CSCI 235 — diff C Java 1

Our reference

• Chapters 1 to 8 of An Introduction to the C Programming Language and Software Design

But let’s start with some Fall 2015 CSCI 255 notes on C vs Java or the Fall 2011 ECE 209 C overview.

Chapter 1 — Introduction

• Designed to compete with assembly language
• Has a goto
• No objects
• if, while and for
  • but the condition is an int not a boolean
• C preprocessor

Chapter 2 — Types, Operators, and Expressions

• Similar integer types to Java but no standardization of size
  • No boolean, int does the job
  • No byte in C
  • Java char is like a C unsigned short
• Standard C I/O is important and influenced Java I/O (more O than I)
• Similar cast operations, but narrowing without cast is allowed

Chapter 3 — Branching and Iteration

• Looks like Java with a goto

Chapter 4 — Functions

• functions are not methods
• C has function prototypes to specify the function interface
  • See fprintf man page
• exit is a bailout
• The main function returns an integer to indicate success or failure
  • Success is usually 0 — see mkdir
• C standard library has many useful functions

Chapter 5 — Scope and Extent

• Spring 2017 CSCI 255 notes

Chapter 7 — Pointers

• Draw elements of the following types
  • int *
  • char *
  • int **
  • void *
• Two new operators
  • unary & — address-of
  • unary * — dererence
  • study examples on page 50
• Examples of assigned to pointers and pointers to pointers
• The const declaration modifies
  • const int* pA ;
  • int const* pB ;
• call by reference (vs call by value)
  • Write an integer swap routine
  • C++ reference
  • strtol man page — this is hard
• arrays are constant pointers
• the mysteries of pointer arithemetic
• passing a function with pointers
  • C qsort vs Java sort
• Spring 2017 CSCI 255 notes
• Problem 15 of Spring 2017 CSCI 255 final
• Fall 2011 ECE 209 notes