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6.270Ad ancedCCo
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SomeTe minolog CompilerAcomputerprogramthatreadsccodesequentially,andconvertsintocodethatcan berunbyacomputer,andinourcase,theHappyBoard.

Ba icVa iable Ho a e he ac all o ed?

un8ta=4 it_ ; Whatisreallygoingon? Memorycanbethoughtofasagianttable,acontiguousregionofspacethatcanbeusedto storevalues.Itisorganizedintoboxesthatcaneachstoreonebyte(8bits)ofinformation. Eachbyteinmemoryhasanaddress,oranumericalvaluethatcorrespondstoitspositionin memory. Intheexample: un8ta=4 it_ ; Thecompilerassociatesthenameawithsomespaceinmemorytostoreavalue.Ifyoulook closely,atthedefinition,youwillnoticethreethings.One:theumeansthatastoresunsigned values.Twothevariableuses8bitsofstorage.Thatmeansthatyoucanstorevaluesfrom0to 255.Thetisjustanamingconvention.Infact,theentirevariabletypeisjustanaming convention,wherethedifferentpartstohavemeaning.Youcaninfactusaintvariabletype, whichcorrespondstoasigned16bitint,whichisalsonamedint16_t.Therearemorevariables typesavailable,andyoucanreadaboutthoseinthebasicClectureslides.Figure2.1shows howthevariableawillbestoredinmemory.

Mpig apn

Vle au

Ades drs .. . 4 3 2 1

a---

0
2

Table2.1:Memo la o fo imple a iable Whatifinadditionwecreateanewvariableoftypeuint16_t?Inthiscasethecompilerwill allocate16bitsofmemory(2bytes)tostorethevariable. Ifourcodelookslike un8ta=4 it_ ; un1_ b=1; it6t 7 Ourmemorymapwilllookliketable2.2.Noticethatbeoccupiestobytesinthememorytable. Thehigherorderbyteiszeroforourexamplevalueof17.Avalueof256forexamplewillhave theMSB(mostsignificantbit)equalto1,andtheLSB(lestsignificantbit)equalto1aswell.If youareconfusedbythis,consultWikipidia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_numeral_syste Mpig apn Vle au Ades drs .. . 7 6 5 4 3 as b lo b---a--0 1 7 4 2 1 0

Table2.2:T o a iable

A a
Arraysletyoustoreacollectionofidenticalvariablesandletyouaccessthemwithasubscript (squarebracketsinc).Iwillstartoffwithanexample. #nld <oo. icue jysh itueu({ n stp) } vi pitie(it_ mns]{ od rnMnsun8t ie[) un8ti it_ ; fr( =0 i<6 i+ { o i ; ; +) pit(Mn #dhs% rsucs\"irsucsi) rnf"ie % a d eore n,,eore[]; } } it uanvi) n mi(od{ un8trsucs6 ={01,,,,} /Awyt "ntaie a ary it_ eore[] 1,05427; / a o iiilz" n ra pitie(eore) rnMnsrsucs; } OTU UPT Mn # hs1 rsucs ie 0 a 0 eore Mn # hs1 rsucs ie 1 a 0 eore Mn # hs5rsucs ie 2 a eore Mn # hs4rsucs ie 3 a eore Mn # hs2rsucs ie 4 a eore Mn # hs ie 5 a rsucs eore

CodeSample2.1

Arraysarestoredinmemoryinsequentiallmemorylocations.Thatis,thefirstiteminthearray willgoin,forexample,the0thbox(assumingitisan8bitvariable).Theithitemwillbestoredin theithlocationinmemory(boxnumberi).Table2.1showsthis. Note:Cdoesnotkeeptrackofthesizeofarrays,unlikeJavaandpythonforexample.

Mpig apn

Vle au

Ades drs .. . 7 6

mns5 ie[] mns4 ie[]

7 2

5 4

mns3 ie[] mns2 ie[] mns1 ie[] mns0 ie[]

4 5 1 0 1 0

3 2 1 0

Table2.3:A a ofmine Ifinsteadofuint8_t,wedeclaredminesasuint16_t,thearraywould,notsurprisinglytaketwice asmuchspace.Inthiscase,eachelementinthearraywouldbemappedtotwobytesin

memory,eachoffsetbythesizeoftheindividualelement,multipliedbyitsindex. Arrayscanbepassedasargumentstofunctionsaswell.Referbackcodesample2.1toseethe syntax.Thereisonegotcha,however:inc,arraysarepassedbyreference.Ifyoudon tknow whatthemeans,keepreadingandlearnaboutpointers.

