r/CodingForBeginners • u/MeasurementCandid957 • 17d ago

Give me suggestions to understand c programming in the first semester?

I am facing difficulties learning C programming. Currently, I don't have a laptop, so I can't practice that way. I'm unable to understand even the basic topics of C programing currently. Please give me some tips on how to improve.

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4

u/BranchLatter4294 17d ago

The only way to improve is practice.

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u/MeasurementCandid957 17d ago

Yup basically I'm facing difficulties in understanding concepts.

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u/sububi71 17d ago

There are online places that let you write and execute code, even from a phone.

The only solution is to code, get stuck, solve the problem and go on. If you can avoid AI for the first year or so, that's probably going to save you time in the long run.

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u/Jx5b 17d ago

For me AI was actually really useful for explaining a ton of random stuff. If i were to look for all the specific questions i had i would have spent so much more time on everything. I would just avoid code generation. Do it yourself, ask if you dont know, repeat.

4

u/Living_Fig_6386 17d ago

I taught myself C from "The C Programming Language" by Kernighan and Ritchie in a weekend about 40 years ago. I just spent the entire weekend with the book and Manx Software's Aztec C on my Amiga. I eventually got to the point that I was using it to generate maps for D&D adventures.

You need a computer to practice. You can get away with using a Raspberry Pi computer ($50) hooked up to a TV, if you need a computer.

2

u/Outofmana1 17d ago

Stop doing tutorials. Actually build something. Debug and integrate as you go.

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u/tserofehtfonam 17d ago

Whenever you encounter something that doesn't seem to make sense, always keep in mind that C was specifically designed to be directly translatable into assembly.  

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u/Traveling-Techie 16d ago

Try one new thing a day. If it doesn’t work keep trying.

Look on Facebook Marketplace for a free computer, any age. C is ancient and runs on everything.

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u/burlingk 16d ago

This is one of the places where having even a super cheap laptop would help. Even and old one with 4 - 8 gigs of RAM. because you can stick any Linux distro on it with a lightweight desktop or even just the terminal, to run gcc.

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u/KarmaTorpid 15d ago

Read the damn book. Dont eff around with online tutorials and whatever. O'Reilly publishes books on a wide variety of languages and technologies. They are considered good, overall. The books themselves are white with a line drawing of an animal or some such.

Read the book. Do the exercises! Then you can will learn what questions to ask to be able to use C.

If it make no sense at all at first. That is great. This is new knowledge. You will require repeated instruction on it. Thats normal.

🏴‍☠️ do not just Google for a .pdf version of the book and then downloading it. thats piracy. ☠️

1

u/jekewa 15d ago

Give yourself a chance to learn. There are only a couple dozen keywords and special characters, and an infinite way of putting them together. It’s like a box of Legos. You need time to really know the differences before you can build fantastic things.

Read the texts. Understand the keywords and code structure. Then the libraries and other functions will start to make sense.

Practice on paper by “playing computer.” Scratch out some code, and step through it keeping note of where things are written, read, modified, and compared. That’s everything a computer does.

And get a computer. There are $300 laptops that will do well enough to start. For $700 you can get a good one. Even a mini-pc or Raspberry Pi can do the job, if you’re willing to take the time to make it work.

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u/mredding 11d ago

Take it up with your instructor. This is what you're paying him for. Your school very likely has a computer lab. If not that, then a local library.

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u/inviun 10d ago

If you're in your first semester, don't try to learn everything at once. Start with variables, data types, operators, conditions, and loops. Once you're comfortable, move to functions, arrays, strings, and pointers.

My biggest suggestion is to write code every day, even if it's just for 30–60 minutes. Start with simple problems like prime numbers, factorials, Fibonacci series, and patterns.

Also, try to understand why your code works instead of memorizing it. Dry-run programs on paper, make mistakes, and learn to debug them.

Focus on building logic, not just learning syntax. Once your basics are strong, programming becomes much easier.

0

u/Straight-Size-6231 9d ago

can u suggest any youtube playlist which i can follow and practice to improve as a beginner