Syrian Private University

Introduction to Algorithms
and Programming

Instructor: Dr. Mouhib Alnoukari

Introduction to Algorithms
& C Programming

Course focus, First Program, and C Programming

 Focus of the Course
• This is an intro to problem solving and
programming class (that uses the C
programming language).
• The main focus is on:
• Problem solving
• The logic of programming
• Program design, implementation, and
testing
• The fundamentals of programming
Book: Let Us C - Yashwant Kanetkar
 Notes …
• Learning how to program takes a lot of time!
• It also requires a lot of patience.
• You cannot learn how to program by just reading
the textbook. You have to spend long hours in
front of the computer.
• If you want to learn how to program well you will
have to take at least 2-3 other programming
classes as well. This class alone is not enough!
• This class is not exclusively about writing code. It
also emphasizes Problem Solving.
? Hardware & Software
Hardware & Software
• Hardware
– Physical, tangible parts of a computer.
– Keyboard, monitor, disks, wires, chips, etc.

• Software
– Programs and data (intangible).
– A program is a series of instructions.

• A computer requires both hardware and software.

• Each is essentially useless without the other.

Software Categories
• Operating System
– controls all machine activities.
– provides the user interface to the computer.
– manages resources such as the CPU and memory.
– Windows XP, Unix, Linux, Mac OS.

• Application program
– generic term for any other kind of software.
– word processors, missile control systems, games.

• Most operating systems and application programs have

a graphical user interface (GUI).
Computer Components
CPU & Main Memory

Chip that executes

program commands
Central
Processing
Unit
Primary storage area for
programs and data that
are in active use

Synonymous with RAM

Main
RAM is volatile memory Memory

Start-up instructions are

burnt into ROM
Memory

Most modern computers are byte-addressable

Digital Information
• Computers store all information digitally:
– numbers
– text
– graphics and images
– video
– audio
– program instructions

• In some way, all information is digitized - broken down

into pieces and represented as numbers
Representing Text Digitally
• For example, every character is stored as a number,
including spaces, digits, and punctuation

• Corresponding upper and lower case letters are

separate characters

Hi, Heather.

72 105 44 32 72 101 97 116 104 101 114 46

Binary Numbers
• Once information is digitized, it is represented and
stored in memory using the binary number system

• A single binary digit (0 or 1) is called a bit

• Devices that store and move information are cheaper

and more reliable if they have to represent only two
states

• A single bit can represent two possible states, like a

light bulb that is either on (1) or off (0)

• Permutations of bits are used to store values

Central Processing Unit
• A CPU is on a chip called a microprocessor
• It continuously follows the fetch-decode-execute cycle:

Retrieve an instruction from main memory

fetch

execute decode

Carry out the Determine what the

instruction instruction is
Secondary Memory Devices

Information is moved
Secondary memory
Central between main memory
devices provide
Processing and secondary memory
long-term storage
Unit as needed

Hard disks
Floppy disks Hard Disk
ZIP disks
Writable CDs Main
Writable DVDs Memory
Tapes Floppy Disk
Input / Output Devices

Monitor I/O devices facilitate

Central
Processing user interaction
Unit
Keyboard

Monitor screen Hard Disk

Keyboard
Mouse Main
Joystick Memory
Bar code scanner Floppy Disk
Touch screen
Flow of Information During Program Execution
? Program Development
Program Development
• The mechanics of developing a program include
several activities:
– Writing the program in a specific programming language.

– Translating the program into a form that the computer can

execute.

– Investigating and fixing various types of errors that can

occur.

• Software tools can be used to help with all parts of

this process.
Entering, Translating, and Running
a High-Level Language Program
Basics Program Development

Edit and
save program
errors

errors
Compile program

Execute program and

evaluate results
Programming Languages
• Each type of CPU executes only a particular machine
language.

• A program must be translated into machine language

before it can be executed.

• A compiler is a software tool which translates source

code into a specific target language.

• Often, that target language is the machine language

for a particular CPU type.
? Your First Program!

Using C Programming Language

 C Programming Language

• A programming language specifies the

words and symbols that we can use to
write a program.

• A programming language employs a set of

rules that dictate how the words and
symbols can be put together to form valid
program statements.

