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I come from an object oriented environment, so not having objects really confuses me with C. I see structs a lot, which look very similar to objects (minus the methods). Would this be "objects" in C?
So basically in C, you have a main method which calls functions from other source files through headers? I imagine it must be more advanced than that. I wonder how something like the linux kernel actually works. I've got the source, but it's not exactly easy to figure out where to start. :D
A C struct is not really an object. An object is an instance of a class and a class is an abstract datastructure. Abstract datastructures consist of data and functions operating on it.
You can do object oriented programming in C. Then you would have to define such an abstract datastructure. This would mean that you define some datastructure and write functions which operate on it. These functions can be divided into two kinds, private functions and public functions. The public functions are those which are used by applications which make use of the abstract datastructure and the private functions are used within the abstract datastructure.
In C there is a main method, just the same as in C++, Java, Pascal and other languages. This function, called main(), is the entry point of your program. The function calls other functions, which in turn can call subfunctions, which can call other functions etc. These functions are stored somewhere in your object files, which are the result of the compilation process. The header files are only used by the compiler to get knowledge about used datastructures and functions. The linker links the object files together and so creates the application.
structs are not objects in C. The C language does not natively support object orientated programming.
However, the C++ language has very advanced OOP capabilities through the use of classes. My advice is get hold of a good C++ book, there's a huge amount to learn :)
Be careful when you call functions like main() a method. Functions are only methods when they are implemented as member function of an object. On their own, they are simply functions.
Include files are basically normal C/C++ files which contain declarations of variables, objects and functions (among other things), whether they are in another C/C++ file or a pre-compiled library. You are correct in what you said, but it is, as always, more complicated than that :)
And if you're just starting to learn, I wouldn't say the Linux kernel is the best example to refer to :)
Dan
Thanks for both replies. I understand all you guys have said. I guess I should have said I'm not a complete newb, I just have a hard time getting the "object" feel in basic C. The reason I ask is because I've been getting into Linux a lot lately and C looks like a great language to use. I've used C++ more and it seems a lot easier coming from a Java and C# background.
Nice to hear from some one who started to program using OOP's.. most of us started out with Procedural and moved on to OOP's.