C Interview Questions

C has characteristics of both assembly-level i.e. low-level and higher-level languages. So as a result, C is commonly called a middle-level language. Using C, a user can write an operating system as well as create a menu-driven consumer billing system.

Some features of the C language are- 

1. It is Simple And Efficient. 
2. C language is portable or Machine Independent.
3. C is a mid-level Programming Language. 
4. It is a structured Programming Language.
5. It has a function-rich library. 
6. Dynamic Memory Management.
7. C is super fast.

The individual elements of a program are called Tokens. There are following 6 types of tokens are available in C:

• Identifiers
• Keywords
• Constants
• Operators
• Special Characters
• Strings

• printf() is used to print the output on the display.
• scanf() is used to read formatted data from the keyboard. 

Some datatype format specifiers for both printing and scanning purposes are as follows:

• %d: It's a datatype format specifier for printing and scanning an integer value. 
• %s: It's a datatype format specifier for printing and scanning a string. 
• %c: It's a datatype format specifier for displaying and scanning a character value.
• %f: The datatype format specifier %f is used to display and scan a float value

• In C, #line is used as a preprocessor to re-set the line number in the code, which takes a parameter as line number. 

The function takes a pointer to an array of char elements that need to be converted, and a format string needs to be written in a buffer as a string
#include<stdio.h>
#include <math.h>
int main()
{
char str[80];
sprintf(str, "The value of PI = %f", M_PI);
puts(str);
return 0;
}

A preprocessor is a software program that processes a source file before sending it to be compiled. Inclusion of header files, macro expansions, conditional compilation, and line control are all possible with the preprocessor.

The most commonly used built-in functions in C are scanf(), printf(), strcpy, strlwr, strcmp, strlen, strcat, and many more.

Built-function is also known as library functions that are provided by the system to make the life of a developer easy by assisting them to do certain commonly used predefined tasks. For example, if you need to print output or your program into the terminal, we use printf() in C.

The function takes the string as an input that needs to be converted to an integer.

int atoi(const char *string)

Return Value:

• On successful conversion, it returns the desired integer value
• If the string starts with alpha-numeric char or only contains alpha-num char, 0 is returned.
• In case string starts with numeric character but is followed by alpha-num char, the string is converted to integer till the first occurrence of alphanumeric char.

A pointer is a variable that stores or points to another variable's address. The value of a variable is stored in a normal variable, whereas the address of a variable is stored in a pointer variable.

• const char* p is a pointer to a const char.
• char const* p is a pointer to a char const.

Since const char and char const are the same, it's the same.

In C, a pointer can also be used to store the address of another pointer. A double pointer or pointer to pointer is such a pointer. The address of a variable is stored in the first pointer, whereas the address of the first pointer is stored in the second pointer.

The syntax of declaring a double pointer is given below:

int **p; // pointer to a pointer which is pointing to an integer

n++ being a unary operation, it just needs one variable. Whereas, n = n + 1 is a binary operation that adds overhead to take more time (also binary operation: n += 1). However, in modern platforms, it depends on few things such as processor architecture, C compiler, usage in your code, and other factors such as hardware problems.

While in the modern compiler even if you write n = n + 1 it will get converted into n++ when it goes into the optimized binary, and it will be equivalently efficient.

Macro on a high-level copy-paste, its definitions to places wherever it is called. Due to which it saves a lot of time, as no time is spent while passing the control to a new function and the control is always with the callee function. However, one downside is the size of the compiled binary is large but once compiled the program comparatively runs faster.

Enumeration, also known as Enum in C, is a user-defined data type. It consists of constant integrals or integers that have names assigned to them by the user. Because the integer values are named with enum in C, the whole program is simple to learn, understand, and maintain by the same or even different programmer.

If a variable is used frequently, it should be declared with the register storage specifier, and the compiler may allocate a CPU register for its storage to speed up variable lookup.

All statements written in a program are executed from top to bottom one by one. Control statements are used to execute/transfer the control from one part of the program to another depending on the condition.

