Cheatsheets / Learn C: Introduction
Learn C: Introduction
Syntax in C
The rules that dictate the correct format of code // Statements must end in a semicolon
for a speci!c programming language are known as
(;)
syntax.
Examples of syntax in C are: // correct
All statements must end with a semicolon, printf("Hello World!");
;
Keywords and other code elements are
case-sensitive // error
When compiling C code, an error will occur when printf("Hello World!")
the syntax of the code is incorrect.
// Code elements are case sensitive
// correct
printf("Hello World!");
// error
PRINTF("Hello World!");
Escape Sequences
In C, an escape sequence is a non-visual character // \n acts as a newline in a string
used within a string.
printf("Hello\nWorld!"); // Outputs:
\n is an escape sequence that adds a newline to
a string. \t is an escape sequence that adds a Hello
tab of spaces to a string. //
World!
// \t acts as a tab in a string
printf("Hello\tWorld!"); // Outputs:
Hello World!
Comments in C
In C, comments are text within code that will be // Comments
ignored by the compiler. They are used to
document code.
Line comments begin with a double forward slash, /* This review content is
// . All text after // will be part of the about comments and how they
comment until a new line is reached.
can be used to document code */
Block comments begin with a forward slash and
asterisk, /* and end with an asterisk and forward
slash, */ . Block comments can span multiple // This is a line comment
lines as new lines are part of the comment.
/* This is a
block comment */
Compiling C Code with gcc
gcc
gcc is an application used to compile C gcc script.c
programs into an executable that can run on the
gcc script.c -o myProgram
target computer. gcc stands for GNU Compiler
Collection.
gcc compiles C code using the code !le as an
un"agged command-line argument. The output
executable !le will be called a.out . The -o
"ag followed by some text can be used to designate
the name of the output executable !le.
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