Learn the big skills of C programming by creating bite-size projects! Work your way through these 15 fun and interesting tiny challenges to master essential C techniques you’ll use in full-size applications.
In Tiny C Projects you will learn how to:
Create libraries of functions for handy use and re-use
Process input through an I/O filter to generate customized output
Use recursion to explore a directory tree and find duplicate files
Develop AI for playing simple games
Explore programming capabilities beyond the standard C library functions
Evaluate and grow the potential of your programs
Improve code to better serve users
Tiny C Projects is an engaging collection of 15 small programming challenges! This fun read develops your C abilities with lighthearted games like tic-tac-toe, utilities like a useful calendar, and thought-provoking exercises like encoding and cyphers. Jokes and lighthearted humor make even complex ideas fun to learn. Each project is small enough to complete in a weekend, and encourages you to evolve your code, add new functions, and explore the full capabilities of C.
Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.
About the technology
The best way to gain programming skills is through hands-on projects—this book offers 15 of them. C is required knowledge for systems engineers, game developers, and roboticists, and you can start writing your own C programs today. Carefully selected projects cover all the core coding skills, including storing and modifying text, reading and writing files, searching your computer’s directory system, and much more.
About the book
Tiny C Projects teaches C gradually, from project to project. Covering a variety of interesting cases, from timesaving tools, simple games, directory utilities, and more, each program you write starts out simple and gets more interesting as you add features. Watch your tiny projects grow into real applications and improve your C skills, step by step.
What's inside
Caesar cipher solver: Use an I/O filter to generate customized output
Duplicate file finder: Use recursion to explore a directory tree
Daily greetings: Writing the moon phase algorithm
Lotto pics: Working with random numbers
And 11 more fun projects!
About the reader
For C programmers of all skill levels.
About the author
Dan Gookin has over 30 years of experience writing about complex topics. His most famous work is DOS For Dummies, which established the entire For Dummies brand.
Table of Contents
1 Configuration and setup
2 Daily greetings
3 NATO output
4 Caesarean cipher
5 Encoding and decoding
6 Password generators
7 String utilities
8 Unicode and wide characters
9 Hex dumper
10 Directory tree
11 File finder
12 Holiday detector
13 Calendar
14 Lotto picks
15 Tic-tac-toe
Author(s): Dan Gookin
Edition: 1
Publisher: Manning
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 384
City: New York
Tags: C Programming Language; C Development; Development Techniques; I/O Processing; Recursion; AI Development; Standard C Library; C Hands-On Projects; Core Coding Skills
front matter
preface
acknowledgments
about this book
about the author
about the cover illustration
1 Configuration and setup
1.1 The C development cycle
Editing source code
Compiling, linking, building
1.2 The integrated development environment (IDE)
Choosing an IDE
Using Code::Blocks
Using XCode
1.3 Command-line compiling
Accessing the terminal window
Reviewing basic shell commands
Exploring text screen editors
Using a GUI editor
Compiling and running
1.4 Libraries and compiler options
Linking libraries and setting other options in an IDE
Using command-line compiler options
1.5 Quiz
2 Daily greetings
2.1 The shell starts
Understanding how the shell fits in
Exploring various shell startup scripts
Editing the shell startup script
2.2 A simple greeting
Coding a greeting
Adding a name as an argument
2.3 The time of day
Obtaining the current time
Mixing in the general time of day
Adding specific time info
2.4 The current moon phase
Observing moon phases
Writing the moon phase algorithm
Adding the moon phase to your greeting
2.5 A pithy saying
Creating a pithy phrase repository
Randomly reading a pithy phrase
Adding the phrase to your greeting code
3 NATO output
3.1 The NATO alphabet
3.2 The NATO translator program
Writing the NATO translator
Reading and converting a file
3.3 From NATO to English
Converting NATO input to character output
Reading NATO input from a file
