I’ve written many C programming Lessons and Exercises that deal with matrixes. For most of them, such as rotating a matrix, I rely on uniform matrix sizes, like 5×5 or 10×10. This approach makes coding easier, but it doesn’t properly describe every type of matrix.
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For me, the scariest part of learning how to program a computer was file access. The problem was the horrid documentation. It introduced both sequential and random file access together without much explanation. So it was with much trepidation that I wrote my first file I/O program. That’s when I realized that the manual was stupid.
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If you’ve studied the terminal window at any length, you probably know about the clear command, which clears the screen. Under MS-DOS, and on my old TRS-80, the command is cls. Same thing.
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Adding values is a basic programming concept: 4 + 5 = 9 But where do the values come from? They can be literals, variables, expressions, or values collected from the user.
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Even when statistics has barely brushed by you on the subway, you probably know the term standard deviation. It refers to how data is distributed in a group, their distance from the mean. You can use your C programming kung fu to code the standard deviation of a data set, which is the challenge for this month’s Exercise.
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I started my technology writing career at a computer book publishing house, CompuSoft. It’s no longer around, but I do recall ghost writing books such as the BASIC Handbook, which was an encyclopedia of the BASIC programming language. The first command listed in this book was ABS.
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Calculating a factorial is a common programming exercise, often coupled with introducing the concept of recursion. Mathematically, the factorial has a twin: the subfactorial. Its calculation can be a fun programming challenge, which is the subject of this month’s Exercise.
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One of my pastimes is watching math videos. I was a terrible math student, but I enjoy the videos. Occasionally a concept is presented that I can program in C. This month’s Exercise covers one of these concepts.
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Swapping values is common task in computer programming, often used when sorting. You need the value of variable a in variable b and vice-versa. A number of methods are available for swapping, most of which involve using a temporary variable to hold one of the values during the swap.
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Tetration is a mathematical process that generates obnoxiously huge numbers quickly. It’s exponentiation on overdrive. The concept is insane, but it’s also something you can code in C.
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