4 Programming for Functional Functions

Over the period of last few decades, the 'C' language has become an icon for computer programmers. The field of computer science has undergone tremendous change, and the rate of obsolescence of concepts, programming platforms, tools and utilities is extremely high. However, in spite of such vast changes, the only thing that has retained its stability is the 'C' language. Even today, millions of students, hobbyists and professional programmers enjoy the sturdiness, reliability and user friendliness of the 'C' language. Today 'C' enjoys the undisputable recognition in the computing paradigm for diversified applications, from the basic programming, microcontrollers, and spreadsheets to system programming. In this book, most of the usual theoretical features have been skipped, for these have been widely published in previous books. Rather than introducing the underpinning theory, the authors approach has been "learning-through-doing", which is one that often appeals to programmers. Theory is followed by practical implementation, and in this way the book will cover programming aspects in a self-tutor manner providing an excellent overview, from basic to advance programming. Topics discussed include: • GCC interface • First time 'C' User • Decision and looping structures • Arrays and pointers • Functions, structures and union • Linear data structures