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Writing, Running, and Fixing Code in C

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Writing, Running, and Fixing Code in C

This course is part of Introductory C Programming Specialization

Instructors: Andrew D. Hilton

66,127 already enrolled

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

832 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

2 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

93%

Most learners liked this course

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

832 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

2 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

93%

Most learners liked this course

Skills you'll gain

Tools you'll learn

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

9 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Introductory C Programming Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 4 modules in this course

Building on the course Programming Fundamentals, this course will teach you how to write code by first planning what your program should do—an important approach for novice and professional programmers. You will learn how to compile and run your program, and then how to test and debug it. This course builds on the Seven Steps you have already learned and provides a framework for systematically testing for problems and fixing them, so you can find and fix problems efficiently.

In this module, you will learn to write code and do your first assignment in the Practice Programming Environment. You have practiced the first four steps of the Seven Steps in the previous course, and you will review them here before learning Step 5: Translating Your Algorithm to Code. Expert programmers spend most of their time planning before they begin writing code, and you will learn to do the same!

What's included

6 videos22 readings2 assignments4 programming assignments

6 videosTotal 32 minutes

Introduction to Writing Code3 minutes
Intersection of Two Rectangles5 minutes
Translating the Intersection Algorithm to Code5 minutes
Introduction to the Programming Environment6 minutes
Editing Files with Emacs8 minutes
More about Git4 minutes

22 readingsTotal 220 minutes

Planning10 minutes
Report a problem with the course10 minutes
Revisiting Step 110 minutes
Revisiting Step 210 minutes
Step 3: Generalizing Values10 minutes
Step 3: Repetitions10 minutes
Step 3: Conditional Behavior10 minutes
Revisiting Step 410 minutes
Translation to Code10 minutes
Translating Algorithm Components10 minutes
Completed Rectangle Intersection Code10 minutes
Top-down Design and Composability10 minutes
Stars Example10 minutes
Introduction to the Programming Environment10 minutes
Instructions for Learners Upgrading from a Previous Course Version10 minutes
Solutions to a Few Common Problems10 minutes
UNIX basics10 minutes
More UNIX Commands10 minutes
Emacs10 minutes
Git10 minutes
[Optional Reference] Help me fix...10 minutes
Next Steps10 minutes

2 assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Steps 1–4 Review30 minutes
Step 5 Concepts30 minutes

4 programming assignmentsTotal 80 minutes

Assignment 00_hello10 minutes
Assignment 01_apple10 minutes
Assignment 02_code130 minutes
Assignment 03_code230 minutes

Now that you know how to plan an algorithm and translate it to code, you need to learn how to compile and run it! You will learn about the compiler, which takes the code you wrote and translates it into instructions a machine can execute, which you can then run. You will also learn about different options you can give the compiler, as well as different ways to run your program that give you debugging information.

What's included

8 videos14 readings4 assignments4 programming assignments

8 videosTotal 26 minutes

Now We Need to Compile2 minutes
"Hello World"3 minutes
Planning isPrime4 minutes
Generalizing isPrime5 minutes
Translating isPrime to Code2 minutes
Comparing Output with diff4 minutes
Build Tool: make3 minutes
Compiling with a Makefile3 minutes

14 readingsTotal 140 minutes

Compiling Overview10 minutes
Compilation Process10 minutes
Preprocessing10 minutes
Getting Help: man Pages10 minutes
More about Macros and Header Files10 minutes
The Actual Compiler10 minutes
Compiler Errors10 minutes
Assembling10 minutes
Linking10 minutes
Make10 minutes
Fancier make Options10 minutes
Running Your Program10 minutes
valgrind10 minutes
Compiler Options10 minutes

4 assignmentsTotal 100 minutes

Compiling30 minutes
Compilation Process30 minutes
Make and Valgrind30 minutes
Prototype: Assignment 06 Practice Quiz10 minutes

4 programming assignmentsTotal 110 minutes

Assignment 04_compile20 minutes
Assignment 05_squares30 minutes
Assignment 06_rect30 minutes
Assignment 07_retirement30 minutes

Two skills that are crucial to good programming are testing—finding problems with your code, and debugging—fixing them. In this module you will learn systematic ways to identify problems in your code, as well as how to apply the scientific method to fix your program when you do find a bug.

What's included

6 videos15 readings3 assignments3 programming assignments

6 videosTotal 21 minutes

Testing Means Finding Bugs2 minutes
Test-driven Development2 minutes
Code Review3 minutes
Finding Problems with Valgrind5 minutes
Gathering Information with gdb7 minutes
Advice from a Duke Software Engineering Student: Don't Give Up!2 minutes

15 readingsTotal 150 minutes

Black Box Testing10 minutes
Practical Tips for Designing Test Cases10 minutes
White Box Testing10 minutes
Generating Test Cases10 minutes
Asserts10 minutes
Code Review10 minutes
Step 7: Debugging10 minutes
The Scientific Method10 minutes
Accept or Reject Your Hypothesis?10 minutes
Intro to gdb10 minutes
Getting Started with gdb10 minutes
Investigating the State of Your Program10 minutes
Controlling Execution10 minutes
Watchpoints10 minutes
Signals10 minutes

3 assignmentsTotal 90 minutes

Testing30 minutes
Debugging30 minutes
gdb30 minutes

3 programming assignmentsTotal 60 minutes

Assignment 08_testing20 minutes
Assignment 09_testing220 minutes
Assignment 10_gdb20 minutes

In this module you will begin the project you will complete over the course of the rest of the specialization. At the end of each course, you will write a piece of a program that will calculate the odds of different poker hands winning with a Monte Carlo simulation—a way to calculate complicated probabilities by generating random data.

What's included

2 videos2 readings2 programming assignments

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructors

Instructor ratings

(150 ratings)

Andrew D. Hilton

Duke University

19 Courses1,146,433 learners

Offered by

Duke University

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65.54%
4 stars
16.68%
3 stars
5.04%
2 stars
4.92%
1 star
7.80%

Showing 3 of 832

Reviewed on Oct 30, 2021

Respected sir, Sir I forgot my date in this course please you 'll again give me a one chance to give this credits.

Reviewed on Jun 18, 2020

I really enjoyed this course. This course seemed to be a little hard at the beginning. But it was really good. I learnt a lot of things.Thank you!

Reviewed on Dec 10, 2019

As accustomed by now when it comes to Duke University, Drew and the colleagues, it was just perfect how they pass on the knowledge.

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Frequently asked questions

No. Completion of a Coursera course does not earn you academic credit from Duke; therefore, Duke is not able to provide you with a university transcript. However, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.