Introduction to Flowcharts

The flowcharts are simple visual tools that help us understand and represent processes very easily. They use shapes like arrows,
rectangles, and diamonds to show steps and decisions clearly. If someone is making a project or explaining a complex task,
flowcharts can make complex ideas easier to understand.

What are Flowcharts?

Flowcharts are the visual representations of an algorithm or a process. Flowcharts use symbols/shapes like arrows, rectangles,
and diamonds to properly explain the sequence of steps involved in the algorithm or process. Flowcharts have their use cases in
various fields such as software development, business process modeling, and engineering.

Why use Flowcharts?

Flowcharts are used due to the numerous amount of benefits they provide. Below are some of the important reasons to use
flowcharts:

 They provide clarity and simplification to the complex processes and algorithms, which in turn helps other people to
understand them easily.

 Flowcharts provide a universal visual language that can be understood by anyone across different teams and helps
reduce miscommunications.

 They are an optimal solution for documenting standard operating procedures, workflows, or business processes. This
makes it easier to train new employees.

 Flowcharts help in increasing the visualization of the problem being solved which enables more informed and data-
driven choices.

Types of Flowcharts

There are many types of flowcharts, each is designed to represent different kinds of processes and information. Some common
types of flowcharts are:

 Process Flowchart: It represents the sequence of steps in a process. They are frequently used in business process
modeling, manufacturing, and project management

 Swimlane Flowchart: It organizes the process into different lanes, each representing a different person or department
and is used for illustrating how different teams or departments collaborate within a process

 Workflow Diagram: It represents how tasks, documents, or information move through a system and is commonly used
in office processes or software development

 Data Flow Diagram (DFD): It focuses on detailing the inputs, processes, and outputs. Used in system design and analysis
to model the flow of data within a system

 Decision Flowchart: It focuses on mapping out decision points within a process and the possible outcomes of each
decision. It is used in decision-making scenarios

What is a C Operator?
An operator in C can be defined as the symbol that helps us to perform some specific mathematical,
relational, bitwise, conditional, or logical computations on values and variables. The values and variables
used with operators are called operands. So we can say that the operators are the symbols that perform
operations on operands.
Types of Operators in C
C language provides a wide range of operators that can be classified into 6 types based on their functionality:
1. Arithmetic Operators
2. Relational Operators
3. Logical Operators
4. Bitwise Operators
5. Assignment Operators
6. Other Operators
Basic Input and Output in C

C language has standard libraries that allow input and output in a program. The stdio.h or standard input output library in C
that has methods for input and output.

scanf()

The scanf() method, in C, reads the value from the console as per the type specified and store it in the given address.

Syntax:

scanf("%X", &variableOfXType);

where %X is the format specifier in C. It is a way to tell the compiler what type of data is in a variable and & is the address
operator in C, which tells the compiler to change the real value of variableOfXType, stored at this address in the memory.

Input and output operations in C are essential for interacting with users and files. To master I/O operations and integrate
them into larger programs and data structures, the C Programming Course Online with Data Structures covers these
fundamentals with practical applications.

printf()

The printf() method, in C, prints the value passed as the parameter to it, on the console screen.

Syntax:

printf("%X", variableOfXType);

where %X is the format specifier in C. It is a way to tell the compiler what type of data is in a variable and variableOfXType is
the variable to be printed.

How to take input and output of basic types in C?

The basic type in C includes types like int, float, char, etc. Inorder to input or output the specific type, the X in the above
syntax is changed with the specific format specifier of that type. The Syntax for input and output for these are:

 Integer:

Input: scanf("%d", &intVariable);

Output: printf("%d", intVariable);

 Float:

Input: scanf("%f", &floatVariable);

Output: printf("%f", floatVariable);

 Character:

Input: scanf("%c", &charVariable);

Output: printf("%c", charVariable);

Control flow statements in Programming

Control flow refers to the order in which statements within a program execute. While programs typically follow a sequential
flow from top to bottom, there are scenarios where we need more flexibility. This article provides a clear understanding
about everything you need to know about Control Flow Statements.

#include <stdio.h>

int main()

int a = 5;

if (a == 5) {

printf("a is equal to 5");

} return 0;

} #output ( a is equal to 5)
 Control Flow Control Flow
Statements Type Statement Description

Executes a block of code if a specified condition is true, and another

if-else
block if the condition is false.
Conditional
Statements
Evaluates a variable or expression and executes code based on
switch-case
matching cases.

