COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING USING C LAB

WEEK1 Exercise 1

 A2610008 - COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING USING C LAB 

Prerequisites: Basic understanding of computer fundamentals and problem-solving concepts 

Course Objectives: The main objective of the course is to  

•  Apply the principles of C language and computational thinking techniques in problem solving.
•  Design flowcharts and algorithms, and to develop the ability to trace and debug programs. 
•  Design and develop C programs using arrays, strings, pointers, recursion, and functions. 
•  Apply dynamic memory allocation, file operations, and preprocessor commands in program design.      

    

COs	Course Outcome (CO) Statement	Bloom’s Level
CO1	Apply computational thinking to construct algorithms and flowcharts for a given problem and translate them into working C programs.	K3
CO2	Develop C programs using operators, selection statements and loops to implement a specified logic.	K3
CO3	Develop C programs that manipulate arrays, strings, structures and pointers to solve computational problems.	K3
CO4	Construct modular programs using user-defined functions and recursion and perform file input-output operations.	K3
CO5	Analyse a C program by tracing and debugging it and evaluate alternative implementations for correctness and efficiency.	K4

Lab Requirements (tools / software to carry out the experiments):

    · C compiler: GCC (GNU Compiler Collection) — via MinGW-w64 on Windows, or the built-in gcc on Linux/macOS.
· IDE / editor: Code::Blocks, Dev-C++ or Visual Studio Code with the C/C++ extension.
·  Command-line terminal to compile and run programs (gcc, ./a.out) and observe the compile–link–run stages.
·  Debugger: GDB (GNU Debugger), integrated in Code::Blocks / VS Code, for tracing and step-by-step debugging.
·  Operating system: Windows 10/11 or a Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu); any 64-bit PC with 4 GB RAM or more.
·  No-install alternative: OnlineGDB, Programiz or Replit for quick practice and testing in a browser.

 

List of Experiments

Exercise 1: Getting Started with

1. Write, compile and run a C program that prints “Hello, World!” on the screen. Identify the source file, the object file and the executable produced, and record the command used at each stage.

2. Write a C program that declares variables of type int, float, char and double, reads a value for each from the user, and displays each value together with the size of its type using sizeof.

3. Write a C program to read the height and width of a rectangle from the user and compute its perimeter and are.

 Exercise 2: Operators and Expressions

1. Write a C program to compute the distance between two points whose coordinates are entered by the user.

2. Write a C program that reads four integers p, q, r, s and, using relational and logical operators, prints 'Correct values' if q > r, s > p and (r + s) > (p + q); otherwise 'Wrong values'.

3. Write a C program to compute simple and compound interest for values entered by the user.

 Exercise 3: Selection and Decision Making

1. Write a C program to read a character and classify it as a vowel, consonant, digit or special symbol.

2. Write a C program to find the largest of three numbers using nested if-else.

3. Write a menu-driven C program to compute the area of various geometrical shapes (circle, rectangle, triangle, square) using switch-case.

 Exercise 4: Loops and Series

1. Write a C program to display the first n even natural numbers and their sum.
2. Write a C program to reverse a given integer and check whether it is a palindrome.
3. Write a C program to display the sum of the harmonic series 1 + 1/2 + 1/3 + ... up to n terms.

 Exercise 5: Nested Loops and Number Patterns

1. Write a C program to print the multiplication table pyramid for numbers 1 to n using nested loops.

2. Write a C program to check whether a given number is prime, then extend it to print all prime numbers and all Armstrong numbers below.

 Exercise 6: One-Dimensional Arrays

1. Write a C program to print all unique elements of an array, and implement linear search to find a given element in the array.

2. Write a C program to separate the odd and even elements of an array into two different arrays, and implement binary search to find a given element in a sorted array.

3. Write a C program to sort the elements of an array in ascending order using selection sort, and compare the efficiency of linear search vs. binary search on the sorted array by counting the number of comparisons each method takes.

 Exercise 7: Matrices

1. Write a C program to perform addition of two square matrices and display the resultant matrices.

2. Write a C program to multiply two square matrices and display the resultant matrices.

3. Write a C program to find the transpose of a given matrix.

 Exercise 8: Strings:

 

Write C programs to perform the following without using string handling functions
·     Find the length of a given string.
·     Copy one string into another.
·     Concatenate two strings.
·     Compare two strings and display whether they are equal, or which one is greater.
·     Reverse a given string (using a separate swap function to exchange characters).
·     Search for a character in a string and display its position (or indicate if not found).
·     Count the number of vowels, consonants, and words in a given string

 Exercise 9: Pointers Fundamentals

  1. Write a C program to demonstrate the use of the & (address-of) and * (value-at-address) operators.

  2. Write a C program to add two numbers using pointers.

  3. Write a C program to swap two values using call by reference.

     Exercise 10: Pointers and Dynamic Memory

    1. Write a C program to dynamically allocate memory for an array using malloc, find the           largest element and the sum of all elements in it, then repeat using calloc and note the           difference between the two.
    2. Write a C program to count the number of vowels in a string using a pointer.

