Foundations of C Programming

This unit introduces core C language concepts and practical skills needed for game programming, including data types, control flow, functions, arrays, pointers, memory management, and basic I/O and file operations. Students will build, test, and organize small C programs and prepare to apply these foundations to more advanced game development topics in subsequent units.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the history, structure, and syntax of the C language to explain how its components (data types, operators, and statements) support procedural game programming
• Apply C language constructs to write, compile, and debug programs that perform console and character I/O, arithmetic operations, conditional and loop control, and use functions and structures
• Demonstrate effective use of arrays, strings, pointers, and dynamic memory allocation by writing and testing programs that manage data storage, pointer-array relationships, and binary representations
• Implement sequential file and directory operations and organize code across multiple modules to create maintainable C projects that prepare for larger game programming assignments