Programming in C

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Programming Language

A computer is directed by a series of instructions called Computer Programs, which specify a
sequence of operations to be performed. Special languages are needed to write instructions,
which can be understood by a computer. Natural languages such as English are not simple
enough and cannot be interpreted by the computer. In early days of computer development, the
codes used called Machine Language, were purely numerical, i.e. every instruction had to be
written as a sequence of numbers and it was these numbers which the computer interpreted.
Furthermore each computer had its own machine code. Later, more sophisticated or high-
level languages, written in English letters, and using some simple mathematical notation, were
developed. Examples of such high-level languages, include; FORTRAN, COBOL, BASIC,
PASCAL, C, C++, and JAVA. Computers, however still only interprets their machine code,
and special programmes called compilers have to be provided to translate the high-level
language into this machine code.

1.2 C Programming

C is a general purpose programming language. Just like any other high-level language it is
used for solving problems through a computer. Before a problem is put on a computer for
solution, several tasks have to be carried out. These tasks may include but not limited to:
 Identifying the problem variables and their nature
 Specifying the objectives and scope of the problem and its solution requirements
 Constructing the necessary mathematical models (if needed) to depict the different
problem as accurate as possible.
 Writing the program.
 Compiling the program

The program written in C or any other high-level language is called the source program (or
source code). The translated program in machine code, which is the one actually operated by
the computer, is called the object program (or object code). The process of translation is
called compiling the program or compilation.

Important features of C include:

 Shorter expressions
 Modern control flow
 Modern data structures and
 Rich set of operators

C programming was originally designed for and implemented on the UNIX Operating System
but it is not tied to any hardware or system. It can run on IBM machines, IBM compatibles and
other systems. Compilers exist for different kinds of machines.

1
Definition 1:

 A computer program is a set of instruction that tells a computer exactly what

to do.
 The instruction, might tell the computer to add up a set of numbers, or
compare two numbers and make a decision based on the result of
comparison.

Definition 2:
A programming language is an english-like language that you use to write your
computer programs.

 There are many programming language, the most common ones are:
o FORTRAN
o COBOL
o BASIC
o Pascal
o C
o C++
o Java

Definition 3:
A compiler translates a computer program written in programming language into a
form that a computer can execute.

 C is probably the most popular and widely used programming Language because it
gives maximum control and efficiency to the programmer.
 Benefits you gain from learning C programming are:
o Be able to read and write code for the largest number of platforms (i.e.
everything from micro controllers to nearly all modern operating systems)
o The jump to the object oriented (C++) language becomes much easier. C++ is
an extension of C.
o Once you know C and C++ then Java can easily be learnt. Java is built upon
C++.

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1.3 Solving a Problem Using a Program
It is not always possible to solve real problem by closed form solution such as integral cos x-
sin x. The problem solving is a multi-process as shown in figure 1 below.

Real
Model Algorithm Programming
Problem

Results Computation Compilation

Figure 1: Steps of Problem Solving in a Computer

As seen in figure 1 above, a real problem is converted into a suitable mathematical model using
simplified assumptions. A particular algorithm is used to solve the problem and the algorithm
is programmed for a computer such that calculation may be performed. The computer gives
result in the form of the output. If some data is needed before the computation is done, the
process is called data input.

1.4 The General form of a C program

#include statements
function name()
{
Statement sequence
}

The include statements are statements written at the top of your program to incorporate some
standard library files which comes together with a C-compiler.

function name() this is a name of a function. All C programs consist of one or several
functions.

The opening brace “{” : This marks the beginning of statement sequence.
The close brace “}” : This represents the formal conclusion of the program.

Statement sequence: May be one or several sequence of statements representing

actions to be taken.

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1.5 Starting with C
Let us consider the following program that prints out the line “This is my first C- program”
save it as myfirstP

#include <stdio.h>

main()
{
printf(“This is my first C - program”);
}

Compile the program then execute it.

If the program is wrongly typed, either it will not compile successfully or it will not run. If this
happens edit the program and correct the errors and then compile again.

Program analysis

The statement #include<stdio.h> causes the file stdio.h to be read by the C compiler
and be included in the program. It is one of the standard library files and contains information
related to the printf() function.

The statement main() is the main function. All C programs must have a main function.

The statement printf() allows you to send output to the screen.

The character “;” is used as a statement terminator. It indicates the end of a statement. Every
statement must be ended by a semicolon.

Exercise 1
Q1. Write a simple code to print your name. Save the file as MyFirstname

Q2. Write a program to display First and Second names, Age, Gender and address in the
following format:
Name: Anderson James,
Age: 30yrs,
Address: P.O. Box 176,
City: IRINGA.
Hint: Use the code \n in your printif() function to indicate a request for a new
line e.g. printif (“Name: Anderson James.\n”);
Save the program as Myaddress

Q3. What are the major components of a C program?

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1.6 Variables and Variable Types
Definition:
A variable is a named memory location that may contain some value.

A variable is an identifier that is used to represent some specified type of information within a
designated portion of the program.

