Description
Overview
• You must use C for this homework assignment, and your code must successfully compile
via gcc with absolutely no warning messages when the -Wall (i.e., warn all) compiler option
is used. We will also use -Werror, which will treat all warnings as critical errors.
Homework Specifications
In this first individual homework assignment, you will implement matrix multiplication. (For you
Math dual majors, you’re welcome.) If you need a refresher in how matrix multiplication works,
look in a math textbook or check out Wikipedia. Note that we will revisit this topic in the future,
but for now you will implement your algorithm in C.
Command-Line Arguments
Four command-line arguments are required (i.e., argv[1] through argv[4]). The first two commandline arguments specify how many rows and columns are in the first matrix, and the second two
command-line arguments specify how many rows and columns are in the second matrix. To properly translate the command-line arguments, use the atoi() function, which you can learn more
about by checking out the man page.
Once the pair of matrix dimensions are identified and validated, prompt the user to enter the values
(non-negative integers) of each matrix. Use scanf() to read in the appropriate values.
Example Program Execution
On the next page are example program executions that you can use to better understand how your
program should work and how you can begin to test your code. Note that your program must
properly return either EXIT_SUCCESS or EXIT_FAILURE, which you can verify via echo $?.
Also, be sure to match the output formatting exactly as shown (to ensure full credit on Submitty).
In particular, when displaying a matrix, each line must start with ‘[’ and end with ‘]’ (as shown
below). Further, right justify and vertically line up your columns as follows:
[12 34 5567]
[ 8 9 123]
[45 67 8]
[ 9 10 11]
Example program executions are shown below:
bash$ ./a.out 2 3 3 1
Please enter the values for the first matrix (2×3):
1 2 3
4 5 6
Please enter the values for the second matrix (3×1):
7
8
9
[1 2 3]
[4 5 6]
multiplied by
[7]
[8]
[9]
equals
[ 50]
[122]
bash$ echo $?
0
bash$ ./a.out 4 5 6 7
ERROR: Invalid inputs!
bash$ echo $?
1
bash$ ./a.out 2 2 2 2
Please enter the values for the first matrix (2×2):
1 2
3 4
Please enter the values for the second matrix (2×2):
5 6
7 8
[1 2]
[3 4]
multiplied by
[5 6]
[7 8]
equals
[19 22]
[43 50]
bash$ echo $?
0
2
Starting Point
Below is a starting point for your code (e.g., hw1.c):
/* hw1.c */
/* NAME: <your-name-here> */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <math.h>
int main( int argc, char * argv[] )
{
/* Ensure we have the correct number of command-line arguments */
if ( argc != 5 )
{
fprintf( stderr, “ERROR: Invalid inputs!\n” );
return EXIT_FAILURE;
}
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
Note that if an error occurs, use either perror() or fprintf( stderr, “…” ), depending on
whether the global errno is set.
Submission Instructions
Before you submit your code, be sure that you have clearly commented your code (this should not
be an after-thought). Further, your code should have a clear and logical organization. In general,
each function should easily fit on a single screen and have a clear (and clearly documented) purpose.
Variable names and function names should be intuitive and meaningful. And use a consistent logical
method for indentation.
To submit your assignment (and also perform final testing of your code), please use Submitty.
Note that the test cases for this assignment will be available on Submitty a few days before the
due date and will include hidden test cases.
Also as a reminder, your code must successfully compile and run on Submitty, which uses Ubuntu
v18.04.1 LTS.
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