skips that line of code. Any line in C that begins with '//' without quotes OR between /*...*/ is a comment.

HEADER FILE- #include <stdio.h>-

All lines in C that begin with the (#) sign are referred to as directives. The compiler calls a preprocessor program to process these statements. The #include directive instructs the compiler to include a file, and #includestdio.h> instructs the compiler to include the header file for Standard Input Output, which contains declarations for all standard input/output library functions.

MAIN FUNCTION - int main() -

This line declares a function called "main," which returns integer data. A function is a collection of statements designed to accomplish a specific task. Every C program's execution begins with the main() function, regardless of where the function is located in the program. As a result, every C program must include a main() function, which is where the program's execution begins.

COLLY BRACES- { and }: -

The opening braces '{'indicate the beginning of the main function and the closing braces '}' indicates the ending of the main function. Everything between these two comprises the body of the main function and are called the blocks.

PRINTF FUNCTION - printf("My name is Mercy");

This line tells the compiler to display the message " My name is Mercy " on the screen. This line is called a statement in C. Every statement is meant to perform some task. A semi-colon ';' is used to end a statement. A semi-colon character at the end of the statement is used to indicate that the statement is ending there. The printf() function is used to print a character stream of data on the stdout console. Everything within " " is displayed to the output device.

RETURN VALUE - return 0;

This is also a statement. This statement is used to return a value from a function and indicates the finishing of a function. This statement is used in functions to return the results of the operations performed by a function.

• Note that the printf and the return statement have been indented. This is done to make the code more readable. The program displayed, does not seem to hold much relevance but as the program becomes more complex, it makes the code more readable and less error-prone. Therefore, one must always use indentations and comments to make the code more readable.

Congratulations, I'm sure you were able to write your first code with this piece, and also feel free to join me as we delve into C programming. In subsequent writings, I will explain in detail the major concepts in C-programming as well as other collaborative activities.