C works as the building block for tons of computer programs and systems. “Learn C Programming from Scratch” is your ultimate handbook to harness the power of C. This guide gives you the information and skills you need to confidently dive into the world of programming. This beginner-friendly book takes you on a step-by-step journey through the fundamentals of C, starting with basic syntax and control flow and gradually building your skills to tackle more complex concepts like functions, arrays, and pointers. Each chapter is packed with clear explanations, real-world examples, and practical exercises to solidify your understanding. You will learn not only what the code does but also why it works the way it does, empowering you to solve problems confidently and efficiently. This book goes beyond syntax with a problem solving mindset crucial for programming success. Through this book, you will learn to tackle real-world challenges, translate them into efficient C code, and implement precise solutions.

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• About the Author
• About the Reviewer
• Acknowledgement
• Preface
• Table of Contents
• 1. Programming Methodology
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Objectives
  • Programming methodology
    • Problem-solving methodology and techniques
    • Features of a good program
    • Computer as a problem-solving tool
  • Computers and computing systems
    • Computer system
      • Hardware
      • Software
      • Compiler
      • Assembler
      • Debugger
      • Interpreter
      • Language translators
  • Programming styles
    • Procedural programming
    • Modular programming
      • Top-down modular programming
      • Bottom-up modular programming
    • Structured programming
    • Object Oriented Programming
  • Algorithms
    • Features of an algorithm
    • Writing an algorithm
    • Algorithm efficiency
      • Importance of algorithmic efficiency
      • Algorithm time complexity cases
      • Implementation challenges
  • Flowcharts
    • History of flowcharts
    • Flowchart symbols
    • Meaning of a flowchart
    • Flowchart examples
  • Conclusion
  • Exercise
• 2. C Programming Fundamentals
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Objectives
  • Facts about C
  • Uses of C programming language
    • Life cycle of a C program
    • Integrated Development Environment
      • GCC
      • Visual Studio Code
      • Turbo C++ for Windows 10+
      • Eclipse
      • Dev-C++
      • Creating a source code
      • Save file
      • Compile code
      • Execute/ Run code
    • C program components
    • Tokens in C
      • Semicolons
      • Comments
      • Keywords
      • Whitespace in C
    • Operators
      • Arithmetic operators
      • Relational operators
      • Logical operators
      • Bitwise operators
      • Assignment operators
    • Operator precedence in C
    • Data types
    • Variables
      • Variable declaration
      • Guidelines for declaring variables
      • Initialization
    • Identifiers
    • Difference between variables and identifiers
    • Constants
    • Integer data type
      • Integer expressions
      • Precedence of operators
    • Input-output in C
      • Output formatting
      • printf ()
      • Control characters
      • Read data supplied by a user
      • Read data into a float or double variable
      • putchar ()
      • fgtes () and fputs ()
      • Print an integer using a field width
    • Floating point types
      • Print double and float variables
      • Floating-point expressions
      • Assigning double/float to int
    • Char data type
    • void type
    • Lvalues and Rvalues in C
    • Literals
      • Integer literals
      • Floating-point literals
      • Character constants
      • String literals
    • Defining constants
    • Differences between constants and literals
    • Storage class
      • Auto
      • Register
      • Extern
      • Static
      • Extern storage class
    • Writing basic programs in C
      • Sequential logic
  • Conclusion
  • Exercise
• 3. Control Statements
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Objectives
  • Control statements
    • Decision making statements
      • if statement
      • if...else statement
      • The if-else-if ladder
      • Nested if statements
      • Nested conditions
      • Switch statements
      • Loop statements
      • Constituents of a loop
    • Different loops used in C
      • While loop
      • do...while loop
      • For loop
    • Loop control statements
      • Break
      • Continue
      • Example:
      • Goto
      • Infinite loop
      • Nested loop
  • Conclusion
  • Exercise
• 4. Functions
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Objectives
  • Functions
    • Key features of functions in C
    • Types of functions in C
    • Defining a function
    • Calling a function
    • Formal arguments
    • Return statement
    • Various ‘return’ scenarios in C
    • Function signature
    • Mismatch
    • Function variable scope
      • Local variables
      • Function parameters or variables
      • Global variables
      • Initializing local variable and global variables
      • Callback function
      • Function as an argument
    • Recursion
      • Memory usage in recursion
  • Conclusion
  • Exercise
• 5. Arrays
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Objectives
  • Arrays: One-dimensional array
  • Declaring and initializing arrays
    • Declaring arrays
    • Initializing arrays
  • Bounds and array size
  • Base address
  • Array manipulation
  • Accessing array elements
  • Modifying array elements
  • Passing arrays to functions
  • Some array-based programs
  • Character arrays - strings
    • Accessing characters in a string
    • Iterate through characters of a string
    • String input and output
    • Read a line of text
    • String manipulation
    • String concatenation
    • Substring extraction
    • Searching and replacing
  • Parsing and tokenization
  • Case conversion
    • String formatting
    • String length and manipulation functions
  • 2-D strings
    • Declaration and initialization of 2-D strings
