Thank you to the folks in the comments for pointing out a mistake I made in the C code. When allocating memory for the C string with malloc, you should actually allocate an additional byte and add a null terminator character '\0' (backslash zero) to end of the char array, adding up to a total of 41 bytes in the example. The null terminator is what allows C functions like strlen() and puts() to know where the end of the char array is- essentially turning it into a valid "C string" instead of just an array of bytes. Under the hood, those functions have no idea where to stop counting the bytes unless it encounters a null terminator, but might by chance give you seemingly valid results like it did for me in the example. Never take for granted all the things a high-level language does for you 😅

I think you just need to learn C as a programmer regardless of the language and level of abstraction you are working with. It is one of the must-learn things being a software developer. But anyway straight like from me bro.

If you continue like this, this would be the best C programing channel, the explanation tells itself.

So happy to see someone actually show how pointers work instead of explaining it on a power point slide.

You got an invalid read with your puts in your C version, right? If you get a file size of 40 and if you want to use it as a string, you've got to allocate 41 bytes to store its data plus the '\0' (NULL) terminator. 40 is actually ok if you interpret is as just bytes. If interpreting as a C string (like puts does as it scans the bytes until a '\0' is found), you gotta put the '\0' at the end of the 40 bytes. You can do that manually by setting it as the last byte after the fread statement or you could just use calloc. You could try to compile your program with -g flag and run valgrind or use -fsanitize=address with clang to analyze it. Anyway, really nice video! keep it up.

C is actually the first language I learned. Took me a week to figure out enough with it that I could code a microcontroller. I do web development in reactJS-TS, nodeJS, and GO these days, but this video was a very welcome blast from the past. You rock Ryan!

I'm learning some C as a javascript developer for some hobby robotics use and this video had more info in 10 minutes than several, hours long C tutorials I've watched already. Great job!

Great content, sir! I appreciate you walking through every elementary step and explaining it in a simple, step-by-step manner. More computer science KZfaqrs should aspire to be as articulate as you!

you should allocate fileLenght+1, and make sure that the last byte is NULL. otherwise you will risk that whatever is after your memory block is not a null and you will print out some additional byes/characters.

So fascinating! I remember way back when I dove into the infamous CS50 course, then when I went back to Javascript things were starting to become clearer. C really did help shape the way I was thinking about programming.

More specifically, learning about how memory works in a program is useful, such as knowing when it’s stored in the stack or heap. This will make it much easier to learn any lower level language and how they manage memory, not just C.

You're so right. I went from typing js and f# to c and c++. It was the biggest change of pace ever, but the best step i've made.

I haven't learned C but I've gone back to it over and over again and its great to appreciate higher level languages and everything they do for us.

I went from self taught fullstacj JS to C cause I switched my major to computer science. Self taught c from a book a weeek before class started, and was absolutely amazed. I have such a better handle of languages and what’s going on under the hood. I thought I was the only one who did this and felt this way

Been trying to understand pointers for a few good weeks now and finally understood in the second example 😯😯

Thanks for this. I started with Python and now I mostly use JavaScript, so seeing low level details were cool.

As someone with reasonable C experience, you just taught me a considerably less stupid way to read arbitrary-length files. I was doing it one character at a time, until I hit EOF.

Just stumbled across your videos and they're fantastic! Subscribed.

Excellent video! So glad I found your channel.

Awesome content! I'm looking forward to seeing more vids

honestly understanding pointers in relation to things like arrays was really when I saw how great c is. Its probably the only time I'll read entire books on one concept in c and its implementations. I'm still pretty new and I haven't really gotten into some of the libraries out there to use.

Great video, it may seem to some like a few excessive steps were taken with the C code, but the way it's presented does make for an excellent example to give to someone who's only worked with higher level langs like JS and it pretty accurately displays the key differences in working with C as opposed to working with JS. One big thing I'd recommend for anyone new to C is get creative, never limit yourself to doing things the standard way, you're about as close to the raw ones and zeros as it gets outside of ASM and that gives you a TON of power, and the only real limit to that power is how crazy you're willing to get with what you write. Best way to see this yourself, try to figure out how to check if an int is even or odd without using division or modulus, the solution will blow your mind and you'll never see variables the same way again.

