Seiichi Nomura - C Programming and Numerical Analysis

C Programming and Numerical AnalysisAn Introduction

Synthesis Lectures on Mechanical Engineering series publishes 60150 page publications pertaining to this diverse discipline of mechanical engineering. The series presents Lectures written for an audience of researchers, industry engineers, undergraduate and graduate students. Additional Synthesis series will be developed covering key areas within mechanical engineering. C Programming and Numerical Analysis: An Introduction Seiichi Nomura 2018 Mathematical Magnetohydrodynamics Nikolas Xiros 2018 Design Engineering Journey Ramana M. Pidaparti 2018 Introduction to Kinematics and Dynamics of Machinery Cho W. S.

To 2017 Microcontroller Education: Do it Yourself, Reinvent the Wheel, Code to Learn Dimosthenis E. Bolanakis 2017 Solving Practical Engineering Mechanics Problems: Statics Sayavur I. Bakhtiyarov 2017 Unmanned Aircraft Design: A Review of Fundamentals Mohammad Sadraey 2017 Introduction to Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Systems: Theory and Applications Allan Kirkpatrick 2017 Resistance Spot Welding: Fundamentals and Applications for the Automotive Industry Menachem Kimchi and David H. Phillips 2017 MEMS Barometers Toward Vertical Position Detecton: Background Theory, System Prototyping, and Measurement Analysis Dimosthenis E. Bolanakis 2017 Engineering Finite Element Analysis Ramana M. Pidaparti 2017 Copyright 2018 by Morgan & Claypool All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. C Programming and Numerical Analysis: An Introduction Seiichi Nomura www.morganclaypool.com

ISBN: 9781681733111	paperback
ISBN: 9781681733128	ebook
ISBN: 9781681733135	hardcover

DOI 10.2200/S00835ED1V01Y201802MEC013 A Publication in the Morgan & Claypool Publishers series SYNTHESIS LECTURES ON MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Lecture #13 Series ISSN Print 2573-3168 Electronic 2573-3176 An Introduction Seiichi Nomura The University of Texas at Arlington SYNTHESIS LECTURES ON MECHANICAL ENGINEERING #13 This book is aimed at those in engineering/scientific fields who have never learned programming before but are eager to master the C language quickly so as to immediately apply it to problem solving in numerical analysis. The book skips unnecessary formality but explains all the important aspects of C essential for numerical analysis. Topics covered in numerical analysis include single and simultaneous equations, differential equations, numerical integration, and simulations by random numbers. In the Appendices, quick tutorials for gnuplot, Octave/MATLAB, and FORTRAN for C users are provided. KEYWORDS C, numerical analysis, Unix, gcc, differential equations, simultaneous equations, Octave/MATLAB, FORTRAN, gnuplot This book is aimed at those who want to learn the basics of programming quickly with immediate applications to numerical analysis in mind.

It is suitable as a textbook for sophomore-level STEM students. The book has two goals as the title indicates: The first goal is to introduce the concept of computer programming using the C language. The second goal is to apply the programming skill to numerical analysis for problems arising in scientific and engineering fields. No prior knowledge of programming is assumed but it is desirable that the readers have a background in sophomore-level calculus and linear algebra. C was selected as the computer language of choice in this book. There have been continuous debates as to what programming language should be taught in college.

Until around the 1990s, FORTRAN had been the dominating programing language for scientific and engineering computation which was gradually taken over by modern programming languages as PASCAL and C. Today, MATLAB is taught in many universities as a first computer application/language for STEM students. Python is also gaining popularity as a general purpose programming language suitable as the first computer language to be taught. Despite many options for the availability of various modern computer languages today, adopting C for scientific and engineering computation still has several merits. C contains almost all the concepts and syntax used in the modern computer languages less the paradigm of object-oriented programming (use C++ and Java for that). It has been observed that whoever learns C first can easily acquire other programming languages and applications such as MATLAB quickly.

The converse, however, does not hold. C is a compiled language and preferred over interpreted languages for programs that require fast execution. There is no shortage of good textbooks for the C language and good textbooks for numerical analysis on the market but a proper combination of both seems to be hard to find. This book is not a complete reference for C and numerical analysis. Instead, the book tries to minimize the formality and limits the scope of C to these essential features that are absolutely necessary for numerical analysis. Some features in C that are not relevant to numerical analysis are not covered in this book.

C++ is not covered either as the addition of object-oriented programming components offers little benefit for numerical analysis. After finishing this book, the reader should be able to work on many problems in engineering and science by writing their own C programs. The book consists of two parts. In Part , the general syntax of the C language is introduced and explained in details. gcc is used as the compiler which is freely available on almost all platforms. include solving a single equation, numerical differentiation, numerical integration, solving a set of simultaneous equations, and solving differential equations. include solving a single equation, numerical differentiation, numerical integration, solving a set of simultaneous equations, and solving differential equations.

In Appendix , gnuplot which is a visualization application is introduced. The C language itself has no graphical capabilities and requires an external program to visualize the output from the program. In Appendix , a brief tutorial of Octave/MATLAB is given. This is meant for those who are familiar with C but need to learn Octave/MATLAB in the shortest possible amount of time. In Appendix , a brief tutorial of FORTRAN is given. Again, this is meant for those who are already familiar with C to be able to read programs written in FORTRAN (FORTRAN 77) quickly.

This book is based on the course notes used for sophomore-level students of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering major at The University of Texas at Arlington. Seiichi Nomura March 2018

I want to thank the students who took this course for their valuable feedback. I also want to thank Paul Petralia of Morgan & Claypool Publishers and C.L. Tondo of T&T TechWorks, Inc. for their support and encouragement. All the programs and tools used in this book are freely available over the internet thanks to the noble vision of the GNU project and the Free Software Foundation (FSF).

Seiichi Nomura March 2018

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