• If-else statement.
  • normal if-else statement.
  • Else-if statement
  • nested if-else statement.
• Switch statement.

• The term "r-value" refers to a data value stored in memory at a given address. An r-value is an expression that cannot have a value assigned to it, hence it can only exist on the right side of an assignment operator(=).
• The term "l-value" refers to a memory location that is used to identify an object. The l-value can be found on either the left or right side of an assignment operator(=). l-value is frequently used as an identifier.

calloc() and malloc() are memory dynamic memory allocating functions. The main difference is that malloc() only takes one argument, which is the number of bytes, but calloc() takes two arguments, which are the number of blocks and the size of each block.

A struct is a group of complex data structures stored in a block of memory where each member on the block gets a separate memory location to make them accessible at once

Whereas in the union, all the member variables are stored at the same location on the memory as a result to which while assigning a value to a member variable will change the value of all other members.

/* struct & union definations*/
struct bar {
	int a;	// we can use a & b both simultaneously
	char b;
}	bar;

union foo {
	int a;	// we can't use both a and b simultaneously
	char b;
}	foo;

/* using struc and union variables*/

struct bar y;
y.a = 3;	// OK to use
y.b = 'c'; // OK to use

union foo x;
x.a = 3; // OK
x.b = 'c'; // NOl this affects the value of x.a!

When we caller function makes a function call bypassing the addresses of actual parameters being passed, then this is called call by reference. In incall by reference, the operation performed on formal parameters affects the value of actual parameters because all the operations performed on the value stored in the address of actual parameters.

In Pass by reference, the callee receives the address and makes a copy of the address of an argument into the formal parameter. Callee function uses the address to access the actual argument (to do some manipulation). If the callee function changes the value addressed at the passed address it will be visible to the caller function as well.

When we assign a variable it takes space of our RAM (either heap or RAM)dependent on the size of data type, however, if a programmer uses a memory available on the heap and forgets to a delta it, at some point all the memory available on the ram will be occupied with no memory left this can lead to a memory leak.

int main()
{
    char * ptr = malloc(sizeof(int));
    
    /* Do some work */
    /*Not freeing the allocated memory*/
    return 0;
}

To avoid memory leaks, you can trace all your memory allocations and think forward, where you want to destroy (in a good sense) that memory and place delete there. Another way is to use C++ smart pointer in C linking it to GNU compilers.

C is a language known for its low-level control over the memory allocation of variables in DMA there are two major standard library malloc() and free. The malloc() function takes a single input parameter which tells the size of the memory requested It returns a pointer to the allocated memory. If the allocation fails, it returns NULL. The prototype for the standard library function is like this:

void *malloc(size_t size);
The free() function takes the pointer returned by malloc() and de-allocates the memory. No indication of success or failure is returned. The function prototype is like this: 

void free(void *pointer);
There are 4 library functions provided by C defined under <stdlib.h> header file to facilitate dynamic memory allocation in C programming. They are:

• malloc()
• calloc()
• free()
• realloc()

typedef is a C keyword, used to define alias/synonyms for an existing type in C language. In most cases, we use typedef's to simplify the existing type declaration syntax. Or to provide specific descriptive names to a type.

typedef <existing-type> <new-type-identifiers>;

typedef provides an alias name to the existing complex type definition. With typedef, you can simply create an alias for any type. Whether it is a simple integer to complex function pointer or structure declaration, typedef will shorten your code.

The standard input library gets() reads user input till it encounters a new line character. However, it does not check on the size of the variable being provided by the user is under the maximum size of the data type which makes the system vulnerable to buffer overflow and the input being written into memory where it isn’t supposed to.

In practice, the difference is in the location where the preprocessor searches for the included file.

For #include <filename> the C preprocessor looks for the filename in the predefined list of system directories first and then to the directories told by the user(we can use -I option to add directories to the mentioned predefined list). 

For #include "filename" the preprocessor searches first in the same directory as the file containing the directive, and then follows the search path used for the #include <filename> form. This method is normally used to include programmer-defined header files.