Executes a block of code a specified number of times, typically

for
iterating over a range of values.

Looping
while Executes a block of code as long as a specified condition is true.
Statements

Executes a block of code once and then repeats the execution as long
do-while
as a specified condition is true.

Terminates the loop or switch statement and transfers control to the

break
statement immediately following the loop or switch.

Skips the current iteration of a loop and continues with the next
continue
iteration.

Jump Statements

return Exits a function and returns a value to the caller.

Transfers control to a labeled statement within the same function.

goto (Note: goto is generally discouraged due to its potential for creating
unreadable and error-prone code.)

Types of Control Flow statements in Programming:

C Functions
A function in C is a set of statements that when called perform some specific tasks. It is the basic building block of a C
program that provides modularity and code reusability. The programming statements of a function are enclosed within { }
braces, having certain meanings and performing certain operations. They are also called subroutines or procedures in other
languages.

In this article, we will learn about functions, function definition. declaration, arguments and parameters, return values, and
many more.

Syntax of Functions in C

The syntax of function can be divided into 3 aspects:

1. Function Declaration 2.Function Definition 3.Function Calls

Function Declarations

In a function declaration, we must provide the function name, its return type, and the number and type of its parameters. A
function declaration tells the compiler that there is a function with the given name defined somewhere else in the program.
C Arrays
Array in C is one of the most used data structures in C programming. It is a simple and fast way of storing multiple values
under a single name. In this article, we will study the different aspects of array in C language such as array declaration,
definition, initialization, types of arrays, array syntax, advantages and disadvantages, and many more.

What is Array in C?

An array in C is a fixed-size collection of similar data items stored in contiguous memory locations. It can be used to store the
collection of primitive data types such as int, char, float, etc., and also derived and user-defined data types such as pointers,
structures, etc.

C Array Declaration

In C, we have to declare the array like any other variable before using it. We can declare an array by specifying its name, the
type of its elements, and the size of its dimensions. When we declare an array in C, the compiler allocates the memory block
of the specified size to the array name. To deepen your understanding of arrays and their role in building complex data
structures, the C Programming Course Online with Data Structures offers a comprehensive guide to arrays and their
practical applications in

Types of Array in C
There are two types of arrays based on the number of dimensions it has. They are as follows:
1. One Dimensional Arrays (1D Array)
2. Multidimensional Arrays
C Array Initialization
Initialization in C is the process to assign some initial value to the variable. When the
array is declared or allocated memory, the elements of the array contain some
garbage value. So, we need to initialize the array to some meaningful value. There
are multiple ways in which we can initialize an array in C.
1. Array Initialization with Declaration
In this method, we initialize the array along with its declaration. We use an initializer
list to initialize multiple elements of the array. An initializer list is the list of values
enclosed within braces { } separated b a comma .
Strings in C
A String in C programming is a sequence of characters terminated with a null character ‘\0’. The C String is stored as an array
of characters. The difference between a character array and a C string is that the string in C is terminated with a unique
character ‘\0’.

How to Read a String Separated by Whitespaces in C?

We can use multiple methods to read a string separated by spaces in C. The two of the common ones are:

1. We can use the fgets() function to read a line of string and gets() to read characters from the standard input (stdin) and
store them as a C string until a newline character or the End-of-file (EOF) is reached.

2. We can also scanset characters inside the scanf() function

C String Length
The length of the string is the number of characters present in the string except for the NULL
character. We can easily find the length of the string using the loop to count the characters
from the start till the NULL character is found.
Printing a String

(Using %s Format Specifier) :- C provides a format specifier "%s" which is used to print a string whenyou're using
functions like printf() or fprintf() functions.

C Unions
In C, union is a user-defined data type that can contain elements of the different data types just like structure. But unlike
structures, all the members in the C union are stored in the same memory location. Due to this, only one member can store data
at the given point in time.

Let’s take a look at an example:

Difference between Structure and Union in C Program

In C, we have containers to hold data of same data type as well as different data types. C provides the concept of Arrays to store
data variables of same type; while for storing data of different types, C has the concept of structures and unions.

Both Structures and Unions can hold different types of data, but on the basis of their internal implementation, we can find
several differences in both of these containers. Read this article to learn more about structures and unions and how they are
different from each other.

How to Pass or Return a Structure To or From a Function in C?

