SIPB IAP 2007 Activities
Caffeinated Crash Course in C
Steve Summit
Jan 24, 4-7:00pm, room 1-150 (optional bull session 8-10:00pm)
No enrollment limit, no advance sign up
Single session event
This class is for you if:
-
you're a programming jock who knows several languages but not C yet
-
you mostly know C but have some lingering questions or
difficulties around the edges
-
you have no intention of actually using C directly but
want to better understand the context of C-derived languages
(e.g. C++, Java, Perl) you do use
-
you have no intention of actually using C directly but
want to understand its ongoing impact on computing
(assumptions, presumptions, use as "portable assembler" behind other
languages' compilers, etc.)
But this class is not for you if:
-
you've never programmed at all
-
you're a dummy
(because this is most certainly not "C for Dummies"!)
We will not cover the easy stuff, or the stuff everyone knows, or
the stuff that's obvious because it's the same in C++ or Java or Perl.
We'll spend about 30 seconds on syntax (because you all know
about { } already); we'll spend about 30 seconds on
operators and basic expressions (because those are virtually the
same in all C-like languages).
What we will cover are things like:
-
the equivalence between arrays and pointers
-
how to avoid undefined expressions
-
variable-length argument lists
-
dynamic memory allocation
-
changes in the new "C99" standard
-
how to write portable code
-
whether C is a "portable assembler" or an actual "high level
language" and how to make sure you're using it effectively
The instructor is the author of the comp.lang.c FAQ list
and has taught several other classes on C.
For questions, email sipb-iap-cccc@mit.edu.
Places to go from here: