C is the best programming language

A simple C program that demonstrates pointer usage and string manipulation by creating a typographic animation effect.

Output

C is the best programming language
C is the best programming languag
C is the best programming langua
C is the best programming langu
C is the best programming lang
C is the best programming lan
C is the best programming la
C is the best programming l
C is the best programming
C is the best programmin
C is the best programmi
C is the best programm
C is the best program
C is the best progra
C is the best progr
C is the best prog
C is the best pro
C is the best pr
C is the best p
C is the best
C is the bes
C is the be
C is the b
C is the
C is th
C is t
C is
C i
C
C+
C++
C++ i
C++ is
C++ is t
C++ is th
C++ is the
C++ is the b
C++ is the be
C++ is the bes
C++ is the best
C++ is the best p
C++ is the best pr
C++ is the best pro
C++ is the best prog
C++ is the best progr
C++ is the best progra
C++ is the best program
C++ is the best programm
C++ is the best programmi
C++ is the best programmin
C++ is the best programming
C++ is the best programming l
C++ is the best programming la
C++ is the best programming lan
C++ is the best programming lang
C++ is the best programming langu
C++ is the best programming langua
C++ is the best programming languag
C++ is the best programming language

How it works

The program uses two char pointers to store two strings:

• "C is the best programming language"
• "C++ is the best programming language"

Algorithm

1. First loop (shrinking): Prints the first string progressively removing one character at a time from the end

   • Starts with full length and decrements down to 1
   • Uses printf("%.*s\n", i, str1) where %.*s is a precision specifier

2. Second loop (growing): Prints the second string progressively adding one character at a time

   • Starts with 1 character and increments up to full length
   • Uses printf("%.*s\n", i, str2)

Key C concepts

• Char pointers: char *str - points to the first character of a string
• Precision specifier: %.*s - the .* takes an integer argument that specifies how many characters to print from the string pointer
• String length: strlen() - calculates the length of the string to know iteration bounds

Building and running

# Compile
make

# Compile and run
make run

# Clean up
make clean

Requirements

• GCC compiler
• Works on Linux and macOS