Practical Projects

1. Introduction

From JavaScript Projects to C System Applications

In JavaScript, you typically build web applications, APIs, and user interfaces. In C, you can create system utilities, embedded applications, and performance-critical software that directly interacts with hardware and operating systems.

💡 Key Concept: C projects focus on system-level programming, performance optimization, and direct hardware interaction, enabling you to build efficient, low-level applications.

2. Simple Text Editor

3. Memory Allocator

4. Data Structure Library

5. Common Pitfalls

• Memory leaks: Always free allocated memory in data structures
• Buffer overflows: Check bounds before accessing arrays
• Resource management: Properly close files and release system resources
• Error handling: Check return values and handle errors gracefully
• Thread safety: Use synchronization when sharing data between threads

6. Exercises

1. Extend the text editor to support search and replace functionality.
2. Implement a more sophisticated memory allocator with different allocation strategies.
3. Add sorting and searching algorithms to the data structure library.
4. Create a simple system monitoring tool that displays process information.

7. Performance Analysis

• Text editor: Efficient string operations and file I/O
• Memory allocator: Minimize fragmentation and allocation overhead
• Data structures: Optimize for common operations (insert, delete, search)
• System tools: Efficient system calls and minimal resource usage

---

Summary: C projects demonstrate practical applications of system programming concepts. Building these projects helps solidify understanding of memory management, data structures, and system-level programming.