Poin e Pointersaresimplyvariablesthatinsteadofstoringanumberorcharacter,theypointto anothervariable.Theiractualvalueistheaddressofanothervariableinmemory,orifyouare notcareful,somearbitrarylocationinmemorythatyouprobablyshouldn'taccess.Whywould oneeverwanttousepointersinthefirstplace?Howaboutanexample?Let ssayyouhavetwo variables,aandb,whicheachstoretheminenumberyouwanttogominenext.Nowlet ssay thatyoudiscoverthatoneoftheminesisdepleted,soyouwanttoswapaandb,soyouwill visitadifferentminefirst.Ifyouthinkaboutthisforawhile,youmightcomeupwithasolution likethis: #include<joyos.h> itueu({ n stp) } ituan) n mi({ un8tmn_ =4 it_ iea ; un8tmn_ =7 it_ ieb ; pit(Mn a %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, iea; pit(Mn b %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, ieb; /sapn pr /wpig at un8ttm =mn_; it_ ep ieb mn_ =mn_; ieb iea mn_ =tm; iea ep

pit(Sapd\"; rnf"wpe:n) pit(Mn a %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, iea;

6

pit(Mn b %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, ieb; } OTU: UPT Mn a 4 ie : Mn b ie : Sapd wpe: Mn a ie : Mn b 4 ie : Cd Sml .:BscSapn oe ape ai wpig

Thisworksfine,andswapsthevaluesofaandb.Whatifyouwanttoperformswapsinseveral partsofyourcode.Goodcodingpracticesaysyoushouldn'trepeatyourself,andthatyou shouldgroupyourcodeintofunctions.Let'sgoaheadanddothat.Let'sthrowtheswapping codeintoafunctionandcallitfromumain. #include<joyos.h> itueu({ n stp) } vi sa(n a itb{ od wpit , n ) /sapn pr /wpig at un8ttm =mn_; it_ ep ieb mn_ =mn_; ieb iea mn_ =tm; iea ep } ituan) n mi({ un8tmn_ =4 it_ iea ; un8tmn_ =7 it_ ieb ; pit(Mn a %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, iea; pit(Mn b %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, ieb;

sa(,) wpab;

pit(Sapd\"; rnf"wpe:n) pit(Mn a %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, iea; pit(Mn b %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, ieb; } OTU: UPT Mn a 4 ie : Mn b ie : Sapd wpe: Mn a 4 ie : Mn b ie : CodeSample2.3:Inco ec ap,ande ampleoflocal a iable .

Woah!Itdidn'twork?Whynot?Well,thiswouldbeagoodtimetointroducetheideaof passbyvalue.Whenafunctioniscalled,thearguments(inthiscasea,andb)areactually copiedintolocalcopiesassessableonlytothefunction(inthiscaseswap).Changingthemhas noaffecttothevariablesofcaller,orareathatcalledthefunction.Thisisbecausetheyscopeof thevariablesisdifferent.Inumain,amapstoaparticularaddress.Oncetheprogramisrunning swap,aisnowpointingtoadifferentlocationinmemory.Agoodwaytorememberthisisthat everynestedblockofcurlybrackethastheabilitytomakenewmappingstovariables.For example: #include<joyos.h> itueu({ n stp) } intumain(){ ita=4 n ; i() /awy tu f1{ /las re ita=7 n ; pit(A %\" a; rnf": dn, ) } pit(A %\"a; rnf": dn,)
8

} OTU: UPT A : A 4 : CodeSample2.4 Whatisgoingonhere?Thebodyoftheifstatementisanew"block".Thatmeansthatnew variablescreatedinthisblockmaskvariablescreatedinaparentblock.Oncetheprogram leavesthebodytheifstatement,anyvariablescreatedinsideitaredestroyed. Whatdoesthishavetodowithpointers?Nothingreally,butitemphasizetheneedforthemfor thecontrivedexampleoftheswapfunction.

Here'sasimpleexampleofusingpointers: #include<joyos.h> itueu({ n stp) } intumain(){ ita=4 n ; it*apr n _t; apr=&; _t a / pitrnmsaesfie wt _t b cneto / one ae r ufxd ih pr y ovnin /Pitapra a (e aprt te"drs o"a /on _t t . St _t o h ades f ) /pita /rn /st"h vleo wa"aprpitrpit /e te au f ht _t one ons /a t 7 /t o pit(a %\"a; rnf": dn,) }
9

pit(a %\"a; rnf": dn,) *_t =7 apr ;

/pitotaaan /rn u gi

OTU: UPT A 4 : A : CodeSample2.5 Whatisgoingonhere? Thefirstunfamiliarlineisthedeclarationofthepointera_ptr: it*apr n _t; / pitrnmsaesfie wt _t b cneto / one ae r ufxd ih pr y ovnin

Thislinecreatesanintpointer.Heretheasteriskistheonlydifferencefromcreatinganint variable. Thenextlineisalsounfamiliar: apr=&; _t a /Pitapra a (e aprt te"drs o"a /on _t t . St _t o h ades f )

Thislinecanbereadas"setthevalueofa_ptrtothe"addressof"thevariablea.Theampersand iseasiertounderstandifyoureaditoutloudas"theaddressof."Theampersandoperatoris sometimescalledthereferencingoperator,asitgetsareference,orpointertoaavariable. Thenextnewlineis: *_t =7 apr ; /st"h vleo wa"aprpitrpit /e te au f ht _t one ons

Thislineisinteresting.Itusesthe*syntaxagain,butinthiscase,notinquitethesameway. The*hereisusedtoaccessthevalueofthevariableitproceeds.Itcanbereadas"thevalue of",or"thevalueofthevariable"ptr"pointsto".

Note:Thedefiningapointervariablecanbeabitcounterintuitive.Agoodmnemonicisthatthat a_ptrisoftypeint*,orbymentallygroupingtheasteriskwitha_ptr,youcanthinkthat*a_ptris anint.

10

Mpig apn

Vle au

Ades drs .. . 7 6 5 4

3 2 apr _t a 0 1 0 1 0

Table2.4:Memo mapfo SimplePoin e e ample(Code ample2.5) Examiningthetablemorecloselyrevealshowaseeminglymysteriouspointeractuallyworks.It doesn'thavesomekindofarrowthat"points"attheothervariable.Itjuststoresit'saddress. Additionally,thecompilerknowsthatsince,inourexample,thesizeofthevariableitpointstois 8bits,oronebyte.Thiswillbecomeusefullater.

Pointerscanbeusedasargumentstofunctions.Let'sgobackandtrytomaketheinfamous swapfunctionagain,thistimewithpointers. #include<joyos.h> itueu({ n stp) } vi sa(n *,it*) od wpit a n b{ /sapn pr /wpig at un8ttm =*ieb /ep=te"h vlepitdt b"mn_ it_ ep m n _ ;/ t m h te au one o y ieb *ieb=*iea mn_ mn_; *iea=tm; mn_ ep /"h vleo"mn_ ="h vleo"mn_ /te au f ieb te au f iea /"h vleo"mn_ =tm /te au f iea ep
11

} ituan) n mi({ un8tmn_ =4 it_ iea ; un8tmn_ =7 it_ ieb ; pit(Mn a %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, iea; pit(Mn b %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, ieb; sa(a&) wp&,b;

pit(Sapd\"; rnf"wpe:n) pit(Mn a %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, iea; pit(Mn b %\" mn_) rnf"ie : dn, ieb; } OTU: UPT Mn a 4 ie : Mn b ie : Sapd wpe: Mn a ie : Mn b 4 ie : CodeSample2.6:S cce f lS ap.U ingpoin e a a g men .

Mostofthiscodeshouldbefamiliartoyou.Onelineshouldjumpoutasabitsuspicious: sa(a&) wp&,b; It'ssimpletounderstandonceyouusethemnemonics.Youarecallingthefunctionswap,and passingitthe"addressof"a,andthe"addressof"b.Thismakessense,sincetheswapfunction takesinpointerstouint8_t,whichinherentlyareaddresses.

12

13

Poin erAri hme ic Ifyouhavebeenpayingalotofattentiontowhatisgoingon,youmightrealizethatsince pointersreallystoretheaddressesofothervariables,itisconceivabletomodifythevalueofa pointer,"byhand",tomakeitpointatanewaddress.Forexample,youcouldmakeitpointto address0xFFEEBB,whichisacriticaljoyosvariable.Youcanthenmodifyit,causeahorrible crash,andlosethecompetition.Oryoucandosomecleverthings. Let'ssayyoucreateanarrayofuint8_ts,andcreateapointertothefirstitem,likeso: un8tmns5 ={,,,,} it_ ie[] 12345; un8t*frtmn =&ie[] / pitrt tefrtmn it_ is_ie mns0; / one o h is ie Nowlet'sincrementthevalueoffirst_mine. frtmn +1 /iceetfrtmn is_ie =; /nrmn is_ie Keepinmindthatweareadjustingfist_mine'svalue,notthevalueofthevariableitpointsto (noticethelackofasterisks).Thishastheeffectofchangingwhatfirst_minepointsto.

Mpig apn

Vle au

Ades drs .. . 7 6

Mpig apn

Vle au

Ades drs .. . 7 6

frtmn 0 is_ie mns4 ie[] mns3 ie[] mns2 ie[] mns1 ie[] mns0 ie[] 5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1 0

frtmn 1 is_ie mns4 ie[] mns3 ie[] mns2 ie[] mns1 ie[] mns0 ie[] 5 4 3 2 1

5 4 3 2 1 0

14

Table2.5:P einc emen edla o

Table2.6:Po inc emen edla o

Asyoucanseeabove,incrementingthepointermakesitpointtothenextvalueinthearray. Note:Ifthedatatypeofthepointeristwobytes,incrementingthepointerbyonemakeitpoint twobytesaheadinmemory,tothenextvalue.Forexample,ifourpointerwasauint16_t, incrementingitbyonewouldmakeitpointtwobytesaheadinmemory. #nld <oo. icue jysh vi pitie(it_ mns]{ od rnMnsun8t ie[) un8ti it_ ; fr( =0 i<5 i+ { o i ; ; +) pit(Mn #dhs% rsucs\"irsucsi) rnf"ie % a d eore n,,eore[]; } } itueu({ n stp) } ituan) n mi({ un8tmns5 ={,,,,} it_ ie[] 12345; pitie(ie) rnMnsmns; un8t*frtmn =&ie[] / pitrt tefrtmn it_ is_ie mns0; / one o h is ie frtmn +1 /iceetfrtmn is_ie =; /nrmn is_ie *first_mine=17 printf("\n") printMines(mine) } OTU UPT Mn # hs1rsucs ie 0 a eore Mn # hs2rsucs ie 2 a eore Mn # hs3rsucs ie 2 a eore Mn # hs4rsucs ie 3 a eore Mn # hs5rsucs ie 4 a eore Mn # hs1rsucs ie 0 a eore
15

//changevalueofthe2ndmineto17

Mn # hs1 rsucs ie 2 a eore Mn # hs3rsucs ie 2 a eore Mn # hs4rsucs ie 3 a eore Mn # hs5rsucs ie 4 a eore CodeSample2.8:Poin e A i hme ic F nc ionPoin e Pointerscanalsopointatfunctions.Thiscanbeusefulifyouwanttocreateafunctionthatwill callanotherfunctionatsomepoint.Thebestwaytoexplainthisiswithanexample,butfirst,the syntax: rtr_ye( nm)(rs euntp * ae ag) Sotomakeafunctionthathasoneargumentthatisafunctionreturningauint8_t,andtakingina uint8_tasanargument,youwoulddosoasfollows: vi fo un8t( br (it_)) od o( it_ * a) un8t { br5; a() } Ajoyosexample,fromJesseMoeller's2010lectureisaperfectexampleofagooduseof functionpointers. vi DUtlvi (Ato)) od oni(od *cin(, un8t(SoCniin(, it_ *tpodto)) un1_ edtm) it6t n_ie { wie(ie<edtm & !tpodto() hl tm n_ie & SoCniin){ Ato( cin) } } /clstefnto poie t fowt teagmn 4 /al h ucin rvdd o o ih h ruet

16

Thisfunctioncouldbecalledinavariateofwaystoperformusefulroboticactivities.For example: DUtl&owr,&iWl,50; oni(Frad Htal 0) DUtl&akad &iWl,50; oni(Bcwr, Htal 0) DUtl&owr,&eroo,50 oni(Frad NaRbt 0) Thesethreecallspassinthe"addressof"Forward,HitWall,Backwards,andNearRobot,which areallregularfunctions,allowingDoUntiltocallthem.

17

Structs,shortforstructuresareanadvanceddatatypeavailableinc.Theyenablegroup severalvariablestogetherintoasinglestructureforeaseofcodeclarity,aswellasgetting aroundtheproblemofasinglereturnvalue. Tocreateanewstructdatatype,youusethefollowingsyntax: src src_ae tut tutnm{ vrtp vr; a_ye a1 vrTp vr; a_ye a2 //t /ec } ; Forexample: src pit tut on{ dul x obe ; dul y obe ; } ; Tocreateavariableofyournewlycreatedtype,treats r c s r c _ a e asanyother tut tutnm variabletype.Forexample: src pitoii; tut on rgn Toaccessmembersofastruct,usethedotoperator.Forexample: oii. =0 rgnx ; oii. =0 rgny ; /ntc tesmcln I' iprat /oie h eioo. ts motn

