Trouble Understanding C Basics - c

Question

I am attempting to get into C programming, and I am having problems with assigning and pulling data from C-arrays, (in this case, to and from C-style strings).
Please point out any faults you see here.
I am primarily a c++/python programmer, so please keep the explanations of memory usage and management as simple as possible.
#include <stdio.h>
typedef struct AuthorInfo {
char* firstName;
char* lastName;
} AuthorInfo;
typedef struct BookEntry {
char bookID;
char* bookName;
AuthorInfo author;
} BookEntry;
void assign_str(const char** from, char** to) {
int size = sizeof(from)/sizeof(char);
printf((char)size);
printf('\n');
for (int i=0; i < size; i++) {
(*to)[i] = (*from)[i];
};
};
BookEntry BookEntry_(const int id, const char* bName, const char* aF, const char*aL, BookEntry* ret) {
ret->bookID = id;
ret->bookName = (char*)malloc(sizeof(bName));
ret->author.firstName = (char*)malloc(sizeof(aF));
ret->author.lastName = (char*)malloc(sizeof(aL));
assign_str(bName, &ret->bookName);
assign_str(aF, &ret->author.firstName);
assign_str(aL, &ret->author.lastName);
}
void display_book(BookEntry* entry) {
printf(entry->bookName);
printf('\n');
printf(entry->author.firstName);
printf(' ');
printf(entry->author.lastName);
printf('\n');
};
int main(int argc, char** args) {
BookEntry book;
book.bookID = 0;
assign_str("Tom Sawyer", &book.bookName);
assign_str("Mark", &book.author.firstName);
assign_str("Twain", &book.author.lastName);
display_book(&book);
return 0;
};
Compiling this code with gcc goof.c -o goof -std=c11 results in :
goof.c: In function ‘assign_str’:
goof.c:16:10: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘printf’ makes pointer from integer without a cast [-Wint-conversion]
printf((char)size);
^
In file included from goof.c:1:0:
/usr/include/stdio.h:362:12: note: expected ‘const char * restrict’ but argument is of type ‘char’
extern int printf (const char *__restrict __format, ...);
^
goof.c:16:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf((char)size);
^
goof.c:17:10: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘printf’ makes pointer from integer without a cast [-Wint-conversion]
printf('\n');
^
In file included from goof.c:1:0:
/usr/include/stdio.h:362:12: note: expected ‘const char * restrict’ but argument is of type ‘int’
extern int printf (const char *__restrict __format, ...);
^
goof.c:17:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf('\n');
^
goof.c: In function ‘BookEntry_’:
goof.c:25:26: warning: implicit declaration of function ‘malloc’ [-Wimplicit-function-declaration]
ret->bookName = (char*)malloc(sizeof(bName));
^
goof.c:25:26: warning: incompatible implicit declaration of built-in function ‘malloc’
goof.c:25:26: note: include ‘<stdlib.h>’ or provide a declaration of ‘malloc’
goof.c:28:14: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘assign_str’ from incompatible pointer type [-Wincompatible-pointer-types]
assign_str(bName, &ret->bookName);
^
goof.c:14:6: note: expected ‘const char **’ but argument is of type ‘const char *’
void assign_str(const char** from, char** to) {
^
goof.c:29:14: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘assign_str’ from incompatible pointer type [-Wincompatible-pointer-types]
assign_str(aF, &ret->author.firstName);
^
goof.c:14:6: note: expected ‘const char **’ but argument is of type ‘const char *’
void assign_str(const char** from, char** to) {
^
goof.c:30:14: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘assign_str’ from incompatible pointer type [-Wincompatible-pointer-types]
assign_str(aL, &ret->author.lastName);
^
goof.c:14:6: note: expected ‘const char **’ but argument is of type ‘const char *’
void assign_str(const char** from, char** to) {
^
goof.c: In function ‘display_book’:
goof.c:34:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf(entry->bookName);
^
goof.c:35:10: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘printf’ makes pointer from integer without a cast [-Wint-conversion]
printf('\n');
^
In file included from goof.c:1:0:
/usr/include/stdio.h:362:12: note: expected ‘const char * restrict’ but argument is of type ‘int’
extern int printf (const char *__restrict __format, ...);
^
goof.c:35:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf('\n');
^
goof.c:36:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf(entry->author.firstName);
^
goof.c:37:10: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘printf’ makes pointer from integer without a cast [-Wint-conversion]
printf(' ');
^
In file included from goof.c:1:0:
/usr/include/stdio.h:362:12: note: expected ‘const char * restrict’ but argument is of type ‘int’
extern int printf (const char *__restrict __format, ...);
^
goof.c:37:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf(' ');
^
goof.c:38:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf(entry->author.lastName);
^
goof.c:39:10: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘printf’ makes pointer from integer without a cast [-Wint-conversion]
printf('\n');
^
In file included from goof.c:1:0:
/usr/include/stdio.h:362:12: note: expected ‘const char * restrict’ but argument is of type ‘int’
extern int printf (const char *__restrict __format, ...);
^
goof.c:39:3: warning: format not a string literal and no format arguments [-Wformat-security]
printf('\n');
^
goof.c: In function ‘main’:
goof.c:45:14: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘assign_str’ from incompatible pointer type [-Wincompatible-pointer-types]
assign_str("Tom Sawyer", &book.bookName);
^
goof.c:14:6: note: expected ‘const char **’ but argument is of type ‘char *’
void assign_str(const char** from, char** to) {
^
goof.c:46:14: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘assign_str’ from incompatible pointer type [-Wincompatible-pointer-types]
assign_str("Mark", &book.author.firstName);
^
goof.c:14:6: note: expected ‘const char **’ but argument is of type ‘char *’
void assign_str(const char** from, char** to) {
^
goof.c:47:14: warning: passing argument 1 of ‘assign_str’ from incompatible pointer type [-Wincompatible-pointer-types]
assign_str("Twain", &book.author.lastName);
^
goof.c:14:6: note: expected ‘const char **’ but argument is of type ‘char *’
void assign_str(const char** from, char** to) {
^
And running the code causes bash to say:
Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Answer 1

There's many errors in there and no array, only structs.
first, you must include the stdlib library (#include <stdlib.h>)
secondly, the printf function can't be used like that.
This function need a string to know how to print the data ex:printf("an int: %d",myInt); or printf("a string: %s",myString);. Note the %d or %s they indicate where to put the data.
thirdly I think you want this void assign_str(const char* from, char** to)