The computer will always do what you tell it to do, not what you want it to do.
C Program Structure

#include <stdio.h>
main()
{

// comments about the program

printf(“Hello World! \n”);

}
C Program Structure

#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
All programs must have a main function

}
C Program Structure

#include <stdio.h>
main()
{

main function body

Comments can be placed almost anywhere

}
? C Language

Using C Programming Language

 C History
 C evolved from two previous languages, BCPL (Basic Combined Programming
Language) and B.
 BCPL developed in 1967 by Martin Richards as a language for writing OSes and
compilers.
 Ken Thompson modeled many features in his language, B, after their
counterparts in BCPL, and used B to create an early versions of UNIX operating
system at bell Laboratories in 1970 on a DEC PDP-7 computer.
 Both BCPL and B were typeless languages: the only data type is machine word
and access to other kinds of objects is by special operators or function calls.
 The C language developed from B by Dennis Ritchie at Bell Laboratories and
was originally implemented on a DEC PDP-11 computer in 1972.
 It was named C for new language (after B).
 Initially, C used widely as the development language of the UNIX OS.
 Today, almost all new major OS are written in C including Windows.
 C Program Structure – Identifiers
1. Is a unique name that simply references to memory locations, which can hold
values (data).
2. Identifiers give unique names to various objects in a program.
3. Are formed by combining letters (both upper and lowercase), digits (0–9) and
underscore ( _ ).
4. Rules for identifier naming are:
a) The first character of an identifier must be a letter (non-digit) including
underscore ( _ ).
b) The blank or white space character is not permitted in an identifier. Space,
tab, linefeed, carriage-return, formfeed, vertical-tab, and newline
characters are "white-space characters“ - they serve the same purpose as
the spaces between words and lines on a printed page.
c) Can be any length but implementation dependent.
d) Reserved words/keywords cannot be used.
C Program Structure – Identifiers
Examples: variable names
C Program Structure – Variables
 are named blocks of memory & is any valid
identifier.
 Have two properties in syntax: name — a unique
identifier & type — what kind of value is stored.
 It is identifier, that value may change during the
program execution.
 Every variable stored in the computer’s memory
has a name, a value and a type.
 C Program Structure – Variables
 More examples
C Program Structure – Assignment
• An assignment statement changes the value of a
variable.
• The assignment operator is the = sign
total = 55;

• The expression on the right is evaluated and the

result is stored in the variable on the left.
• The value that was in total is overwritten.
• You can only assign a value to a variable that is
consistent with the variable's declared type.
C Program Structure – Contants
• A constant is an identifier that is similar to a variable
except that it holds the same value during its entire
existence
• As the name implies, it is constant, not variable
• The compiler will issue an error if you try to change
the value of a constant
• In C, we use the const modifier to declare a
constant
const int MIN_HEIGHT = 69;
C Program Structure – Contants
• Constants are useful for three important reasons:

1. First, they give meaning to otherwise unclear literal values.

– For example, MAX_LOAD means more than the literal 250

2. Second, they facilitate program maintenance.

– If a constant is used in multiple places, its value need only be
updated in one place

3. Third, they formally establish that a value should not

change, avoiding inadvertent errors by other programmers.
 C Program Structure – Keywords

 Reserved words in C & are not available for re-

definition.
 have special meaning in C.
auto extern short _Alignas (C11)
break float signed _Alignof (C11)
case for sizeof _Atomic (C11)
char goto static _Bool (C99 beyond)
const if struct _Complex (C99 beyond)
continue inline (C99 switch _Generic (C11)
default beyond) typedef _Imaginary (C99
do int union beyond)
double long unsigned _Noreturn (C11)
else register void _Static_assert (C11)
enum restrict (C99 volatile _Thread_local (C11)
beyond) while
return
C Program Structure – Others

• Statements are terminated with a ';'

• e.g:

char acharacter;
int i, j = 18, k = -20;
printf("Initially, given j = 18 and k = -20\n");

for(; count != 0; count = count - 1)