18

Internally,structsarejustacontiguous 1areainmemorywithsymbolicnamesthatpointtothe variousmembersofthestruct.Forourexampleabove,thememorymapwouldlookasfollows:

Mpig apn

Vle au

Ades drs .. . 7 6 5

oii. rgny

4 3 2 0 1 0

oii. rgnx Table2.7:S

c memo la o

Noticethatorigin.ystartsatlocation0,butoccupies4bytes,leavingorigin.ytostartatlocation 4.Thatisbecausedoublestakeup4bytesofmemory. Structscanbeusedasargumentstofunctions.Acommonusagewouldbetomakea distanceBetweenfunctionthattaketwopointstructs,andreturnstheCartesiandistance.

#nld <oo. icue jysh #nld <ahh icue mt. src pit tut on{
1

Askanorganizeraboutthis.It'snotexactlytrue. 19

dul x obe ; dul y obe ; } ; tpdfsrc pitPit yee tut on on; dul dsacBtenonsPita Pitb{ obe itneewePit(on , on ) dul d =(. -bx *(. -bx + obe 2 ax .) ax .) (. -by *(. -by; ay .) ay .) rtr sr(2; eun qtd) } itueu({ n stp) } it uanvi) n mi(od{ Pitoii; on rgn oii. =0 rgnx ; oii. =0 rgny ; Pitmn; on ie mn. =30 iex 0; mn. =40 iey 0; dul dsac =dsacBtenonsoii,ie; obe itne itneewePit(rgnmn) pit(Dsac i %2"dsac) rnf"itne s .f,itne;

} OTU UPT Dsac i 500 itne s 0.2 /Etmtdase.Wl vr sihl dpnigo /siae nwr il ay lgty eedn n /sz o texycodntsi tesrc /ie f h , oriae n h tut

20

CodeSample2.9:U ing

c inf nc ion .

Ifyouexaminethecodeabove,onethingmightjumpoutatyou.Whatisthistypdefstatement? Typedefs,orTypeDefinitionlet'stheprogrammercreateasymbolicrepresentationofanew datatype.Withoutit,thedistanceBetweenPointsfunctionwouldneedthebeginlikethis: dul dsacBtenonssrc pita src pitb{ obe itneewePit(tut on , tut on ) /ec /t Byusingatypedef,weareassigningPointtothevalueof"structpoint",andfromthereon,using typingPointisthesameastypingstructpoint. Note:Thecapitalizationisastylisticchoiceanddoesnotmattertechnically,butconsistencyis important.

Simila i ie Be

eenA a

andPoin e

Arraysarereallyjustpointerstoblocksofmemorylargeenoughtostoreallthevalues.Read thatprevioussentenceagain.Whywouldthisbeso?ThemainreasonCwasdesignedthisway wastoimproveperformance.Ifwehaveanarrayof100itemsandneedtomovethatdata aroundallovertheplace,forexample,whencallingafunction,ourcodecangetprettyslow. Thissimilaritycanbeexplainedwithafewexamples. un8tdt[]={01} it_ aa2 1,0; Frombefore,theunderstandisthateachnamearray_name[index]pointstothecorresponding element.Thisistrue,butabitmisleading.Whatishappeninginternallyisthatthevariable,in thisexample,data,isreallyapointertothefirstiteminthearray.Accessingd t [ ] a a 1 ,is equivalenttolookingatthethepointertothefirstitem,jumpingforwardbyoneitem,andthen accessingthevalue.Infact,data[1]isinternallythesameasa*(data+1). Note:Acompilermightcomplainifyoudothis,asitisadangerouspathyouarewalkingon.It's importanttobeawareofwhatyouaredoing,anditisthecompiler'sjobtowarningyouwhenyou aredoingriskythings.

21

Mpig apn

Vle au

Ades drs .. . 7 6 5

1 0 1 0 vrfo a_o ll os dt aa 3

4 3 2 1 0

Table2.9:Realmemo la o Note:Ifthisisjustreallyhurtingyourbrain,don'tworryaboutittoomuch.It'snotvitalto successfulcode.Noticethatdatacontainsthevalue3,thatisitpointstomemorylocationthree, thestartofthearray.d t [ ] a a 1 accessesthedataatanoffsetof1fromthestartofthearray, sincethepointer/arraydatatypeisonebytewide,andweareaccessingindex1.Ifitwerean arrayofu i t 6 t accessingd t [ ] nn1_, a a 1 willaccessdataatanoffsetofdata_width*1,or2*1, sinceu n 1 _ variablestakeuptwobytesofstorage.Keepinmindthatthefirstlocationofan it6t arraymaybelocatedanywhereinmemory,eitherrightafterthepointer(data),orsomearbitray locationthatthecompilerfoundconvenient. #nld <oo. icue jysh itueu({ n stp) } vi pitie(it_ mns]{ od rnMnsun8t ie[) un8ti it_ ; fr( =0 i<2 i+ { o i ; ; +) pit(Mn #dhs% rsucs\"irsucsi) rnf"ie % a d eore n,,eore[];
22