A structure is a user-defined data type in C. A structure collects several variables in one place. In a structure, each variable is
called a member. The types of data contained in a structure can differ from those in an array (e.g., integer, float, character).

How to Pass a structure as an argument to the functions?

When passing structures to or from functions in C, it is important to keep in mind that the entire structure will be copied. This
can be expensive in terms of both time and memory, especially for large structures. The passing of structure to the function can
be done in two ways:

 By passing all the elements to the function individually.

 By passing the entire structure to the function.

C Pointers
A pointer is a variable that stores the memory address of another variable. Instead of holding a direct value, it holds the address
where the value is stored in memory. There are 2 important operators that we will use in pointers concepts i.e.

 Dereferencing operator(*) used to declare pointer variable and access the value stored in the address.

 Address operator(&) used to returns the address of a variable or to access the address of a variable to a pointer.

Important Points:

 %p format specifier is used to print the address stored in pointer variables.

 Printing a pointer with %d format specifier may result in a warning or undefined behaviour because the size of a
pointer (usually 4 or 8 bytes) may not match that of an integer.

 The memory address format will always be in hexadecimal format(starting with 0x).

 C does not use the term “reference” explicitly (unlike C++), “referencing” in C usually refers to obtaining the address of
a variable using the address operator (&).

 Pointers are essential for dynamic memory allocation, providing control over memory usage with functions
like malloc, calloc, and free.

Accessing the value of a variable using pointer in C

As we know that a pointer is a special type of variable that is used to store the memory address of another variable. A normal
variable contains the value of any type like int, char, float etc, while a pointer variable contains the memory address of another
variable.

Here, we are going to learn how can we access the value of another variable using the pointer variable?

Steps for accessing the value of a variable using pointer in C

1. Declare a normal variable, assign the value

2. Declare a pointer variable with the same type as the normal variable

Basics of File Handling in C

File handling in C is the process in which we create, open, read, write, and close operations on a file. C language provides
different functions such as fopen(), fwrite(), fread(), fseek(), fprintf(), etc. to perform input, output, and many different C file
operations in our program.

Why do we need File Handling in C?

So far the operations using the C program are done on a prompt/terminal which is not stored anywhere. The output is deleted
when the program is closed. But in the software industry, most programs are written to store the information fetched from the
program. The use of file handling is exactly what the situation calls for.

In order to understand why file handling is important, let us look at a few features of using files:

 Reusability: The data stored in the file can be accessed, updated, and deleted anywhere and anytime providing high
reusability.

 Portability: Without losing any data, files can be transferred to another in the computer system. The risk of flawed
coding is minimized with this feature.

 Efficient: A large amount of input may be required for some programs. File handling allows you to easily access a part of
a file using few instructions which saves a lot of time and reduces the chance of errors.

 Storage Capacity: Files allow you to store a large amount of data without having to worry about storing everything
simultaneously in a program.

Text Files

A text file contains data in the form of ASCII characters and is generally used to store a stream of characters.

 Each line in a text file ends with a new line character (‘\n’).

 It can be read or written by any text editor.

 They are generally stored with .txt file extension.

 Text files can also be used to store the source code.

2. Binary Files

A binary file contains data in binary form (i.e. 0’s and 1’s) instead of ASCII characters. They contain data that is stored in a similar
manner to how it is stored in the main memory.

 The binary files can be created only from within a program and their contents can only be read by a program.

 More secure as they are not easily readable.

 They are generally stored with .bin file extension.

C File Operations

C file operations refer to the different possible operations that we can perform on a file in C such as:

1. Creating a new file – fopen() with attributes as “a” or “a+” or “w” or “w+”

2. Opening an existing file – fopen()

3. Reading from file – fscanf() or fgets()

4. Writing to a file – fprintf() or fputs()

5. Moving to a specific location in a file – fseek(), rewind()

6. Closing a file – fclose()

File Pointer in C
A file pointer is a reference to a particular position in the opened file. It is used in file
handling to perform all file operations such as read, write, close, etc. We use the FILE macro
to declare the file pointer variable. The FILE macro is defined inside <stdio.h> header file

Arithmetic Operators in C
Arithmetic Operators are the type of operators in C that are used to perform mathematical operations in a C program. They can
be used in programs to define expressions and mathematical formulas.

What are C Arithmetic Operators?

The C arithmetic operators are the symbols that are used to perform mathematical operations on operands. There are a total of
9 arithmetic operators in C to provide the basic arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.

