Learn pointers, without knowledge of them you cannot effectively use C to write even the simplest of programs.
eg.
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) {
printf("Hello World\n");
}
Doesnt use pointers right? Wrong. The definition of printf is:
int printf(const char *format, ...);
Almost all of the string functions use pointers (strcmp, strcpy, strlen, etc), as do most functions for doing anything useful, including dynamic memory allocation.
Even arrays in C are pointers, try the following code:
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) {
int a[10];
int *p;
a[0] = 10;
a[1] = 15;
/* An array variable is a pointer to its first element */
p = a;
/* Easy way */
printf("a[0] = %d, a[1] = %d\n", a[0], a[1]);
/* Pointer way */
printf("a[0] = %d, a[1] = %d\n", *p, *(p + 1));
}
As Na_th_an said, if you dont want to learn pointers you shouldnt really be coding in C, use another language instead such as Qbasic or Java.
As for the brackets and semicolons, these are used to allow a single line of code to spread many lines of text (because the end of line is denoted by a semicolan). The brackets are used for grouping blocks of code, ie functions, if statements, loops etc. But can also be used to introduce variables into a only part of a block: eg.
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) {
int a = 10;
printf("a = %d\n", a);
{
int b = 5;
printf("a = %d, b = %d\n", a, b);
}
}
If you really cant stand them you can alway use a little preprocessor magic to get some pseudo-basic syntax. This isnt really a good idea and will cause you problems in the long run, but its a nice trick:
#define DIM(x) int x;
#define IF if(
#define ELSE } else {
#define ELSEIF } else if(
#define THEN ) {
#define ENDIF }
#include <stdio.h>
int main (void) {
DIM(x)
x = 5;
IF X = 5 THEN
x = x + 1;
ELSEIF x = 10 THEN
x = x + 2;
ELSE
x = x - 2;
ENDIF
}
When passed through the preprocessor will give (ignoring stdio.h):
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) {
int x;
x = 5;
if( x = 5 ) {
x = x + 1;
} else if( x = 10 ) {
x = x + 2;
} else {
x = x - 2;
}
}
Anyway, all languages are different and all have specific tasks for which they are a better choice over other languages. C is a /very/ powerful and flexible language, but it can also be very complicated to learn and use effectively. If you are going to learn C, learn it properly and play around with pointers (try and use an OS with memory protection such as WinNT or Unix if you can, rogue pointers can crash a DOS or Win9x system quite easily. Get an introduction to C book out of the library and read it cover to cover. Happy coding.
