C Programming Syllabus

1. Basics of C Programming

• History and Importance of C
• Structure of a C Program
• Compilation Process (Preprocessing, Compilation, Linking, Execution)
• Basic Syntax:
  • Keywords, Identifiers, and Data Types
  • Variables and Constants
  • Input/Output Functions (printf, scanf)

2. Control Structures

• Conditional Statements:
  • if, else, else if
  • Nested if Statements
  • switch Statement
• Looping:
  • for Loop
  • while Loop
  • do-while Loop
• Jump Statements:
  • break, continue
  • goto (and why to avoid it)

3. Arrays and Strings

• One-Dimensional Arrays
• Multi-Dimensional Arrays (2D Arrays)
• String Handling:
  • String Basics (char array vs Strings)
  • String Functions (strlen, strcpy, strcat, strcmp)
• Passing Arrays to Functions

4. Functions

• Defining and Calling Functions
• Function Prototypes
• Return Values
• Passing Parameters:
  • Call by Value
  • Call by Reference (using Pointers)
• Recursion

5. Pointers

• Basics of Pointers:
  • Declaring and Using Pointers
  • Dereferencing
• Pointer Arithmetic
• Pointers and Arrays
• Pointers and Strings
• Function Pointers
• Double Pointers (**)

6. Dynamic Memory Management

• malloc, calloc, realloc, free
• Dangling Pointers and Memory Leaks
• Implementing Dynamic Arrays

7. Structures and Unions

• Defining and Using Structures
• Arrays of Structures
• Nested Structures
• Passing Structures to Functions
• Unions:
  • Basics and Differences from Structures
• Bit Fields

8. File Handling

• Basics of Files in C
• Reading/Writing to Files:
  • fopen, fclose, fscanf, fprintf
  • fgets, fputs
  • fread, fwrite
• Random File Access:
  • ftell, fseek, rewind

9. Data Structures

• Linked Lists:
  • Single Linked List
  • Doubly Linked List
  • Circular Linked List
• Stacks and Queues:
  • Array-Based Implementation
  • Linked List-Based Implementation
• Trees:
  • Binary Trees
  • Binary Search Trees
  • Tree Traversal (Preorder, Inorder, Postorder)
• Hashing:
  • Hash Tables and Hash Functions

10. Preprocessor Directives

• Macros (#define)
• Conditional Compilation (#ifdef, #ifndef)
• File Inclusion (#include)

11. Advanced Topics

• Command-Line Arguments
• Enumerations (enum)
• Typedefs (typedef)
• Inline Functions
• Volatile Variables
• C Libraries:
  • <math.h>
  • <stdlib.h>
  • <string.h>
• Bitwise Operations:
  • AND, OR, XOR
  • Shifts (<<, >>)
• Working with const and volatile

12. Debugging and Optimization

• Debugging Techniques
• Using Tools like gdb
• Profiling and Optimization:
  • Reducing Time Complexity
  • Efficient Memory Usage

13. System-Level Programming (Optional Advanced)

• Working with Pointers to Functions
• Low-Level Memory Access
• Interfacing with Assembly
• Signal Handling
• Multi-threading in C (POSIX Threads)

14. Algorithms in C

• Searching Algorithms:
  • Linear Search
  • Binary Search
• Sorting Algorithms:
  • Bubble Sort, Selection Sort, Insertion Sort
  • Merge Sort, Quick Sort
• Graph Algorithms (Basic):
  • BFS, DFS
• Dynamic Programming Concepts (Optional)