} } it uanvi) n mi(od{ un8trsucs6 ={01,,,,} /Awyt "ntaie a ary it_ eore[] 1,05427; / a o iiilz" n ra pitie(rsucs0) rnMns&eore[]; pit(--\) rnf"--n; pitie(rsucs1) rnMns&eore[]; un8t*tidmn =&eore[] it_ hr_ie rsucs2; pit(--\) rnf"--n; pitie(hr_ie; rnMnstidmn) } OTU UPT Mn # hs1 rsucs ie 0 a 0 eore Mn # hs1 rsucs ie 1 a 0 eore --Mn # hs1 rsucs ie 0 a 0 eore Mn # hs5rsucs ie 1 a eore --Mn # hs5rsucs ie 0 a eore Mn # hs4rsucs ie 1 a eore

CodeSample2.10:A a

a e eall poin e ?

Takesometimetoexaminethiscode.Iftheampersandsintasterisksarethrowingyoufora loop,gobackafewpagesandreviewpointers.Whatthisexampledemonstratesisthatarrays, infactarejustpointers,andyoucandocleaveranddangerousthingswiththem.

Poin e oS

AdvancedCisnotadvancedwithoutsomeconvolutedusesofdatatypes.Pointerscanpointto structsaswell.Thesyntaxfollowsalmostidenticallyfromotherpointers,withafewgotchas. Let'slookatanexample:

23

#nld <ahh icue mt. #nld <oo. icue jysh src pit tut on{ dul x obe ; dul y obe ; } ; tpdfsrc pitPit yee tut on on; dul dsacBtenonsPit*,Pit*) obe itneewePit(on a on b{ dul d =(()x-*b.)*(()x-*b.)+/<-rs! obe 2 *a. ()x *a. ()x /-Gos (-y-a y *(-y-a y; b - ) b - ) rtr sr(2; eun qtd) } itueu({ n stp) } it uanvi) n mi(od{ Pitoii; on rgn oii. =0 rgnx ; oii. =0 rgny ; Pitmn; on ie mn. =30 iex 0; mn. =40 iey 0; dul dsac =dsacBtenons&rgn&ie; obe itne itneewePit(oii,mn) pit(Dsac i %2"dsac) rnf"itne s .f,itne; /<-ncr /- ie

} CodeSample2.10:Poin e o c

Almosteverythinginthiscodeshouldlookfamiliar,exceptforonestatementthatspanstwo lines:

24

dul d =(a. -(b.)*(a. -(b.)+/<-rs! obe 2 *)x *)x *)x *)x /-Gos (-y-a y *(-y-a y; b - ) b - ) /<-ncr /- ie

Thefirstpartcanbeexplainedusingtheusualpointermnemonic.(*a).xcanbereadas: Takethevaluepointedtobya(astructpoint),andthenaccesselementxinit.Theparenthesis arenecessarybecauseinC,theorderofoperations,orprecedencerulesdictatethatthe. operatorwillbeexecutedfirst.Ifyouommitedthem,youwouldbetryingtoaccessthexfieldon apointer,whichisnotpossible,sincepointersonlystoreaddressestomemory,notactual numericalvalues,inthiscase.Fortunatelyforus,thedesignersofCdecidedtomakeaslightly nicerwaytoaccessmembersofstructspointedtobypointeres.Thesyntaxisasfollows: Ifaisapointertastructpoint,thena x isequivalentto( a . x * ) .