Your explanation is very clear!

Appreciate the effort you go into mastering the craft. Any serious developer should learn C.

This is the second video I watch of yours where I am like damn he made that simple, let me subscribe. I check the subscribe button. Already clicked. Appreciate your videos!

Please you should make a whole c programming video course. This alone explains a lot.

I would recommend learning C++ instead of C. This will help you actually contribute to NodeJS ecosystem(fix bugs, feature addition etc etc). But I like this way of teaching. Keep it up

Totally agree about knowing some C. So many OS/runtime concepts about the actual computer you are writing code for are easily understood when writing C code. No worries about pointer fear, but you must understand them well to program in C. Code review other minor nit: return -1; from main won't cause the exit status to be set properly. For MacOS/Linux and probably most UNIX's will obtain a program exit status of 255. Normally, programs non-success exit codes are 1, and sometimes rarely 2 or 3; 0 is success. You are correct the convention in C for function failure is return -1, and errno contains the reason for the failure. This doesn't work for the exit code from main, as the program exit status is an unsigned byte, and there is no associated errno for a process that has quit. When writing threaded C code, even though the global errno variable has been make "thread safe" by using scary black magic [don't ask how], returning a non-zero positive error, often some valid errno.h constant status is a convention adopted by many ptheads programmers.

Rust is another lower level programming language that can help fill in the gaps, as well as C++. Older languages are mostly on par with exposing the internal workings, but their syntax isn’t used in any modern languages, so you may learn a lot and then have to figure out how to apply that knowledge to the most common syntax style of C. After you have fun with C, jump into Assembly to understand the lowered code from the many languages that don’t have a runtime and generate pure system level binaries.

I just started watching your videos and I really love your explanations.❤

The perfect thing i was seeking for. ❤

Excellent tutorial

Thanks for the help brother 😌

Cool! Thank youuu!

If anyone wants to become comfortable with pointers, learn some assembly and see how assembly code is executed.

The puts function automatically appends a new line, no need for " "!, just puts("Hello world"); will work ^-^

I like that you showed dynamic memory allocation, but you could have also done while(c != EOF)putc(c);fgetc(c, fp);

Next video: Why you should learn x86 assembly as a Javascript developer Next next video: Why you should learn punch cards as a Javascript developer Next next next video: Why I wrote my own OS in punch cards to write code in punch cards as a Javascript developer and you should too Next next next next video: Why I made my own CPU as a Javascript developer and you should too

when you use malloc(), try to type cast it to the data type(char *) you are using as the allocated memory don't have any data type. It might work sometimes but unexpected errors may happen. char *str = (char *)malloc(bytes);

My 2cents is: 1) you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time, 2) never optimize before being production ready. Getting your code run faster is always desired but it should be done in the optimization phase, during beta. I am also a JS developer and lately I utilize bash scripts when manipulating large chunks of data instead of having them run in JS. Decoupling works better for me than messing with multi-threading inside JS.

I started with JS, then Dart, and when I'm done with Java (and Spring Boot), I'm planning on learning C. I think every developer should learn it. 👍

Good explanation

Great tutorial

Using write and directly print in the fd 1. Add even more funk

I like the ability to point (map) your struct to any memory address: struct Person { char name[10]; } *p; p = some_memory_address; printf("Name: %s", p->name); p = another_memory_address; printf("Name: %s", p->name);

C and JavaScript are my favorite languages. I write my JavaScript in a stripped down C style so I can develop quickly and re-write in C later.

Copying data is allways done when passing parameters to function independent of the data type. For example passing integers copies int size that is 4, and passing pointers copies 8 that is the pointer size. Thanks fo the lesson however.

