Automata in C

cellularAutomata.c

#include <stdio.h>
#include <time.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <malloc.h>

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{

/*
char *name = "test.txt";
FILE *file;
char *buffer;
unsigned long fileLen;

file=fopen(name,"rb");
if(!file){
fprintf(stderr,"Unable to open file %s",name);
return;
}
fseek(file,0,SEEK_END);
fileLen=ftell(file);
fseek(file,0,SEEK_SET);
buffer=(char *)malloc(fileLen+1);
if(!buffer){
	fprintf(stderr, "Memory error!");
    fclose(file);
	return;
}
fread(buffer,fileLen,1,file);
fclose(file);
free(buffer);
printf("Length of %s is %d\n",name,fileLen);
printf("sizeof(char) is %d\n",sizeof(char));
*/

srand(time(NULL));
int r = rand();

long n = 800000000;
long randomFill = n;
int numIterations = 20;

unsigned char* board = (unsigned char*) malloc(n);
if(!board) printf("Something happened...\n");

long i,j; 

//clear board
printf("Clearing the board...\n");    
for(i=0;i<n;i++){
	board[i]=0;
}

printf("Random fill...\n");  
for(i=0;i<randomFill;i++){
	board[i] = rand()%2;
}


unsigned char firstVal = 0;
unsigned char endVal = 0;
unsigned char prevVal = 0;
unsigned char tempVal = 0;

long counter = 0;
for(j=0;j<n;j++){
	if(board[j]==1) counter++;
}
printf("Initial number of 1's: %d\n",counter);

for(i=0;i<numIterations;i++){
	
	printf("Iteration: %d/%d\n",i,numIterations);

	//board initial state
	firstVal = board[0];
	endVal = board[n-1];
	
	//do first iteration
	prevVal = board[0];
	board[0] = endVal^(board[0]|(~board[1]));
	for(j=1;j<n-1;j++){ //do all 1...n-1 iterations
		tempVal = board[j];
		board[j] = prevVal^(board[j]|(~board[j+1]));
		prevVal = tempVal;
	}
	//do last iteration
	board[n-1] = prevVal^(board[n-1]|(~firstVal));
	
	//for(j=0;j<n;j++){
	//	printf("%3d ",board[j]);
	//}
	//printf("\n");
}

counter = 0;
for(j=0;j<n;j++){
	//printf("%d ",board[j]);
	if(board[j]==1) counter++;
}
printf("Final number of 1's: %d\n",counter);
system ("pause");
return 0;
}