Chapter Topics

The chapters progress from program shape, output, and basic types through operators and control flow, then to arrays, functions, pointers, user-defined types, dynamic memory, and files. Each content section ends with a short exercise, and Preview, Lab, and Homework activities accompany each chapter. The table reflects the planned topics while the chapters are still in scaffold form.

Chapter	Topics
1. Introduction	Program shape and compilation; output with printf; comments and simple formatting; reading user input.
2. Variables and Types	Values, identifiers, declarations, and assignment; primitive types and literals; formatting values with printf; type sizes and conversion; constants.
3. Operators	Arithmetic expressions; assignment and update operators; comparisons and logical operators; bitwise operators.
4. Conditionals	Conditions and branch selection; multi-branch decisions; ternary expressions; switch statements.
5. Loops	Repetition and stopping conditions; while and do while loops; for loops; nested loops; controlled loop exits.
6. Arrays and Strings	Fixed arrays and indexes; traversal with loops; array size and element count; character arrays and strings.
7. Functions	Function shape and calls; parameters and return values; scope and decomposition; arrays with functions; recursion.
8. Pointers	Addresses and pointer variables; dereferencing and mutation through a pointer; pointer parameters; arrays and pointers.
9. Structs and Enums	Why related fields need a user-defined type; struct definition and field access; enum values for readable states; a short design example.
10. Dynamic Memory	Why fixed-size storage falls short; allocating and freeing a block; runtime-sized collections; resizing and cleanup; common dynamic memory mistakes.
11. Files	File motivation and paths; reading a file; writing a file; errors and cleanup.

Set up your compiler and editor with Development Environment before Chapter 1, and keep Build Reference at hand once you compile more than one file.