Modern ANSI C Programming

A Complete Guide to Correct, Portable and Professional C Code

Introduction: Why C Still Demands Mastery

1. What This Book Covers
2. Prerequisites and Approach
3. Standards Coverage
4. How to Use This Book

Chapter 1: The C Language and Its Standards

1. Why C Still Matters
2. The ISO/ANSI Standardization Story
3. Standards, Implementations and Extensions
4. Portability as a First-Class Concern
5. How to Read This Book

Chapter 2: The Compilation Model and Program Structure

1. From Source to Executable
2. Translation Units and Compilation
3. Linkage and Symbol Resolution
4. The Preprocessing Pipeline
5. Building with Modern Toolchains

Chapter 3: Lexical Elements and the Basics of Syntax

1. Tokens and Whitespace
2. Identifiers and Naming Conventions
3. Integer Literals and Numeric Constants
4. Character and String Literals
5. Operators and Precedence

Chapter 4: Types and Declarations

1. The Type System Overview
2. Signed and Unsigned Integer Types
3. Floating-Point Types
4. The void Type and _Bool
5. Declaration Syntax Decoded

Chapter 5: Expressions, Operators and Evaluation Rules

1. Expression Categories
2. Sequence Points and Evaluation Order
3. Integer Conversions and Promotions
4. Signed Arithmetic, Overflow and Wraparound
5. Pointer Expressions and Comparisons

Chapter 6: Control Flow and Statements

1. Blocks, Scope and Compound Statements
2. Conditional Execution
3. Iteration and Loops
4. Jump Statements
5. Compound Literals and Designated Initializers

Chapter 7: Functions and Modular Design

1. Function Declarations and Definitions
2. Parameter Passing and Return Values
3. Error Handling Strategies
4. API Design Principles
5. Building Reusable Modules

Chapter 8: Scope, Storage Duration and Linkage

1. Scopes
2. Storage Durations
3. Linkage
4. The static Keyword Explained
5. Thread-Local Storage and _Thread_local

Chapter 9: Pointers and Pointer Arithmetic

1. What a Pointer Is
2. The Address-of and Indirection Operators
3. Pointers and Arrays
4. Pointer Arithmetic Rules
5. Function Pointers and Callbacks

Chapter 10: The Memory Model and Object Representation

1. Objects, Values and Representation
2. Alignment and Padding
3. Strict Aliasing and Type-Based Alias Analysis
4. Object Lifetime
5. Pointer Provenance and Validity

Chapter 11: Dynamic Memory Management

1. The Allocation Functions
2. Ownership and Responsibility
3. Common Mistakes and Vulnerabilities
4. Custom Allocators and Pools
5. Memory Leak Detection and Debugging

Chapter 12: Data Structures and Generic Programming

1. Dynamic Arrays
2. Linked Lists and Variants
3. Stacks and Queues
4. Hash Tables
5. Generic Programming Techniques

Chapter 13: Structures, Unions, Enumerations and Bit Fields

1. Structure Types and Layout
2. Unions and Type Punning
3. Enumerations
4. Bit Fields
5. Design Patterns with Aggregates

Chapter 14: The Preprocessor, Macros and Header Design

1. Macro Fundamentals
2. Dangerous Macro Patterns
3. Header File Best Practices
4. Conditional Compilation and Configuration
5. X-Macros and Metaprogramming

Chapter 15: The Standard Library - Core Facilities

1. Diagnostics and Assertions
2. Integer Types and Limits
3. Character Handling and Classification
4. String Functions
5. Memory Operations

Chapter 16: The Standard Library - I/O, Time and Mathematics

1. Formatted Output
2. Formatted Input
3. File Operations
4. Time and Date Facilities
5. Mathematics and Utilities

Chapter 17: Concurrency - Threads, Atomics and Synchronization

1. The C11 Thread Library
2. Atomic Operations and Memory Ordering
3. The C Memory Model for Concurrency
4. Portable Concurrency Alternatives

Chapter 18: Undefined Behavior and Defensive Programming

1. What Undefined Behavior Really Means
2. Catalog of Common UB Sources
3. Unspecified and Implementation-Defined Behavior
4. Static Analysis and Sanitizers
5. Defensive Programming Patterns

Chapter 19: Security, Portability and Professional Engineering

1. Common Security Vulnerabilities
2. Portability Hazards and Solutions
3. Debugging Techniques
4. Testing and Quality Assurance
5. Performance Profiling and Optimization

Conclusion: The Craft of Modern C

1. A Language That Earns Its Power
2. Principles for Writing Excellent C
3. The Future of C
4. A Final Word

References