A few years back, I had some basic training in joinery. The thing was, at the start, we were taught hand tools only. Until we could chisel out a mortice by hand, and cut accurately with a handsaw, we weren't ready to use machines that do it for us. By spending some time learning how to do things by hand, you can an invaluable understanding of _what is being done for you_ by the machines. It is the same with programming. Going from the bottom up: an assembler does some basic things for you, such as looking up binary opcodes given mnemonics, and calculating addresses of things. Compared to manually working out the contents of memory by hand (like you had to if you had an 8bit machine from the 80s and wanted to make a cheat for a game). Then C, which gives you things like functions and loops and so on, so that you don't have to learn all the different assembly instructions for each CPU architecture you want to write for. So by learning some basic assembly, you gain an appreciation for what C is doing for you, and to some extend, why things in C are as they are. If you then proceed to higher and higher level languages, it always pays to know what's being done for you, so that it speeds up your productivity, rather than becomes a magic wand for which you have to remember umpteen incantations. The trouble with the modern tendency for abstraction and high level languages is that, while they hide complexity, they don't make it go away. And once you can't see that complexity, it's hard to reason about it.

great content, also in C string is array of chars WITH 0 byte TERMINATOR AT THE END. so, the actual length is filelength+1. you are lucky, it doesn't crash.

Now I understand the point of pointers

Can you explain more about C in another video, i really liked the way you explained, by the way I have been a developer for 10+ years now. I would also like to know your point of view between RUST vs C in: difficulty , time to develop something(verbosity and complexity), and results in binary size, execution speed and memory etc. Thanks !

you should do more comparison videos like this.

En realidad debe ser: char *text = malloc((fileLength+1)*sizeof(char)); Te faltó alojar el carácter '\0'.

Good video, I subscribed and gave 10 thumbs up! Anyways, I’ve been coding now for 4 months originally coding by learning data Science and fairly recently switched to web development because I enjoyed programming more than creating graphs and charts to show projections. Anyways, I started a week ago taking an online free course called harvards CS50 intro to computer science and on week 1 we began learning C. I am loving the language and I would like to know how long did it take for you to learn C? Also, how long would it take to learn to C well before switching to C++? My game plan is to use C as either backend support or maybe try and get into the job market using C for small devices or for OS devices. Only thing I don’t have college only some credits taking engineering science so I am fairly decent with math, but no college degree. What would you recommend someone like me to look into if I am passionate about mastering the C family.? Also I know some Python JavaScript, html, css too if they helps, thanks.

You could just have stored the string in the stack but I get the didactic purpose of allocating memory. I would char *text = (char*)malloc(fileLength*sizeof(char)) though :)

Good explanation but I wonder why dev instructors don't use pictures and diagrams to show these concepts. The words don't tell you much but graphical representations make the concepts very clear. Like when you see a block of memory cells it's obvious what an array is or a pointer to an individual cell and the size of the cells etc

Which resource/ book to use?

Interesting video :) Fortunately, I'm a JavaScript developer 😅

the Java can substitute C on this perspective?

you create a lot more content, you have a way of teaching ppl in a very simple manner

Bro I finished 3rd Year of college and had no idea how pointers work And this dude did it in 2 minutes 😂😂

To all those watching this video in the future: C is not JavaScript. Just because you read the stream in one sluck in JavaScript doesn't mean you do the same in C. This is not how this should be done in C. You can already allocate a buffer (Here you can allocate it statically by doing char buffer[1024]; ), you then read the STREAM (don't talk about file when you consider IO operations) into the buffer with fread. Null-terminate the buffer with the result of fread (returns -1 on error and the size of what has been read on success), then print the buffer. Repeat until the stream has been fully consumed.

The whole "JavaScript developer" thing there seems like a person who haven't done anything other than JS. A better title would be "Why you need to learn C as a software engineer".

what a voiice ❤️

Hi Ryan, I am back on your channel because I know you're an experienced developer who dives into different technologies. I am still learning JavaScript, HTML and CSS and I am at the stage that I am making things now, basic websites with basic functionality like hover state and creating events using JavaScript and manipulating the DOM. My skills have improved a lot. My question to you is this. I've decided to become a C# developer for web development, this is my 5-year plan. But my main goal is to get a job as a software developer primarily as a web developer or mobile using JavaScript because you can do both. At the moment I am on the Odin Project, the Odin Project is Project based learning. I just wanted to know; how do you learn this stuff without forgetting it? I am afraid that after I complete the Odin project that I will begin to forget JavaScript, HTML and CSS once I am beginning to learn C# then .NET. How do you maintain your knowledge on previous technologies while learning a new one? Because I do want to land a job with the JavaScript tech stack, which is React, Node.js and Vanilla JavaScript, HTML, CSS and MySQL. But at the same time, I want to learn C# because I love the Microsoft ecosystem and because in NYC where I am from there is a good job market in this industry and it seems less competitive in comparison than going the React route. I check the job posting a lot and I noticed for web development there are lots and lots of people applying for React jobs or something related to JavaScript. I also noticed there is a job market for .NET with C#, there are less jobs, but I guess because it's more of a Neish, but I see the opportunity there as well. I am guessing it's because the requirements are higher. Basically, I see everyone running to React, so I figured let me run to .NET, I think my chances are better within this ecosystem. Any wisdom you could give or personal insight I would humbly appreciate, please feel free and be brutally honest and share your thoughts I would be humbled by them, thanks you very much in advance Ryan.