C Program Structure – Others
 Group of statements (compound statement) are
enclosed by curly braces: { and }.
 Mark the start and the end of code block.
 Also used in initializing a list of aggregate data values
such as in array and enum type.
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
int id[7] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7}; {
float x[5] = {5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 6.1}; int i, j = 18, k = -20;
char vowel[6] = {'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u', '\0'}; printf("Initially, given j = 18 and k = -20\n");
printf("Do some operations..."
"i = j / 12, j = k / 18 and k = k / 4\n");
enum days {Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, i = j / 12;
Sat, Sun}; j = k / 8;
k = k / 4;
printf("At the end of the operations...\n");
printf("i = %d, j = %d and k = %d\n", i, j, k);
return 0;
}
 C Program Structure - Comments
• Comments in a program are called inline // this comment runs to
documentation the end of the line
• They should be included to explain the
purpose of the program and describe
processing steps
/* this comment runs to the
terminating
• They do not affect how a program works symbol, even across line
• C comments can take two forms: breaks */

// for printf()
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h> // for strcpy_s() and their family

/* main() function, where program

execution starts */
int main()
{
/* declares variable and initializes it*/
int i = 8;
…
 C Program Structure – White Apace
• Spaces, blank lines, and tabs are called white space.
• White space is used to separate words and symbols in a program.
• Extra white space is ignored.
• A valid C program can be formatted many ways.
• Programs should be formatted to enhance readability, using consistent
indentation.

#include <stdio.h>

void main(void)
{
int MyAge = 12;
printf("My name is Mr. C. Cplusplus\n");
… }
C Program Structure - Commas
 Commas separate function arguments, list of
variables, aggregate values. e.g.

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, int argv)

{
int i = 77, j, k; int id[7] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7};
j = i + 1; k = j + 1; i = k + j; float x[5] = {5.6, 5.7, 5.8, 5.9, 6.1};
printf("Finally, i = %d\n", i); char vowel[6] = {'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u', '\0'};
printf("... and j = %d\n", j);
printf("... and k = %d\n", k);
return 0; enum days {Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri,
} Sat, Sun};
? PROGRAM ERRORS
SYNTAX & SEMATIC
Program Errors
• A program can have three types of errors:
1. The compiler will find syntax errors and other basic
problems (compile-time errors)
• If compile-time errors exist, an executable version of the program
is not created

2. A problem can occur during program execution, such as

trying to divide by zero, which causes a program to
terminate abnormally (run-time errors)

3. A program may run, but produce incorrect results, perhaps

using an incorrect formula (logical errors)
Programming: Syntax & Semantics
• The syntax rules of a language define how we can put
together symbols, reserved words, and identifiers to
make a valid program.

• The semantics of a program statement define what

that statement means (its purpose or role in a
program).

• A program that is syntactically correct is not

necessarily logically (semantically) correct.
Programming: Syntax & Semantics

 e.g.

To add an integer to a variable q and store the result in q

(semantic), syntaxically (correct), we can write:

q = q + 3; or q += 3;

 Pseudocode - an informal high-level description of the

operating principle of a computer program or other algorithm.
 Uses the structural conventions of a programming language,
but is intended for human reading rather than machine
reading.
? PSEUDOCODE &
ALGORITHM
 PSEUDOCODE & ALGORITHM
An informal high-level description of a computer program
or algorithm operating principle.
An algorithm is merely the sequence of steps taken to
solve a problem which are normally a sequence, selection,
iteration and a case-type statement.
Algorithm is a procedure for solving a problem - actions to
be executed and the order in which those actions are to be
executed.
e.g. to sort ascendingly, the given unsorted integers, we
can achieve this by using several different algorithms.
Every algorithm may have different number line of code,
different repetition loops, different execution speeds etc.
 PSEUDOCODE & ALGORITHM

But all the program have similar

purpose: to sort the given unsorted
integers in ascending order.
Pseudocode uses programming
language’s structural conventions ,
intended for human rather than machine
reading.
helps programmers develop algorithms.
 PSEUDOCODE & ALGORITHM

Set sum to zero

Set grade counter to one
While grade counter is less than or equal to ten
Input the next grade
Add the grade into the sum
Set the class average to the sum divided by ten
Print the class average.

SET total to zero

IF HoursWorked > NormalMax THEN REPEAT
Display overtime message READ Temperature
ELSE IF Temperature > Freezing THEN
INCREMENT total
Display regular time message
ENDIF END IF
UNTIL Temperature < zero
Print total