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C: An Appendix
Because C is such a low-level language, there are a lot of terms that come up that aren't found in a lot of other languages. Here's an appendix to making understanding them easier.
Compilation
The compilation is the process of taking the human-readable code and turning it into machine-readable code. This process is performed by a compiler.
Compiler
A compiler is a program that compiles code, meaning it changes it from something human-readable into something machine-readable.
Debugging/Debugger
Debugging is the process of removing errors ("bugs") from your code. A debugger is a helpful tool that makes that easier.
GNU+Linux
GNU+Linux is the technically accurate term for what is commonly referred to as "Linux". Linux is a kernel- it's a set of programs that allow software to interact with hardware. When combined with GNU, it becomes an operating system, which allows a person to interact with it.
GUI
Graphical User Interface. A GUI will allow you to interact with a program by pointing and clicking rather than having to type in commands.
Header Files
Header files are files containing function declarations that are defined in other source files. These are typically 'included' at the top of a source file.
IDE
Integrated Development Environment. This is mostly an editor but includes tools to check syntax, format code style, compile, and debug a program, which makes writing code easier.
Human-readable
The human-readable code is code that can be read by a person- it's not in binary or machine code.
Libraries
Libraries are useful sets of code that give more functions and features in the language.
Linker
A piece of Software that combines multiple Object files (usually compiled source code of libraries) into one executable file.
Low-Level language
A low-level programming language contains binary or assembly code which has little or no abstraction from machine level instructions.
Machine Code
Machine code is the code that the machine can understand. Remember that computers use numbers, not English, to run.
Newline
A newline is what gets printed when you hit Enter, and is an example of a whitespace character. You can also add a newline to the output of your program by including '\n' in your print statement.
Object File
A file that contains Object Code (Machine Code). The file contains output some compilation, meaning it will contain machine code/assembly code.
Linker
A utility program that has the ability to take object files and creating an executable file, library file or another object file. Another name for the Linker is a 'Loader'.
Pointer
A pointer is a variable that contains the memory address of another variable. Arrays, Structures and Functions explicitly use pointers which can help produce efficient and easy-to-read code.
Whitespace
Whitespace is the characters that you don't see when you type but are there anyway. For example, you can't see spaces, but there is a lot here. Newlines are also whitespace characters, as are tabs.