MACHAKOS UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTING&INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
CourseProgramme:
Bsc(Information technology)
Course Unit:
SIT 120: Programming methodology
Course Unit Pre-requisite:
None
Semester & Academic Year
First Year First Semester 2021/2022
Contact Hours & Credit Hours
42 Hours; 3 Hours Per Week
Lecturer:
Ms.Veronicah Mutua
Copyright © Machakos University, 2021
All Rights Reserved
MONTH, YEAR
OCTOBER, 2021
Lesson 2
CREATING AND RUNNING PROGRAMS
The procedure for turning a program written in C into machine Language. The process is presented
in a straightforward, linear fashion but you shuld recognize that these steps arerepeated many
times during development to correct errors and make improvements to the code.
The following are the four steps in this process
1) Writing and Editing the program
2) Compiling the program
3) Linking the program with the required modules
4) Executing the program
TEXT EDITOR
COMPILER
Library LINKER
RUNNER
OUTPUT
Sl. No. Phase Name of Code Tools File Extension
1 TextEditor Source Code C Compilers .C
Edit,
Notepad Etc..,
2 Compiler Object Code C Compiler .OBJ
3 Linker Executable C Compiler .EXE
Code
4 Runner Executable C Compiler .EXE
Code
Writing and Editing Programs
The software used to write programs is known as a text editor. A text editor helps
us enter, change and store character data. Once we write the program in the text editor we save it
using a filename stored with an extension of .C. This file is referred as source code file.
Compiling Programs
The code in a source file stored on the disk must be translated into machine language. This
is the job of the compiler. The Compiler is a computer program that translates the source code
written in a high-level language into the corresponding object code of the low-levellanguage. This
translation process is called compilation. The entire high level program is converted into the
executable machine code file. The Compiler which executes C programs is called as C Compiler.
Example Turbo C, Borland C, GC etc.,
The C Compiler is actually two separate programs:
The Preprocessor
The Translator
The Preprocessor reads the source code and prepares it for the translator. While preparing the code,
it scans for special instructions known as preprocessor commands. These commands tell the
preprocessor to look for special code libraries. The result of preprocessing is called the translation
unit.
After the preprocessor has prepared the code for compilation, the translator does the actual
work of converting the program into machine language. The translator reads the translation unit
and writes the resulting object module to a file that can then be combined with other precompiled
units to form the final program. An object module is the code in the machine language.
Linking Programs
The Linker assembles all functions, the program‘s functions and system‘s functions into
one executable program.
Executing Programs
To execute a program we use an operating system command, such as run, to load the
program into primary memory and execute it. Getting the program into memory is the function of
an operating system program known as the loader. It locates the executable program and
reads it into memory. When everything is loaded the program takes control and it beginexecution.
ALGORITHM
Algorithm is a finite sequence of instructions, each of which has a clear meaning and can be
performed with a finite amount of effort in a finite length of time. No matter what the input values
may be, an algorithm terminates after executing a finite number of instructions.
We represent an algorithm using a pseudo language that is a combination of the constructs of a
programming language together with informal English statements.
The ordered set of instructions required to solve a problem is known as an algorithm.
The characteristics of a good algorithm are:
Precision – the steps are precisely stated (defined).
Uniqueness – results of each step are uniquely defined and only depend on the input
and the result of the preceding steps.
Finiteness – the algorithm stops after a finite number of instructions are executed.
Input – the algorithm receives input.
Output – the algorithm produces output.
Generality – the algorithm applies to a set of inputs.
Example
Q. Write a algorithem to find out number is odd or even?
Ans.
step 1 : start
step 2 : input number
step 3 : rem=number mod 2
step 4 : if rem=0 then
print "number even"
else
print "number odd"
endif
step 5 : stop
FLOWCHART
Flowchart is a diagrammatic representation of an algorithm. Flowchart is very helpful in writing
program and explaining program to others.
Symbols Used In Flowchart
Different symbols are used for different states in flowchart, For example: Input/Output and
decision making has different symbols. The table below describes all the symbols that are used in
making flowchart
Symbol Purpose Description
Used to indicate the flow of logic by connecting
Flow line
symbols.
Terminal(Stop/Start) Used to represent start and end of flowchart.
Input/Output Used for input and output operation.
Used for airthmetic operations and data-
Processing
manipulations.
Used to represent the operation in which there are
Desicion
two alternatives, true and false.