I’m here before this video blows up

That s not how c sees it , that made me subscribe XD i would really like to know what s ur github repo to learn more from u and thx

Cool voice dude

Excellent video! Bruh, do you write code lay down on the bed? Can you show us the Laptop support in a video? Thank you. :)

I tried learning c++, but the .h files are horrendous. Those files should be handled implicitly now. Unless they are and I couldn't find how to not need to make them.

Good video , thanks. Question? I’ve been learning JavaScript for 2 months now. I think I got most of the fundamentals down. What is the benefits in learning C? Also, should I learn C or C++ first? I noticed there are jobs in C++ but I don’t really see anything for C? What is your recommendations for becoming a web or mobile developer

next year: Why you should use Neovim instead of VScode (as a JS Dev)

That's not how C 'sees' it!! Killer pun!

some of these guys really must have sucky lives, good video bro.

Man didn’t even need to get out bed to make this vid

Watching the video laying with in the exact pose with my macbook on knees and head on a pillow. I cannot help but put a like on this video and subscribe to its author's channel.

Why?

C or C++?

I'm very thankful that in my CS degree at my university we were taught Assembly as well as C early on. I think it's one of those things that really separates the "self-taught programmer" (which are fine btw, not trying to bash them and don't think less of them) and the engineer or "real" computer scientist. What I mean is that sure you can learn JS or whatever framework and that's very worthy, but at the end of the day technologies like those change very often. I see C as the vehicle to really comprehend and understand what's really happening behind the curtain. This gives you a more thorough grasp of a lot of concepts that you might not think about when using one of those high level languages.

My name is also Ryan, and also a software engineer....

someday i will understand this

I'm not sure, but i think there is an error in your C code. char *text = malloc(fileLength); Should be: char *text = malloc(fileLength + 1); That is: you allocated memory for the text inside the file, but forgot to allocate memory for the null terminator byte ('\0'). If you don't do that, your program can misbehave while trying to read or write this string. Also, you forgot to check for null pointer when using malloc. Very minor detail, since it's super rare that it can't allocate memory, but a good practice nevertheless.

C is like breathing manually

el ql acostao en la muralla carepalo

Just go through the roadmap of software engineer, what developer you ain't be if u gonna be a good developer

There is C. And then there is syntactic sugar.

I liked too much!

Is he using bed disk!? It was my dream disk

My guy is slept on. He be doing C from bed

This is I be coding

my mans legit in bed

So much for answering the question in the title. This video was a waste of my time

want to go even lower level than this? try building a kernel, this means no use of any kind of external library, you should write everything by your own.

gigachad ryan on the bed flexing on fake js devs not knowing C 😎

Then again, you still used a lot of high level C functions. To better understand this, read your files into individual fixed sized buffers char by char. This will be more memory efficient when it comes to larger files.

ok bro ur completely right, but u still overcomplicating things here. u don't need to save it in heap

This video is the perfect example why you shouldnt write C (as a javadcript developer) :D C is a „simple“ language but that makes it really damn easy to fuck up majorly. It is a much better idea to learn rust, go, dlang or other modern alternatives.

Why need I? I'm not a JS developer 🤪

Believe me, The high level languages make you stupid. I learned C first, and then I decided to learn Dart language. When you know C, the high level languages seem so limited to you. You can manipulate every thing in C.

6 lines vs 27 lines to print text to the console. In 2023?? No sir