Sams Teach Yourself C in 21 Days

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Week 1 At a Glance


As you prepare for your first week of learning how to pro-
gram in C, you need a few things: a compiler, an editor, and
this book. In this edition we have included all of this for you.
On the CD that comes with this book you will find that there
are two editors, Bloodshed Dev-C++ and DJGPP. These edi-
tors both include compilers. Appendix G, “The Bloodshed
Dev-C++ Compiler” will tell you how to install the
Bloodshed compiler for Windows. The readme files on the
CD will provide you information on the DJGPP. If you have
your own editor and compiler, you don’t need to use the tools
included on the CD. In fact, because this book is written with
the ANSI standard in mind, you can use any standard C com-
piler and editor.
The best way to learn a computer language involves more
than just reading a book; it involves entering and running a
number of programs. The many C programs included in this
book offer hands-on training. If you are interested in cutting
corners, you will find most of the complete listings on the
book’s CD. While you can simply copy and run these pro-
grams from the CD, we recommend that you actually type the
programs into your editor instead. This will take more time;
however, it will help you to understand the code by giving
you a closer look at it.

Where You’re Going ..............................................................................................

The first week covers basic material that you need to know to
fully understand C. On Day 1, “Getting Started with C,” and
Day 2, “The Components of a C Program,” you’ll learn how
to create a C program and recognize the basic elements of a

Week 1 In Review


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