    • Reading input into a 2D string
    • Accessing characters in a 2-D string
  • Matrices
    • Declaring 2-D array (Matrix)
    • Initializing two-dimensional arrays
    • 2-dimensional array elements access
      • Passing 2-D matrix to a function in C
  • Conclusion
  • Exercise
• 6. Pointers
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Objectives
  • Pointers
    • Using pointers
    • Declaring a pointer
    • Accessing the value of a pointer
    • Application of pointers
      • Direct memory manipulation
      • Dynamic memory allocation
      • Resizing and releasing memory
      • String pointers
      • Passing parameters to functions
      • Effective array manipulation
      • String manipulation
      • Pointer arithmetic
    • Pointer comparisons
    • Return pointer from functions
    • Pointer to pointer
  • Types of pointers
    • NULL pointers
    • Dangling pointers
    • Void pointers
    • Wild pointers
    • Array of pointers
  • Conclusion
  • Exercise
• 7. Structures and Unions
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Objectives
  • Structures and unions
    • User defined data types
    • Structures
    • Enumerations
    • Structures
      • Declaring a structure
      • Accessing structure members
      • Access structure members through a pointer
      • Using arrow (->) operator to access structure members
    • Array of structures
      • Sort array of structures
      • Structures as function arguments
      • Nested structures
      • Accessing nested structure
      • Embedded structure
    • Unions in C
      • Syntax of unions
      • Usage of unions
      • Considerations and limitations
      • Examples of union usage
      • Defining a union
      • Accessing union members
    • Error handling and validation in structures/unions
      • Handling memory allocation errors
      • Member initialization
      • Input validation
      • Union discriminant handling
      • Error reporting and exiting
      • Graceful decline
      • Graceful recovery
  • Conclusion
  • Exercises
• 8. File Handling
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Objectives
  • Introducing file handling
    • Data hierarchy - layers of data
      • Bit
      • Byte
      • Field
      • Record
      • File
      • Database
      • Data warehouses
      • Data mart
      • Files
  • Importance of files
  • File modes
  • File operations
    • Opening a file
    • Closing a file
    • Writing to a file
    • Reading from a file
    • File positioning
    • Error handling
    • File truncation
    • File deletion
    • File locking
  • Type of files
    • Working with text files in C
      • Opening a text file
      • Reading text from a file
      • Writing text to a file
      • Appending text to an existing file
      • Closing a text file
      • Error handling
      • Reading and writing line-by-line
      • Text file manipulation
    • Working with CSV files
    • Binary file handling in C
      • Opening and closing binary files
      • Reading binary data
      • Writing binary data
      • Moving the file pointer
      • Binary file size
      • Binary file error handling
      • Working with complex data structures
      • Considerations for binary file handling
  • File access
    • Sequential file access
      • Opening a file for sequential access
      • Reading from a file
      • Writing to a file
      • Moving the file pointer
      • Closing a file
      • Advantages
      • Limitations
      • Program examples
    • Random access files
      • File position indicator
      • Opening random access files
      • Writing data
      • Reading data
      • Advantages of random-access files
      • Examples of random-access files in C
      • Programs on random access files in C
    • Direct file access
      • Programs on direct access files in C
      • File descriptors
    • Opening files for direct access
    • Reading from files
    • Writing to files
    • File positioning
    • Closing files
    • Some program examples on file descriptors
  • Stream file access
    • Benefits
  • Error handling in files
    • Global variable errno
      • Errno example
  • Conclusion
  • Exercise
• 9. C Preprocessors
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Objectives
  • Introduction to preprocessors
    • #define directive
      • Defining a constant macro
      • Defining a function-like macro
      • Defining a conditional macro
      • Redefining a macro
    • #ifdef preprocessor
    • #ifndef preprocessor
    • #include preprocessor
    • #undef preprocessor
    • #if #else #elif #endif macros in C
      • Control structure macros
    • Types of pre-processor directives
      • File inclusion directives
      • Macro definition directives
      • Applications of macros
      • Conditional compilation
      • Preprocessor directive #Pragma
    • ANSI C predefined macros
    • Preprocessor operators
      • Macro continuation (\) operator
      • Stringize (#) operator
      • Token pasting (##) operator
      • Defined () operator
    • C-header files
      • Include syntax
      • Include operation
    • Once-only headers
      • Using #ifdef for different computer types (Computed includes)
  • Conclusion
  • Exercise
• 10. C Graphics
  • Introduction
  • Structure
  • Objectives
  • C Graphics
    • C libraries for graphics
    • Choosing the right graphics library
    • Configuring the graphics environment
      • Initialization of the graphics mode
      • Setting up Borland Graphics Interface for Windows
      • Get and set up WinBGIm
      • Setting up your compiler
      • Add the necessary header file
      • Initialize the graphics mode
      • Drawing on the screen
      • Closing the graphics mode
      • Setting up graphics mode using SDL
    • Understanding coordinates and resolution
      • Basics of color
    • Operations for simple drawings
  • Colors in C graphics programming
    • C Program on graphics colors
  • Input handling
  • Animations and delay
    • Double buffering
  • Text mode graphics functions
  • C graphics program to draw shapes
  • C graphics programs
  • Conclusion
  • Exercise
• Index