The dangling pointer points to a memory that has already been freed. The storage is no longer allocated. Trying to access it might cause a Segmentation fault. A common way to end up with a dangling pointer:

#include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>
char *func()
{
    char str[10];
    strcpy(str,"Hello!");
    return(str);
}

You are returning an address that was a local variable, which would have gone out of scope by the time control was returned to the calling function. (Undefined behavior)

*c = malloc(5izeof(int));
free(c);
*c = 3; //writing to freed location!

In the figure shown above writing to a memory that has been freed is an example of the dangling pointer, which makes the program crash.

A memory leak is something where the memory allocated is not freed which causes the program to use an undefined amount of memory from the ram making it unavailable for every other running program(or daemon) which causes the programs to crash. There are various tools like O profile testing which is useful to detect memory leaks on your programs.

void function(){
	char *leak = malloc (10);	//leak assigned but not freed
}

In C double-quotes variables are identified as a string whereas single-quoted variables are identified as the character. Another major difference being the string (double-quoted) variables end with a null terminator that makes it a 2 character array.

• Near Pointer: In general, the near pointer can be considered because it is used to hold the address, which has a maximum size of just 16 bits. We can't store an address with a size larger than 16 bits using the near pointer. All other smaller addresses that are within the 16-bit limit, on the other hand, can be stored. Because we can only access 64kb of data at a time, you might assume the 16 bits are insufficient. As a result, it is regarded as one of the near-pointer's biggest drawbacks, which is why it is no longer commonly used.
• Far Pointer: A far pointer is considered a pointer of size 32 bits. It can, however, use the current segment to access information stored outside the computer's memory. Although, in order to use this type of pointer, we usually need to allocate the sector register to store the data address in the current segment.

The file structure is used to link the operating system and a program. The header file "stdio.h" (standard input/output header file) defines the file. It contains information about the file being used like its current size and its memory location. It contains a character pointer that points to the character which is currently being opened. When you open a file, it establishes a link between the program and the operating system about which file is to be accessed.

No. This isn’t possible in C. It’s always the most local variable that gets preference.

• If we let it, the compiler can build enum values automatically. However, each of the defined values must be given separately.
• Because macros are preprocessors, unlike enums, which are compile-time entities, the source code is unaware of these macros. So, if we use a debugger to debug the code, the enum is superior.
• Some compilers will give a warning if we use enum values in a switch and the default case is missing.
• Enum always generates int-type identifiers. The macro, on the other hand, allowed us to pick between various integral types.
• Unlike enum, the macro does not have a defined scope constraint.

The following program will help you to remove duplicates from an array.

#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
    int n, a[100], b[100], calc = 0, i, j,count;
    printf("Enter no. of elements in array: ");
    scanf("%d", &n);
    printf("Enter %d integers: ", n);
    for (i = 0; i < n; i++)
        scanf("%d", &a[i]);
          
    for (i = 0; i<n; i++) {
        for (j = 0; j<calc; j++) {
           if(a[i] == b[j])
           break;  
        }
        if (j== calc) {
             b[calc] = a[i];
             calc++; 
        }
     }
     
     printf("Array obtained after removing duplicate elements: ");
     for (i = 0; i<calc; i++) { 
            printf("%d ", b[i]);
     }
     return 0;
}

Yes, we can compile a program without main() function Using Macro.

E.g.

#include<studio.h>
#define abc main
int abc ()
{
printf("Hello World ");
return 0;
}

To override a defined macro we can use #ifdef and #undef preprocessors as follows:

• #ifdef A
• #undef A
• #endif
• #define A 10

If macro A is defined, it will be undefined using undef and then defined again using define.

It is majorly related to how the compiler reads( or parses) the entire code and breaks it into a set of instructions(or statements), to which semicolon in C acts as a boundary between two sets of instructions.

