C Programming, Review Questions - angrave/SystemProgramming GitHub Wiki

Topics

  • C Strings representation
  • C Strings as pointers
  • char p[]vs char* p
  • Simple C string functions (strcmp, strcat, strcpy)
  • sizeof char
  • sizeof x vs x*
  • Heap memory lifetime
  • Calls to heap allocation
  • Deferencing pointers
  • Address-of operator
  • Pointer arithmetic
  • String duplication
  • String truncation
  • double-free error
  • String literals
  • Print formatting.
  • memory out of bounds errors
  • static memory
  • fileio POSIX vs. C library
  • C io fprintf and printf
  • POSIX file IO (read, write, open)
  • Buffering of stdout

Questions/Exercises

  • What does the following print out
int main(){
    fprintf(stderr, "Hello ");
    fprintf(stdout, "It's a small ");
    fprintf(stderr, "World\n");
    fprintf(stdout, "place\n");
    return 0;
}
  • What are the differences between the following two declarations? What does sizeof return for one of them?
char str1[] = "another";
char *str2 = "another one";
  • What is a string in c?
  • Code up a simple my_strcmp. How about my_strcat, my_strcpy, or my_strdup? Bonus: Code the functions while only going through the strings once.
  • What should the following usually return?
int *ptr;
sizeof(ptr);
sizeof(*ptr);
  • What is malloc? How is it different than calloc. Once memory is malloced how can I use realloc?
  • What is the & operator? How about *?
  • Pointer Arithmetic. Assume the following addresses. What are the following shifts?
char** ptr = malloc(10); //0x100
ptr[0] = malloc(20); //0x200
ptr[1] = malloc(20); //0x300
 * `ptr + 2`
 * `ptr + 4`
 * `ptr[0] + 4`
 * `ptr[1] + 2000`
 * `*((int)(ptr + 1)) + 3`
  • How do we prevent double free errors?
  • What is the printf specifier to print a string, int, or char?
  • Is the following code valid? If so, why? Where is output located?
char *foo(int var){
    static char output[20];
    snprintf(output, 20, "%d", var);
    return output;
}
  • Write a function that accepts a string and opens that file prints out the file 40 bytes at a time but every other print reverses the string (try using POSIX API for this).
  • What are some differences between the POSIX filedescriptor model and C's FILE* (ie what function calls are used and which is buffered)? Does POSIX use C's FILE* internally or vice versa?
Back: C Programming, Part 5: Debugging
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