Q. What is the first stage of compilation of a C program?

Explanation by: Mr. Dubey

The compilation of a C program goes through several stages:
Preprocessing:
The preprocessor handles directives like #include, #define, and #ifdef.
It replaces macros, expands header files, and processes conditional compilation.
Compilation:
Converts the preprocessed C code into assembly language.
Assembly:
Translates the assembly code into machine code (object file).
Linking:
Combines multiple object files and libraries into a single executable.
Since preprocessing is the first stage in this sequence, the correct answer is (C) Preprocessing.