C Programming: A Modern Approach (2nd Edition) — Exercises

Practice repository for exercises from K. N. King’s C Programming: A Modern Approach (2nd ed.). Goals: disciplined C17 practice, reproducible builds with make, strict warnings, and basic tooling.

Quick Setup

• Toolchain: Clang or GCC, make. Optional: gdb and valgrind.

• Fedora

    sudo dnf groupinstall -y "Development Tools"
    sudo dnf install -y clang gcc make gdb valgrind
  

• Verify

    clang --version || gcc --version
    make --version
  

Repository Layout

    .
    ├── c01/
    │   ├── e01/
    │   │   ├── main.c
    │   │   └── Makefile
    │   └── e02/
    │       ├── main.c
    │       └── Makefile
    ├── common.mk        # shared flags
    ├── Makefile         # convenience targets to run any exercise
    └── README.md

Building and Running

Each exercise folder is standalone with its own Makefile.

• From repo root (replace c01/e01 with the target):

    make DIR=c01/e01 run
  

• Inside an exercise folder:

    make run     # build and execute
    make clean   # remove build artifacts
  

Compiler Flags

Strict by default.

• Warnings: -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -Werror
• Standard: -std=c17
• Debug: -O0 -g
• Sanitizers (Clang/GCC): -fsanitize=address,undefined (when available)

These are centralized in common.mk.

Debugging and Analysis

• GDB

    make DIR=c01/e01 debug     # starts gdb ./build/main
  

• Valgrind

    make DIR=c01/e01 memcheck  # valgrind --leak-check=full ./build/main
  

Style

• One exercise per folder named cNN/eMM.
• Single entry point main.c per exercise unless the book suggests more files.
• No global state unless required by the exercise.
• Short functions, clear names, and consistent formatting (clang-format optional).

Common Makefile (common.mk)

Put this file at repo root.

    # common.mk
    CC ?= clang
    CSTD ?= c17
    WARN := -Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic -Werror
    DBG  := -O0 -g
    SAN  := -fsanitize=address,undefined
    CFLAGS ?= -std=$(CSTD) $(WARN) $(DBG) $(SAN)
    LDFLAGS ?= $(SAN)

    BUILD_DIR ?= build
    TARGET ?= $(BUILD_DIR)/main
    SRC ?= main.c

    $(BUILD_DIR):
    	@mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)

    $(TARGET): $(SRC) | $(BUILD_DIR)
    	$(CC) $(CFLAGS) $(SRC) -o $(TARGET) $(LDFLAGS)

    .PHONY: run clean debug memcheck
    run: $(TARGET)
    	./$(TARGET)

    debug: $(TARGET)
    	gdb ./$(TARGET)

    memcheck: $(TARGET)
    	valgrind --leak-check=full --show-leak-kinds=all ./$(TARGET)

    clean:
    	@rm -rf $(BUILD_DIR)

Exercise Makefile (template)

Put this file inside each cNN/eMM/ folder.

    # cNN/eMM/Makefile
    include ../../common.mk
    SRC := main.c

Root Makefile (convenience)

Allows running any exercise from repo root with DIR=....

    # Makefile (root)
    .PHONY: run clean debug memcheck
    run:
    	@$(MAKE) -C $(DIR) -f Makefile run
    clean:
    	@$(MAKE) -C $(DIR) -f Makefile clean
    debug:
    	@$(MAKE) -C $(DIR) -f Makefile debug
    memcheck:
    	@$(MAKE) -C $(DIR) -f Makefile memcheck

Troubleshooting

• Missing headers: install “Development Tools”.
• Sanitizer not supported: remove -fsanitize=... in common.mk.
• Prefer GCC: set CC=gcc.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

Credits

Exercises from K. N. King’s book. For personal study and notes.