Week 2 overview
This is the start of the notes for week 2. At this point I’m assuming that you know how to compile and run a simple C program and that you understand how to use the terminal to a basic level. We now have a few more things to cover both in terms of how to compile and manage your code and also how to write more useful C programs.
The notes from here will cover more about using the shell and how to compile your code with make and Makefiles. Then we will move onto the basics of how to do conditionals and looping in C and how to structure programs using functions. Finally we will have an extended example of putting these pieces together to make a simple program for calculating the roots of a quadratic polynomial and then some exercises.
It is important when working through this material to actually try things out and not simply skim over reading everything. The only way to really learn this stuff is by doing it yourself. With that in mind please test your understanding by trying to follow through with the commands yourself. If you can’t get something to work don’t just move on and forget about it: ask for help. Everything here is core material that you will need to understand.
Next section: Advanced Shell Usage