C Primer Plus, Fourth Edition

Key Concepts

Computer programming is a challenging activity. It demands abstract, conceptual thinking combined with careful attention to detail. You'll find that compilers enforce the attention to detail. When you talk to a friend, you might use a few words incorrectly, make a grammatical error or two, perhaps leave some sentences unfinished, but your friend will still understand what you are trying to say. But a compiler doesn't make such allowances; to it, almost right is still wrong.

The compiler won't help you with conceptual matters, such as these, so this book will try to fill that gap by outlining the key concepts in each chapter.

For this chapter, your goal should be to understand what a C program is. You can think of a program as a description ...