4 Caesarean cipher
4.1 I/O filters
Understanding stream I/O
Writing a simple filter
Working a filter at the command prompt
4.2 On the front lines with Caesar
Rotating 13 characters
Devising a more Caesarean cipher
4.3 Deep into filter madness
Building the hex output filter
Creating a NATO filter
Filtering words
5 Encoding and decoding
5.1 The concept of plain text
Understanding ASCII
Exploring the control codes
Generating noncharacter output
Playing with ASCII conversion tricks
5.2 The hex encoder/decoder
Writing a simple hex encoder/decoder
Coding a better hex encoder/decoder
Adding a wee bit of error-checking
5.3 URL encoding
Knowing all the URL encoding rules
Writing a URL encoder
Creating a URL decoder
6 Password generators
6.1 Password strategies
Avoiding basic and useless passwords
Adding password complexity
Applying the word strategy
6.2 The complex password jumble
Building a silly random password program
Adding conditions to the password program
Improving upon the password
6.3 Words in passwords
Generating random words, Mad Libs style
Building a random word password generator
7 String utilities
7.1 Strings in C
Understanding the string
Measuring a string
Reviewing C string functions
Returning versus modifying directly
7.2 String functions galore
Changing case
Reversing a string
Trimming a string
Splitting a string
Inserting one string into another
Counting words in a string
Converting tabs to spaces
7.3 A string library
Writing the library source and header file
Creating a library
Using the string library
7.4 A kinda OOP approach
Adding a function to a structure
Creating a string “object”
8 Unicode and wide characters
8.1 Text representation in computers
Reviewing early text formats
Evolving into ASCII text and code pages
Diving into Unicode
8.2 Wide character programming
Setting the locale
Exploring character types
Generating wide character output
Receiving wide character input
Working with wide characters in files
9 Hex dumper
9.1 Bytes and data
Reviewing storage units and size mayhem
Outputting byte values
Dumping data
9.2 Dump that file!
Reading file data
Fixing uneven output
9.3 Command-line options
Using the getopt() function
Updating the dumpfile program code
Setting abbreviated output
Activating octal output
10 Directory tree
10.1 The filesystem
10.2 File and directory details
Gathering file info
Exploring file type and permissions
Reading a directory
10.3 Subdirectory exploration
Using directory exploration tools
Diving into a subdirectory
Mining deeper with recursion
10.4 A directory tree
Pulling out the directory name
Monitoring directory depth
11 File finder
11.1 The great file hunt
11.2 A file finder
Coding the Find File utility
Understanding the glob
Using wildcards to find files
11.3 The duplicate file finder
Building a file list
Locating the duplicates
12 Holiday detector
12.1 The operating system wants its vig
Understanding exit status versus the termination status
Setting a return value
Interpreting the return value
Using the preset return values
12.2 All about today
Getting today’s date
Obtaining any old date
12.3 Happy holidays
Reviewing holidays in the United States
Discovering holidays in the UK
12.4 Is today a holiday?
Reporting regular date holidays
Dealing with irregular holidays
Calculating Easter
Running the date gauntlet
13 Calendar
13.1 The calendar program
13.2 Good dates to know
Creating constants and enumerating dates
Finding the day of the week
Calculating the first day of the month
Identifying leap years
Getting the time zone correct
13.3 Calendar utilities
Generating a week
Showing a month
Displaying a full year
Putting the full year into a grid
13.4 A calendar in color
Understanding terminal colors
Generating a tight-but-colorful calendar
Coloring holidays
14 Lotto picks
14.1 A tax for those who are bad at math
Playing the lottery
Understanding the odds
Programming the odds
14.2 Here are your winning numbers
Generating random values
Drawing lotto balls
Avoiding repeated numbers, another approach
14.3 Never tell me the odds
Creating the lotto() function
Matching lottery picks
Testing the odds
15 Tic-tac-toe
15.1 A silly kids’ game
Playing tic-tac-toe
Approaching the game mathematically
15.2 The basic game
Creating the game grid
Adding game play
Limiting the input to free squares
Determining the winner
15.3 The computer plays
Choosing the number of players
Coding a dumb opponent
Adding some intelligence
index