    Exercise 11: User-Defined Functions

1. Write a C program to check whether a number is prime using a user-defined function.

2. Write a C program to compute the GCD and LCM of two numbers using functions.

3. Write a C program to demonstrate a function that returns a pointer.

     Exercise 12: Recursion

1. Write a C program to compute the factorial and the n-th Fibonacci term using recursion.

2.  Write a C program to compute the sum of digits of a number using recursion.

3. Write a C program to convert a decimal number to its binary equivalent using a recursive function.

   Exercise 13: File Handling

1.  Write a C program to append multiple lines at the end of an existing text file.

2.  Write a C program to copy the contents of one file into another file.

3.  Write a C program to count the number of characters, words and lines in a text file.

 

  Web References:

·       NPTEL – Programming in C, IIT Kanpur:
https://onlinecourses.nptel.ac.in/noc21_cs81/preview

·  Virtual Labs – Problem Solving Lab, IIIT Hyderabad: https://ps-iiith.vlabs.ac.in/

·      GeeksforGeeks – C Programming: 

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/c-programming-language/

 

 A2610003 - COMPUTATIONAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING USING C 

Prerequisites: Mathematics and logical reasoning at 10+2 level. No prior programming experience is assumed. 

Course Objectives: The main objective of the course is to 

•  Familiarize students with computers, computational thinking, and the process of algorithmic problem solving. 
•  Build strong programming fundamentals using the C language, including operators, control structures, and loops. 
•  Develop the ability to design and implement solutions using arrays, strings, and user- defined data types. 
•  Impart working knowledge of pointers, recursion, dynamic memory allocation, functions, and file handling for building modular, reusable programs. 

Course Outcomes: At the end of this course, the student will be able to COs 

COs	Course Outcome (CO) Statement	Bloom’s Level
CO1	Apply computational thinking techniques (decomposition, abstraction, pattern recognition) to design algorithms and flowcharts for a given problem.	K3
CO2	Develop C programs using appropriate operators, expressions, selection statements, and loops to implement a given logic.	K3
CO3	Analyze problems involving arrays, strings, structures and unions and construct suitable C solutions.	K4
CO4	Apply pointers, recursion, and dynamic memory allocation to solve computational problems efficiently.	K3
CO5	Construct modular C programs using user-defined functions and perform text/binary file input-output operations.	K3

 UNIT-I: Computational Thinking and Introduction to C 

Computational Thinking: Decomposition, Pattern Recognition, Abstraction, Algorithm Design; representing solutions as algorithms, pseudocode, and flowcharts; Number Systems and Data Representation (integers, reals); Overview of Computer Organization and Program Execution. 

Introduction to C: Background, Structure of a C Program, Identifiers, Keywords, Variables, Constants, Basic Data Types, Input/Output statements; Expressions, Operators, type of operators- arithmetic, relational, logical, bitwise, assignment, conditional, increment, decrement, etc., unary, binary, ternary, Operator Precedence and Associativity, Type Conversion; Scope, Storage Classes, and Type Qualifiers. 

UNIT-II: Selection and Decision-Making: Simple if, Two-Way selection- if-else, nested-if, else-if ladder, and Multi-Way Selection- switch. Repetition: Counter- and Event-Controlled Loops: for, while, do-while, and nested loops; Break and continue, Programming Applications combining Selection and Repetition. Arrays: One-Dimensional and Two-Dimensional Arrays, Multidimensional Arrays, Array-based Problem Solving (searching, sorting, etc.). 

UNIT-III: 

Functions: Designing Structured/Modular Programs, Function Declaration and Definition, Parameter Passing (by value, by reference using pointers), Passing Arrays and Pointers to Functions, Standard Library Functions, Inter-Function Communication. Recursion: Recursive vs. Iterative Solutions, Designing Recursive Algorithms, Recursion with Arrays and Pointers, Efficiency Considerations.  

Strings: String Representation, Standard String-Handling Functions, Arrays of Strings, String-to-Data Conversion. 

UNIT-IV: 

Pointers: Pointer Fundamentals, Pointer-to-Pointer, Pointer Arithmetic, Pointers and Arrays, Array of Pointers, types of pointers, Compatibility and L-value/R-value concepts. Dynamic Memory Allocation: malloc, calloc, realloc, free.  

User-Defined Types: Typedef, Enumerated Types, Structures, Unions, and Nested Structures; Programming Applications using Structures and Arrays of Structures. 

UNIT-V: 

Pre-processor: Directives and Macros. Command Line Arguments. 

File I/O: Streams, Text vs. Binary Files, Standard Library File Functions, formatted and Character I/O, Sequential File Processing. 

TEXT BOOKS:

 1. Behrouz A. Forouzan & Richard F. Gilberg, Computer Science: A Structured Programming Approach Using C, 3rd Edition, Cengage Learning, ISBN-13: 978-0-534-49132-1.
 2. Brian W. Kernighan & Dennis M. Ritchie, The C Programming Language, 2nd Edition, Pearson Education / Prentice Hall India, 1988. 

 REFERENCE BOOKS: 

1. Sumitabha Das, “Computer Fundamentals and Programming”, 18th Edition, McGraw Hill Education, 2018. 
2. Ashok N. Kamthane, Amit Ashok Kamthane, “Programming in C”, 4th Edition, Pearson Education, 2025. ISBN: 978-9332543633.
 3. Pradip Dey, Manas Ghosh, “Computer Fundamentals and Programming in C”, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN: 978-0198068842. 

E-RESOURCES: 

1. NPTEL – Programming in C, IIT Kanpur: https://onlinecourses.nptel.ac.in/noc21_cs81/preview 
2. Geeks for Geeks – C Programming Language: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/c-programminglanguage/ 
3. Programiz – Learn C Programming: https://www.programiz.com/c-programming 
4. cplusplus.com – C Standard Library Reference: https://cplusplus.com/reference/clibrary/ 
5. TutorialsPoint – C Programming: https://www.tutorialspoint.com/cprogramming/index.html 
6. W3Schools – C Tutorial: https://www.w3schools.com/c/