On-page Connector Used to join different flowline
Off-page Connector Used to connect flowchart portion on different page.
Predefined Used to represent a group of statements performing
Process/Function one processing task.
Examples of flowcharts in programming
Draw a flowchart to add two numbers entered by user.
Draw flowchart to find the largest among three different numbers entered by user.
INTRODUCTION TO C LANGUAGE
C is a general-purpose high level language that was originally developed by Dennis Ritchie for the
Unix operating system. It was first implemented on the Digital Eqquipment Corporation PDP-11
computer in 1972.
The Unix operating system and virtually all Unix applications are written in the C language. C
has now become a widely used professional language for various reasons.
Easy to learn
Structured language
It produces efficient programs.
It can handle low-level activities.
It can be compiled on a variety of computers.
Facts about C
C was invented to write an operating system called UNIX.
C is a successor of B language which was introduced around 1970
The language was formalized in 1988 by the American National Standard Institue
(ANSI).
By 1973 UNIX OS almost totally written in C.
Today C is the most widely used System Programming Language.
Most of the state of the art software have been implemented using C
Why to use C?
C was initially used for system development work, in particular the programs that make-up the
operating system. C was adoped as a system development language because it produces code that
runs nearly as fast as code written in assembly language. Some examples of the use of C might be:
Operating Systems
Language Compilers
Assemblers
Text Editors
Print Spoolers
Network Drivers
Modern Programs
Data Bases
Language Interpreters
Utilities
C Program File
All the C programs are writen into text files with extension ".c" for example hello.c. You can use
"vi" editor to write your C program into a file.
HISTORY TO C LANGUAGE
C is a general-purpose language which has been closely associated with the UNIX operating
system for which it was developed - since the system and most of the programs that run it are
written in C.
Many of the important ideas of C stem from the language BCPL, developed by Martin Richards.
The influence of BCPL on C proceeded indirectly through the language B, which was written by
Ken Thompson in 1970 at Bell Labs, for the first UNIX system on a DEC PDP-
7. BCPL and B are "type less" languages whereas C provides a variety of data types.
In 1972 Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs writes C and in 1978 the publication of The C Programming
Language by Kernighan & Ritchie caused a revolution in the computing world.
In 1983, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) established a committee to provide a
modern, comprehensive definition of C. The resulting definition, the ANSI standard, or "ANSI C",
was completed late 1988.
BASIC STRUCTURE OF C PROGRAMMING
1. Documentation section: The documentation section consists of a set of comment lines
giving the name of the program, the author and other details, which the programmer would
like to use later.
2. Link section: The link section provides instructions to the compiler to link functions from
the system library such as using the #include directive.
3. Definition section: The definition section defines all symbolic constants such usingthe
#define directive.
4. Global declaration section: There are some variables that are used in more than one
function. Such variables are called global variables and are declared in the global
declaration section that is outside of all the functions. This section also declares all
the user-defined functions.
5. main () function section: Every C program must have one main function section. This
section contains two parts; declaration part and executable part
1. Declaration part: The declaration part declares all the variables used in the
executable part.
2. Executable part: There is at least one statement in the executable part. These two
parts must appear between the opening and closing braces. The program execution
begins at the opening brace and ends at the closing brace. The closing brace of the
main function is the logical end of the program. All statements in the declaration
and executable part end with a semicolon.
6. Subprogram section: If the program is a multi-function program then the subprogram
section contains all the user-defined functions that are called in the main () function. User-
defined functions are generally placed immediately after the main () function,although they
may appear in any order.
PROCESS OF COMPILING AND RUNNING C PROGRAM
We will briefly highlight key features of the C Compilation model here.
The C Compilation Model
The Preprocessor
The Preprocessor accepts source code as input and is responsible for
removing comments
Interpreting special preprocessor directives denoted by #.
For example
#include -- includes contents of a named file. Files usually called header files. e.g
o #include <math.h> -- standard library maths file.
o #include <stdio.h> -- standard library I/O file
#define -- defines a symbolic name or constant. Macro substitution.
o #define MAX_ARRAY_SIZE 100
C Compiler
The C compiler translates source to assembly code. The source code is received from the
preprocessor.
Assembler
The assembler creates object code. On a UNIX system you may see files with a .o suffix
(.OBJ on MSDOS) to indicate object code files.
Link Editor
If a source file references library functions or functions defined in other source files the link
editor combines these functions (with main()) to create an executable file.
