What Are Errors In C Programming?

Errors in C Programming

Do you know “What are errors in C programming? Are you wondering how to overcome these errors? Well, in this article, we will discuss the types of errors with code explained. 

Being the most popular programming language, the C language is learned by thousands of school and college students around the world. So, it’s quite often for a coder to get stuck in C programming while building a project.

In every programming language, there are certain types of errors present. These errors help to write the code in a prescribed way. While writing a piece of code, programmers may create some type of error. Then the compiler will aware the programmer about the error. Hence, the programmer can resolve the error.

But what is the need to learn about different error categories? 

But for now, let’s assume one scenario;

Suppose, as a programmer, you are writing code. At any point in time, the compiler is aware that you have made one mistake. But you can’t identify from the compiler what type of mistake you have made. As you don’t know the categories of the errors. Hence, your program gets stuck.

That is why it is needed to know the categories of errors.

But is there any way to know about the errors in C programming? Yes! There are.

Let's learn about Errors in C Programming.

What are Errors in the C Program? Read Below

Errors are like an illegal type of expression written by the programmer. Every programming language, like C,  can able to read (or compile) such types of code that are written in a given format.

If the programmer by any chance writes the code in a different format, then the compiler will throw an error. These errors will guide the programmer to resolve the problem which happened in a particular line of the code.

It is very obvious that if you only know the English language & some person is talking with you in the French language. You can’t able to know what he is talking about. The same thing goes for the compiler, also. They can only know a particular language & grammar format. Writing differently will cause an error.

What are the Types of Errors in C?

In the C programming language, there are mainly four types of errors present. Depending upon the mistakes made by the programmers, these categories have been created. Let’s make a list of those errors:

  1. Compile Time Error
  2. Run Time Error
  3. Linker Error
  4. Logical Error

Let’s know each of the errors one by one in a detailed way. 

What are Compile Time Errors in C?

Overview of the concept:

As the title says that this type of error occurs when the code is compiling. After compilation of any code, that code runs. This type of error is often termed the Syntax Error.

In this type of error, programmers generally make mistakes in the syntax structure. This means they forget to provide the end braces (‘}’), forget to provide the semicolons, etc. Sometimes, syntax errors related to the loops can create such problems.

These errors should be fixed before the code runs. If these errors are present in the code, it restricts the compilation of the code. Debugging can be tedious, but if you are running out of time and can’t fix your code, our professional C homework assistance is here to assist you in achieving top grades.

So, now let’s take an example where a syntax error occurred in a for loop.

General Syntax of For Loop: for(statement;condition;updation)

Example:

// Declaring The Header File
#include <stdio.h>

// Calling main Function

void main()

{

              // Declaring The Variable

              int i;

              // For Loop Defect-Comma Instead of Semicolon

              for(i=0;i<10,i++)

              {

                             // Simple Statement

              printf("Hello C Language");

              }

}

Steps of the program to know about the Compiler time errors in C Programming:

  1. Declare the required header file inside the program before developing the main function.
  2. Inside the main function, declare a defective for loop where the syntax error should be present.
  3. Inside that for loop, try to print anything random data.

Let’s look at the output of the above code. Hence, we come to know about the Compiler time errors or syntax errors in C Programming.

Output:

Output for Compile time errors in C programming

Here, the output clearly shows where we have made the errors. It is showing that instead of using a semicolon, a simple comma is used. So, the output is correct here.

What are Runtime Errors in C?

Overview of the concept:

As the title says, this type of error occurs when the compiler tries to run the code & provide the output. This means this type of error successfully skips the compilation step. But it gets stuck while running the code.

This type of error includes arithmetical problems, declaration problems, etc. This means that if you declared a variable as an Integer & try to enter a large value, user input from there will prompt an error.

Also, if you declare a variable as an Integer & work with it as a Float, then it will provide a run-time error.

This type of error can successfully pass through the compile time as the programmers have written them correctly. Their syntax is correct, but their work is not applicable. Many students get stuck while memory allocation in C, so we have written a detailed article on it and learned how to implement it.

Let’s take an example where we try to divide one number using zero. This type of code will prompt a run-time error. While implementing an Inline function in C, sometimes we get runtime errors too. As the code has been written correctly, given the syntax, that is why it will not prompt a compile-time error.

Example:

// Declaring The Header File

#include <stdio.h>

// Calling main Function

void main()

{

              // Declaring The Variable

              int num = 5;

              // Run Time Error-Trying To Divide by Zero

              printf("result = %d", num/0);

}

Steps of the program to know about Runtime errors in C:

  1. Start the implementation of the program by taking the default necessary header file.
  2. Declare one integer value in the program & provide a sample value to it.
  3. Now, try to print the result value by dividing that integer number by zero, which flags a runtime error.

Let’s look at the output of the above code. Hence, we come to know about Runtime errors in C Programming.

Output:

Output example of Runtime error in C language

In this case, the output gives the warning message & it will point to the states where we have made the mistake. Here, it is pointing to where we want to divide a number by zero.

What are Linker Errors in C?

Overview of the concept:

This type of error happens when the linking process is being performed by the compiler. The linking process is a very important & very beginning process. Before compilation, linking is done. In this process, the code is converted to the linker file, which helps to compile & run the code.

This type of error occurs when programmers write illegal header files & main functions. Header files & main functions play a crucial role in the lining. So, making mistakes while writing those will create a linker error.

Let’s take an example where the main function is written in the wrong way.

Example:

// Declaring The Header File

#include <stdio.h>

// Calling Wrong main Function

void mainn()

{

              // Simple Statement

              printf("Hello C Program");

}

Steps Of The Program to know about the Linker errors in C:

  1. The necessary Stdio. The header file will be included in the code to move ahead further.
  2. Now, we are placing the word ‘mainn()’ instead of ‘main()’, which is the wrong one.
  3. For decoration purposes, we are giving a random statement inside of that, but it will not execute.

Let’s look at the output of the above code. Hence, we come to know about the Linker errors in C Programming.

Now, let’s take a look at the output screenshot below.

Output:

Output for Linker errors in C programming

From the output, any novice can understand that there will be some issues with the word ‘main’ as it is highlighted. And it is marked in the Red colour because it is a serious type of error one can make.

What are Logical Errors in C?

Overview Of The Concept:

This type of error occurs when the programmer writes something unknowingly. This type of problem is faced by beginners. Sometimes they write in such a format that the desired output does not even appear on the console. Then the programmer must completely go through the code & find out the mistake.

But sometimes, for some mistakes, the compiler prompts an error. Here, we have taken such an example where an incorrectly written assignment operation will prompt an error.

Correct Syntax: variable1= variable2 + variable3

Example:

// Declaring The Header File

#include <stdio.h>

// Calling main Function

void main()

{

              // Declaring The Variables

              int x, y, z;

              // Wrong Syntax For Assignment Operation

              x + y = z;

}

Steps of the program to know about the Logical errors in C

  1. Without making any intentional mistake, include the necessary header file inside the program.
  2. Now, you should create the main function, normally what we usually do.
  3. Declare an integer variable inside the program. But there is no need to provide any value.
  4. Now, try to assign the summation value of two variables to the third one by using a wrong assignment statement.

Let’s look at the output of the above code. Hence, we come to know about the Logical errors in C Programming.

“One of the most notorious runtime errors is the memory access violation; read our guide on how to debug segmentation faults to handle this specific issue.”

Output:

Output for logical errors in C

The above output shows that the assignment statement has not been implemented properly. That is the reason it is marked as an error & what we are supposed to do is mentioned in the output.

Conclusion:

As we saw, errors perform an important role in the learning process. If you are learning other programming languages like Java, Python, then you can also learn about how to fix key errors in Python.

Errors perform a special role when developers write some big-size code to produce a larger output. It helps to guide their mistakes.

Recognizing these errors is the first step; for a deeper insight into overcoming programming hurdles, explore our article on Common Challenges In Programming Assignments.  So, hope you have liked this piece of article. Share your thoughts in the comments section and let us know if we can improve more.