Getting Started

This chapter gets you running. We start with the first program from Modern C, adapted to Auto, and then walk through how to compile and execute it in both languages.

1.1 Imperative Programming

C is an imperative language. You write sequences of statements that the computer executes in order: assign a value, compute a result, print output, repeat. There is no magic -- the program does exactly what you tell it, step by step.

Auto is imperative too. The same sequential model applies. The difference is surface syntax: Auto removes the boilerplate that C requires while preserving the execution model.

The First Program

Consider the first program from Modern C. It creates an array of five floating-point numbers, iterates over them, and prints each value alongside its square: