Syntax


You have already seen the following code a couple of times in the first chapters. Let's break it down to understand
it better:

Example

#include

int main() {
printf("Hello World!");
return 0;
}
   
 

Example explained


Line 1: #include is a header file library that lets us work with input and output functions, such as printf() (used in line 4). Header files add functionality to C programs.
Line 2: A blank line. C ignores white space. But we use it to make the code more readable.
Line 3: Another thing that always appear in a C program, is main(). This is called a function. Any code inside its curly brackets {} will be executed.
Line 4: printf() is a function used to output/print text to the screen. In our example it will output "Hello World!".
Line 5: return 0 ends the main() function.
Line 6: Do not forget to add the closing curly bracket } to actually end the main function.