[wplug] [OT] C programming Help

[Brandon Kuczenski]

I've been a long-time user of Linux and OSS but I have never really 
programmed myself.  Now, in the form of a class project, I have decided to 
enter the ranks of programmers, and I am currently working on writing my 
first-ever program for compilation and execution on a personal computer. 
I'm writing it in C using the GNU tools (emacs, gcc, gdb).  I have written 
C for embedded applications before and I feel like I have a fairly good 
idea how the program should work.  But it's not coming to me like I hoped 
it would and I am getting bogged with some cryptic errors and segfaults.

The program is going to be a display mode for Xscreensaver that implements 
a number of one-dimensional cellular automata.  The computational demands 
are minimal and the graphical stuff I figure I can scavenge from other 
Xscreensaver hacks.  But, like I said, things aren't working out quite so 
well.

Would anyone here like to help me through some of these initial stages 
off-list?  Mostly my problems are with the syntax and semantics of 
declaring, initializing and referencing structures, but if you are so 
inclined, I may have some questions about Xlib stuff.  I would also love a 
tutorial on how to effectively use gdb (or some other debugging tool, if a 
better one exists).

Thanks in advance,
Brandon