To call a function before the main(), pragma startup directive should be used. E.g.-

#pragma startup fun
void fun()
{
printf("In fun\n");
}
main()
{
printf("In main\n");
}

The output of the above program will be -

In fun
In main

This pragma directive, on the other hand, is compiler-dependent. This is not supported by gcc. As a result, it will ignore the startup directive and produce no error. But the output, in that case, will be -

In main

The keyword “void” is a data type that literally represents no data at all. The most obvious use of this is a function that returns nothing:

void PrintHello() 
{ 
	printf("Hello\n"); 
	return;		// the function does "return", but no value is returned 
} 

Here we’ve declared a function, and all functions have a return type. In this case, we’ve said the return type is “void”, and that means, “no data at all” is returned. 
The other use for the void keyword is a void pointer. A void pointer points to the memory location where the data type is undefined at the time of variable definition. Even you can define a function of return type void* or void pointer meaning “at compile time we don’t know what it will return” Let’s see an example of that.

void MyMemCopy(void* dst, const void* src, int numBytes) 
{ 
	char* dst_c = reinterpret_cast<char*>(dst); 
	const char* src_c = reinterpret_cast<const char*>(src); 
	for (int i = 0; i < numBytes; ++i) 
		dst_c[i] = src_c[i]; 
}

A dynamic data structure (DDS) refers to an organization or collection of data in memory that has the flexibility to grow or shrink in size, enabling a programmer to control exactly how much memory is utilized. Dynamic data structures change in size by having unused memory allocated or de-allocated from the heap as needed. 

Dynamic data structures play a key role in programming languages like C, C++, and Java because they provide the programmer with the flexibility to adjust the memory consumption of software programs.

For the sum of two numbers, we use the addition (+) operator. In these tricky C programs, we will write a C program to add two numbers without using the addition operator.

#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
int main()
{
  int x, y;
  printf("Enter two number: ");
  scanf("%d %d",&x,&y);

  // method 1
  printf("%d\n", x-(-y));

  // method 2
  printf("%d\n", -(-x-y));

  // method 3
  printf("%d\n", abs(-x-y));

  // method 4
  printf("%d", x-(~y)-1);

  return 0;
}

Fibonacci sequence is characterized by the fact that every number after the first two is the sum of the two preceding ones. For example, consider below sequence

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, . .. and so on

Where in F{n} = F{n-1} + F{n-2} with base values F(0) = 0 and <code>F(1) = 1

Below is naive implementation for finding the nth member of the Fibonacci sequence

// Function to find the nth Fibonacci number
int fib(int n)
{
    if (n <= 1) {
        return n;
    }
 
    return fib(n - 1) + fib(n - 2);
}
 
int main()
{
    int n = 8;
 
    printf("nth Fibonacci number is %d", fib(8));
 
    return 0;
}

Let's take an example of the following two linked lists which intersect at node c1.

Solution -

• Get count of the nodes in the first list, let count be c1.
• Get count of the nodes in the second list, let count be c2.
• Get the difference of counts d = abs(c1 – c2)
• Now traverse the bigger list from the first node till d nodes so that from here onwards both the lists have an equal no of nodes
• Then we can traverse both the lists in parallel till we come across a common node. (Note that getting a common node is done by comparing the address of the nodes)

// Function to get the intersection point 
// of the given linked lists 
int getIntersectionNode(Node* head1, Node* head2) 
{ 
    Node *curr1 = head1, *curr2 = head2; 
  
    // While both the pointers are not equal 
    while (curr1 != curr2) { 
  
        // If the first pointer is null then 
        // set it to point to the head of 
        // the second linked list 
        if (curr1 == NULL) { 
            curr1 = head2; 
        } 
  
        // Else point it to the next node 
        else { 
            curr1 = curr1->next; 
        } 
  
        // If the second pointer is null then 
        // set it to point to the head of 
        // the first linked list 
        if (curr2 == NULL) { 
            curr2 = head1; 
        } 
  
        // Else point it to the next node 
        else { 
            curr2 = curr2->next; 
        } 
    } 
  
    // Return the intersection node 
    return curr1->data; 
}