25

Threading
Inasentence,threadingletsyourunmultiplefunctionsatthesametime.Itisusefulif,for example,youwanttohaveonefunctionresponsiblefordrivingstraightanddoingthePIDloop, andanotherfordecidingwheretonavigateto,andyouwantthesefunctiontorunatthesame time. TheHapyboardcanreallyonlyrunonebitofcodeatthesametime,sothreadingisawayto havejoyoschopyourfunctionsintolittlebits,andrunafewbitsofone,thenswitchover,and runafewbitsofanotherfunction,andsoon.Thisisamazinglyuseful,andsometimesabit dangerous. Let'sputdangeraside,andlearnthebasicsofthreading.Threading,asmentionedearlier,lets youruntwofunctionsatthesametime.Eachconcurrentfunctioniscalledathread.Injoyos, youcreateathreadbycallingthecreate_threadfunction #nld <ahh icue mt. #nld <oo. icue jysh itnvgto_op) n aiainlo({ fr;) o(;{ pit(AaigNvgto gons\"; rnf"mzn aiain odesn) dly50; ea(0) yed) il(; } } itueu({ n stp) } it uanvi) n mi(od{ cet_hed&aiainlo,SAKDFUT 0 "i_hed) raetra(nvgto_op TC_EAL, , pdtra"; fr;) o(;{ pit(Uan!\"; rnf"mi!!n) dly50; ea(0) yed) il(; } } /wi 50m /at 0 s /tl jysti tra i dn frnw /el oo hs hed s oe o o

26

OTU:(eut myvr,a jysmyco u yu fntosdfeety UPT Rsls a ay s oo a hp p or ucin ifrnl) Uan! mi!! Uan! mi! AaigNvgto gons mzn aiain odes AaigNvgto gons mzn aiain odes Uan! mi!! ec.. t... CodeSample2.11:Ba icTh eading:

That'sprettymuchallthereistoit.Atthemoment,theonlypartyouwouldchangeasa contestantisthepointertothefunctionyouwanttorun,anditsname.Ifyouareconfusedabout theampersand,flipbackafewpages,andreviewpointersandfunctionpointers.Whatyouare doingistellingthec e t _ h e d functionyouwantittomakeathreadwithyourfunction,in raetra thiscasen v g t o _ o p a i a i n l o ,tellingittousethenormalamountofmemoryforthestack 2,giving itaname,andsettingitsprioritytozero. Sha ingda abe een h ead

Onceyouhavewrittenafewthreads,youprobablywanttoallowthemtocommunicate.The simplestwaytodothisiswhatiscalledsharedmemory.Itmightsoundabitscare,butit'seasy aspie.Allyouneedtodoiscreateavariableoutside,and"above"thefunctionsyouwantto sharedata.Thisvariableisnow"global"tothetwofunctions.Nowyoucanchangethisvaluein onefunction,andhavetheotherfunctionactonthischangedvalue.Hereisareallysimple example: #nld <ahh icue mt. #nld <oo. icue jysh usge ln cutr=0 nind og one ; itudtr) n pae({ fr;) o(;{ cutr=cutr+; one one 1 dly10) ea(00; } }
2

/udt cutr /pae one /wi oescn /at n eod

Askanorganizeraboutthestack.It'snotimportantthatyouunderstandit,butifyouareinterestedin computerarchitecture,it'sacoolthingtolearnabout. 27

itueu({ n stp) } it uanvi) n mi(od{ cet_hed&pae,SAKDFUT 0 "pae tra"; raetra(udtr TC_EAL, , udtr hed) fr;) o(;{ pit(Vle %dn,one) /pittevleo tecutr rnf"au: l\"cutr; /rn h au f h one dly50; ea(0) yed) il(; } } /wi 12ascn /at / eod

OTU:(eut myvr,a jysmyco u yu fntosdfeety UPT Rsls a ay s oo a hp p or ucin ifrnl) Vle 0 au: Vle 0 au: Vle 1 au: Vle 1 au: Vle 2 au: Vle 2 au: Vle 3 au: Vle 3 au: ..ec ..t

CodeSample2.12:Sha ingDa a Lock Locksareafeatureofjoyosthatmakesiteasierformultiplethreadstonotclobbershareddata. Themainproblemthatcanoccurwhenyousharedatawithoutlocks,isthatonethreadcan writesomedatatoalargevariable(anarrayofresourcequantitiesforexample),behalfway thoughwriting,whenitisinterruptedbyjoyos,whichdecideditwastimetorunanotherthread. Nowthearraycontainssomenewvalues,andsomeoldvalues,whichcanbeaproblem. Anotherexampleiswhentwothreadsshareapointstructthatcontainsanxandymember,as follows:

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src pit tut on{ itx n ; ity n ; } ; Letssaythatonethread(navigation)isresponsibletopicktargetstodriveto,andanother thread(driving)isresponsibletocontrolthemotorstoactuallygetthere.Imaginethatvigation threadhasjustdecidetoupdatethetarget.Itscodemightlooksomewhatlikethis: .. . tre. =nwx agtx e_; tre. =nwy agty e_; Rightafteritupdatesthevalueofx,itmightbeinterruptedbyjoyos,leavingacompletely incorrectcoordinateinthetargetvariable.Thisproblemisknownasaracecondition. Note:Joyosdoesn'tnecesarychopcodeintobits,linebyline.Sometimesalinewillbebroken upintoseveralsmallerpieces,andtherefor,theexecutionofalinemightbeinterrupted.The smallest,indivisible,anduninterpretableoperationsarecalledatomic.3 Sohowcanwesolvethisproblem? Howaboutafarfetchmetaphor:FiveMITstudentsshareanapartmentwithonebathroomthat canNOTbephysicallylocked.Toavoidtheinevitableembarrassingsituationwhenonestudent walksinonanother,theyagreeonspecialprotocol.Theydecidetoleaveapadlockinaboxon thedoor,andtakeitwhenenteringthebathroom.Theyallagreethatwhenthepadlockhasbeen acquired,someoneisusing,andwillnotenter.Whentheoccupantleavesthebathroom,they releasecontrolofthepadlock,andplaceitbackinitsbox. Joyoshasafeaturethatbehavesalmostidentically.Interestinglyenough,thisfeaturesisknown aslocks.Tousethem,youfirstmustcreateandinitializethem.Afterthat,thefunctiona q i e cur takesthelock,andr l a e e e s releasesthelock.Whenalockisacquired,nootherthreadcan acquireit.Anattempttocalla q i e c u r whenitisalreadyacquiredwillblock,thatis,justsitthere untilthelockisreleasedbytheotherthread. Syntax: src lc lc_ae /cet telc ojc tut ok oknm; /rae h ok bet

Ifyouareinterestedinthis,askanorganizer. 29

ii_oksrc lc *k cntca *nm) /iiilz tesrc ntlc(tut ok , os hr ae; /ntaie h tut aqiesrc lc *k; cur(tut ok ) rlaesrc lc *k; ees(tut ok ) /aqietelc /cur h ok /rlaetelc /ees h ok

Forexample: src lc btro_ok tut ok ahomlc; /cet telc ojc /rae h ok bet

ii_ok&ahomlc,"ahomPdok) /iiilz tesrc ntlc(btro_ok Btro alc"; /ntaie h tut aqie&ahomlc) cur(btro_ok; rlae&ahomlc) ees(btro_ok; /aqietelc /cur h ok /rlaetelc /ees h ok

Thissolvestheproblem,butonlyifwearecarefulaboutusinglocks.Keepinmindthatlocksare notmagical.Theydon'tpreventreadingandwritingofvariables,butareaconvenientwayto readandwritevariablessafelyfrommultiplethreads.However,lockspresentsomenew challenges.Let'sswitchbackthethebuildingofMITstudents.Let'ssayonestudentpicksup thepadlock,walksintothebathroom,pullsoutaparachuteandjumpsoutthewindow,and forgetsthepadlockinthebathroom.Thebathroomisnolongeroccupied,andissafetoenter, butthelockismissing.Otherstudentswillnotenterthebathroom,thinkingit'soccupied.Even theparachuterwillnotenterthebathroom(heisalittlethickskulled,hedidjustjumpouta bathroomwindow),ashetothinksitisoccupied.Thisisatypeofdeadlock. InC,thiskindofdeadlockwilloccurifyouforgettoreleasealockbeforereturningfroma function,forexample. Thereisoneotherthingtowatchoutfor.Let'sreturnonceagaintothebuildingofcrazy students.Theyalsohaveonlyonetelephoneline,butmultiplephones.Excitedbythesuccess oftheirbathroomlocksystem,andterrifiedoflisteninginonother'sconversations,theydecide toimplementoneforthetelephoneaswell.Theyplaceasmallplasticphonemodelinabox,and callitthephonelock.Somestudentsliketotalkonthephonewillinthebathroom(yeah, weirdos),andforawhilethissystemworks.Unfortunately,onedayonestudentgoestohavea phone/shower,grabsthephonelock,andstartswalkingtowardsthebathroom.Anotherstudent hasasimilaridea,butgrabsthebathroomlock,andthenstartswalkingtopickupthephone lock.Theymeetinthehallway,andcometoastandoff,eachrefusingtogiveuphis/her respectivelock. Thisexampleseemsabitcontrived,butisaverycommonmistakewhendealingwithmultiple locks.Thequicktakeawayistoalwaysacquireandreleasemultiplelocksinthesameorder. Otherwisethethreadsmaybecomedeadlocked.
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