Types of Arithmetic Operators in C

The C Arithmetic Operators are of two types based on the number of operands they work. These are as follows:

1. Binary Arithmetic Operators

2. Unary Arithmetic Operators

Binary Arithmetic Operators in C

The C binary arithmetic operators operate or work on two operands. C provides 5 Binary
Arithmetic Operators for performing arithmetic functions which are as follows:
Name of the Synta
Operat Operator x
or Arithmetic Operation

Add two operands.

+ Addition x+y

Subtract the second operand from the first operand.

– Subtraction x–y

Multiply two operands.

* Multiplication x*y

Divide the first operand by the second operand.

/ Division x/y

Calculate the remainder when the first operand is divided by the second
% Modulus operand. x%y

Unary Arithmetic Operators in C

The unary arithmetic operators operate or work with a single operand. In C, we have two unary arithmetic operators which are as follows:

Operator Symbol Operation Implementation

Decrement Operator — Decreases the integer value of the variable by one. –h or h–

Increment Operator ++ Increases the integer value of the variable by one. ++h or h++

Unary Plus Operator + Returns the value of its operand. +h

Unary Minus
– Returns the negative of the value of its operand. -h
Operator

Increment Operator in C

The ‘++’ operator is used to increment the value of an integer. It can be used in two ways:

1. Pre-Increment

When placed before the variable name (also called the pre-increment operator), its value is incremented instantly. Consider the example:
Relational Operators in C

In C, relational operators are the symbols that are used for comparison between two values to understand the type of
relationship a pair of numbers shares. The result that we get after the relational operation is a boolean value, that tells whether
the comparison is true or false. Relational operators are mainly used in conditional statements and loops to check the conditions
in C programming.

Types of C Relational Operators

There are a total of 6 relational operators in C language. There are:

1. Equal to operator (==)

The C equal to operator (==) is a relational operator that is used to check whether the two given operands are equal or not.

 Equal to operator is a binary operator hence it requires two operands to perform the comparison.

 If the two values are equal, it returns true. Otherwise, it returns false.

 It does not work for strings or arrays.

Understanding the Basics:

Logic development in C language begins with understanding the basics of the language itself. C is a powerful and versatile
programming language known for its efficiency, flexibility, and close-to-hardware capabilities. Before delving into logic
development, it’s crucial to grasp fundamental concepts such as variables, data types, operators, and control structures.

Conditional Statements:

Conditional statements are fundamental to logic development in C language. They allow programmers to make decisions
based on certain conditions and execute different blocks of code accordingly. In C, conditional statements include if, else if,
and else constructs, which enable branching based on the evaluation of boolean expressions. Mastering conditional
statements is essential for implementing logic-driven behavior in C programs.

Looping Constructs:

Looping constructs play a crucial role in logic development by enabling repetitive execution of code blocks. C provides
several looping constructs, including the for loop, while loop, and do-while loop, each suited for different scenarios. Loops
are essential for iterating over data structures, processing arrays, implementing algorithms, and performing repetitive tasks
efficiently.

Logical Operators:

Logical operators allow programmers to combine and manipulate boolean expressions in C language. These operators include
&& (logical AND), || (logical OR), and ! (logical NOT), which enable the construction of complex logical conditions. Understanding
how to use logical operators effectively is essential for implementing conditional logic and controlling program flow based on
multiple conditions.

Arrays and Data Structures:

Arrays and data structures are fundamental to logic development in C language, as they enable the storage and manipulation of
collections of data. Arrays provide a contiguous block of memory for storing elements of the same type, while data structures
such as structs and unions allow for the creation of custom data types with multiple fields. Mastery of arrays and data structures
is essential for handling complex data and implementing efficient algorithms.

Function Decomposition and Modularization:

Logic development in C language often involves breaking down complex problems into smaller, more manageable tasks through
function decomposition. Functions allow programmers to modularize code, encapsulate functionality, and promote code reuse.
By dividing a program into smaller functions, each responsible for a specific task, programmers can simplify logic development,
improve code readability, and facilitate debugging and maintenance.

Debugging and Testing:

Debugging and testing are integral parts of logic development in C language. Debugging involves identifying and fixing errors or
bugs in the code, while testing involves verifying that the program behaves as expected under various conditions. Techniques
such as printf debugging, using debugging tools, and writing test cases are essential for ensuring the correctness and reliability of
C program