Beginner in C programming

[beachboy612]

I am beginning to learn C and have purchased The C Programming Language book.  Which program should I download to practice this language and where can i find the download?

[ahmed eshra]

download c-free-5 at http://www.programarts.com/cfree_en/download.htm and if you cannot use feel free to e-mail me [email protected] and don't worry about the word "compilers" down the page.

[beachboy612]

Thank you very much.  I am about to test out the program.  So what does compiler refer to anyway?  I see that word a lot and never know what it means.  Also, when I was looking at the source code for the $50 robot and trying to understand it,  I noticed it had function calls that I did not read about in my C programming book.  Is it because they are specific to AVR Programmers and does every programmer have its own new set of function calls?  Sorry for alll the questions.  I am completely new at this.

[newInRobotics]

I am beginning to learn C and have purchased The C Programming Language book.  Which program should I download to practice this language and where can i find the download?

Why not to go with microcontrollers straight away? Programming microcontroller is a bit different than writing software for PC, as different sets of language features are used. There are very good tutorials online that helped me to learn programming AVR microcontrollers.

Also, when I was looking at the source code for the $50 robot and trying to understand it,  I noticed it had function calls that I did not read about in my C programming book.

Function calls You saw was most likely to functions defined  in header files and other c-source files written by Admin. When You what to achieve more advanced functionality and make software development faster, You have to write Your own functions so they can be reused many times later.

[beachboy612]

@newinrobotics

Thanks for the info.  sounds like exactly what I need.  do you have any links to these tutorials?  do not really understand what you mean by header files.  I have seen them in my c programming software, but i still do not understand how they differentiate from source files and other files.

[newInRobotics]

Hi 

do you have any links to these tutorials?

Here's the link to forum page containing many links http://www.societyofrobots.com/robotforum/index.php?topic=14947.msg109175#msg109175

do not really understand what you mean by header files.  I have seen them in my c programming software, but i still do not understand how they differentiate from source files and other files.

Header files are used to declare everything: variables, functions, classes, etc. I started understanding headers after doing some programming in C++ and Qt. I've followed these tutorials --> Qt4 tutorial

[greywanderer012345]

Microsoft has a free version of Visual C++ now.

http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-cpp-express

This has very useful features. You can also program C with it.