Computer Science, Prifysgol Cymru Aberystwyth University of Wales

CSM3710 (1995-96 session)
C and UNIX Systems Programming

Brief Description

The facilities of C will be introduced by comparison with those of Ada, the emphasis being on the rationale behind the language design decisions for the two programming languages. Emphasis will also be placed on C programming incorporating good modular design, readability, portability, and use of appropriate tools.

The second part of the course will address the structure of the Unix operating system and the interface presented by functions and system calls for use from C.

The module will also consider the relevance of standards, both in C and in Unix.

Aims, Objectives, Syllabus, Booklist

Further Details

Number of lectures

24

Number of seminars/tutorials

4

Number of practicals

0

Coordinator

Dr. Edel Sherratt

Other staff involved

Not yet known

Pre-requisites

CSM2210

Co-requisites

CSM0430

Incompatibilities

None

Assessment

Assessed coursework - 100%

Timing

This module is offered only in Semester 2

The aim of this course is to teach the student the fundamentals of the C language. In order to compare the facilities and underlying philosophy of C with that of Ada, the first part of the course will draw closely on the material that is covered in CSM0430 .

The UNIX operating system is studied as an example of the operating systems material covered in CSM2210 and also as an application of the C language.

• The first part of the course will cover the C language, paying special attention to the differences in facilities and philosophy from those of Ada.
• The second part of the course looks at the UNIX operating system as an example of an operating system programming interface and also at the binding that the UNIX operating system presents to the C programmer.

• To provide students with enough facility in C programming that they are able to read, write and debug C programs.
• To examine the philosophy behind the creation of the C language.
• To examine the similarities and differences between C and Ada.
• To examine the structure of the UNIX operating system.
• To examine the philosophy behind the creation of UNIX.
• To examine the programming interface to UNIX from C.
• To give the student practice in understanding operating system facilities.
• To underline the importance of standards.

Basic Concepts - 1 Lecture

History of the C language, philosophical differences between C language design and Ada. Basic form of a C program compared with that of an Ada program. Using the compiler.

Control Structures - 2 Lectures

Sequence, branching and iteration in C compared with that of Ada.

Basic Data Structures - 1 Lecture

Review of basic data types and operators in C.

Subprograms - 1 Lecture

Discussion of ways in which functions are implemented, and used in C, including parameter passing mechanisms.

Composite Data Structures - 1 Lecture

A first discussion of Arrays in C. Input/Output.

Software Support Tools - 1 Lecture

Make, Lint, Debuggers (UPS). Libraries and library utilities.

C Programming Style and Portability - 1 Lecture

Language standards. Portability. Programming standards.

Arrays, Pointers and Functions - 2 Lectures

A discussion of pointer data types, how they relate to arrays, and how they contrast with the Ada access type.

Dynamic Data Structures - 2 Lectures

Implementation of various record structures and dynamic structures. Pointers. Malloc. Examples in C. Parallels will be drawn with similar constructs in Ada.

Pitfalls - 1 Lecture

Major problem areas. Design rationale of C and of Ada in problem areas.

Further Features - 1 Lecture

C preprocessor, header files, conditional inclusion, macro substitution, bitwise operators, casts, enumeration, scope, static and external declarations, separate compilation

The Structure of UNIX - 2 Lectures

An overview of the structure of the UNIX operating system and a description of the major components, including: the kernel, device drivers, the filesystem, the process, the terminal. An introduction to the programming interface to Unix.

The Filesystem and Files - 2 Lectures

The structure of the filesystem and associated operations. The types of file and the operations on files.

The Process and Interprocess Communication - 2 Lectures

The concept of the process and associated operations.

The Terminal - 1 Lecture

A study of the general interface.

Network Programming - 1 Lecture

A study of network programming using remote procedure calls and the Transport Level Interface.

Standards - 1 Lecture

ANSI 'C'; IEEE POSIX; UNIX International SVID; XOPEN XPG; COSE

Window systems and Event-Driven Programming - 1 Lecture

An appreciation of some of the problems involved in the programming of applications which interact with the X window system. Includes studying event-driven programming techniques.

Students are likely to need ready access to the following

L. Ameraal. C for Programmers. Wiley, 1991.

A. Kelley and I. Pohl. A Book on C: programming in C. Benjamin Cummings, 3rd edition, 1995.

C. Brown. UNIX Distributed Programming. Addison Wesley, 1994.

Notes

Access to either Ameraal or Kelley and Pohl will normally be sufficient.

The following should be consulted for different approaches or for further information

B.W. Kernighan and D. Ritchie. The C Programming Language - 2nd Edition. Prentice Hall, 1988.

J. Cox and B. Goodheart. The Magic garden. Prentice Hall, 1994.

Andrew Koenig. C - Traps and Pitfalls. Addison Wesley, 1988.

L.W. Cannon et.al. Indian Hill C Style and Coding Standards. Technical report, University of Toronto, 1990. This highly recommended document is available in the home directory of user cmk as misc/c/docs/ihstyle.ps.

Version 1.2

John Hunt Departmental Advisor