Introduction to Programming in C Language

Need for Programming

• Computers are general-purpose machines that can perform computational tasks.
• To communicate with a computer, we need to write instructions (programs).
• Programs are sequences of instructions that the computer executes to perform tasks.
• Computers understand only binary language (0s and 1s).

Importance of Programs

• A computer cannot perform any task without programs.
• Programs can be categorized into:
  • System Programs: Manage system resources and hardware.
  • Application Programs: Perform specific tasks (e.g., web browsers, text editors).

Programming Languages

• To write programs, we need programming languages.
• Programming languages allow us to write instructions in a form that humans can understand.
• High-level languages (e.g., C, C++, Java) are more understandable for humans compared to low-level languages (machine or assembly language).
• Programs written in high-level languages must be converted into machine language for execution by the CPU.

Computer Architecture and Machine Language

• Machine language is dependent on CPU architecture, making it non-portable (difficult to run the same program on different systems).
• Assembly level languages were developed to simplify programming, but they still have limitations.

C Language Overview

• Developed by Dennis Ritchie in 1972 at Bell Laboratories.
• C is the successor of the B language and was designed to write the UNIX operating system.
• C is considered a system programming language and is widely used in developing various software (e.g., Oracle, Android, device drivers).
• C was standardized by ANSI in 1989, leading to the term ANSI C.

Compilation Process

• C programs are written in a .c file and must be converted to an object code (machine code) by a compiler.
• This conversion process is crucial for the CPU to execute the program.
• The roles of linkers and loaders in the compilation process will be discussed in future videos.

Conclusion

• Understanding the fundamentals of programming, especially in C, is essential for software development.
• Future videos will cover topics like program execution, interpretation, and more detailed aspects of C programming.