In C a variable represents a single data Item that can be a numeric quantity or a character
constant. The data item must be assigned to a variable at some point in the program. The data
item can be accessed later by referring to the variable name. A given variable can be assigned
different data items at various places within the program. The information represented by the
variable can change during the execution of the program. However, the data type associated to
the variable cannot change.

Variable Declarations
A declaration associates a group of variables with specific data type. All variables must be
declared before they can appear in executable statements.

A declaration consists of a data type followed by one or more variable names separated by a
comma and ending with a semi-colon.

A C program may contain the following:

int a, b, c;
float root1, root2;

Thus, a, b and c are declared to be integer variables and root1 and root2 are floating-point
variables.

 In C, all variables must be declared before they can be used. A variable declaration
tells the compiler what type of variable is being used. C supports 5 different basic data
types:

DATA TYPE KEYWORD MIN RANGE

i Character data char -127 to 127
ii Signed whole numbers. int -32,767 to 32, 767
iii Floating-point numbers (real number) float Six digits of precise
iv Double precision floating-point double Ten digits of precise
number
v Valueless void -

Note:
 In C a variable declaration is treated as a statement and it must end with a
semicolon (;). The programme may contain the following declarations:
e.g. int x; Here the variable x is declared as an integer data type
int y; Here the variable y is declared as an integer data type
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 float z; Here the variable z is declared as a floating point value
char ch; Here the variable ch is declared as a character data type
double d; Here the variable d is declared as a double precision data type

 There are two places where variables are declared; inside a function, called local
variable or outside the function, called global variable.
 A local variable is known to and may be accessed by only the function in which it is
declared. Local variables cease to exist once the function that created them is
completed. They are recreated each time a function is executed or called. Local
variables are sometimes called automatic variables.
 A global variable can be accessed by any function in the program. These variables can
be accessed (i.e. known) by any function comprising the program. They are
implemented by associating memory locations with variable names. They do not get
recreated if the function is recalled.
 C is case-sensitive; i.e. x and X are two completely different variables names
 To assign the variables x and y some values, we write,
x = 10;
y = 20;
 To assign the variable z and ch we write:
z = 5.6;
ch = „N‟;
Note that z being a floating point variable is assigned a real number (i.e. floating point
value 5.6, and
ch being a character variable data type is assigned a single character „N‟
enclosed in single quotes.

 You can use printf() to display value of character integers and floating-point
values. e.g. printf(“The answer is %d”, 20);

where: %d is the format specifier for integer variable.

%f is the format specifier for float variable.
%c is the format specifier for character variable.

Examples

1. This program declares a variable x as integer, assign it a value 10 and uses the
printf() function to display the statement “The value of x is 10”
(Save the program as OneInt)

#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
int x;
x = 10;
printf(“The value of x is %d”,x);
}

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2. OneInt is modified to include one variable (Save the program as MoreInt)

The program declares a variables x and y as integers and assigns to them the values 10
and 2 respectively. It then uses the printf() function to display the statement
“The value of x is 10” and the statement “The value of y is 2”

#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
int x, y;
x = 10;
y = 2;
printf(“The value of x is %d”,x);
printf(“The value of y is %d”,y);
}

3. This program declares two different variables, count as integer, and y as float. The two
variables are assigned some values and hence displayed on a screen.
(Save the program as var.c)

#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
int count;
char ch;
float y;
count = 12;
y = 200.5;
printf (“This is CNN\n”);
printf(“with %d channels \n”, count);
printf (“pay $ %f for free installation”, y);
}

Exercise 2

Q1. Modify MoreInt and add another printf() so that it prints the value of x and y on
the same line.
i.e. printf(“The value of x is %d and y is %d”,x, y);

Q2. Write a program that declares one integer variable called num. Give this variable the
value 100 and then, using one printf() statement, display the value on the screen
as follows:
100 is the value of num.
(Save the program as num)

Q3. Write a program to display your name, age, gender, address and region. Use variables
for your age and gender. (Save the program as mycv)
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1.7 Input Numbers from the Keyboard

 There are several ways to input numeric values from the keyboard one of the easiest is
to use another C‟s standard library functions called scanf()
e.g. int num;
scanf(“%d”, &num);
where the “&” allows a function to place a value into one of its arguments.

Exercise 3
Q1. Write a program that will compute the area of a rectangle given its dimensions. Let the
program first prompts the user for the length and width of the rectangle and then display
the area. (Save the program as rectangle_area)

Q.2 Write a program that computes the area of a circle. Have the program prompt the user for
each dimension (Save the program as Circle).

Q.3 Write a program that computes the number of seconds in a year. (Save the program as
year.c)

Q.4 Write a program to compute the volume of a cylinder (Hint: use the mathematical model
v = r2h). (Save the program as cylinder)

1.8 Comments
Definition:
A comment is a note to yourself (or others) that you put into your source code.

Note: All comments are ignored by the compiler.

 Comments are used primarily to document the meaning and purpose of your source
code so that you can later remember the code.
 In C, comments starts by the symbol /* and ended by the symbol */
e.g. / * This is a C comment */
 Comments can extend over several lines.
e.g. /* This program computes
the area of a rectangle */

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2.0 FUNCTIONS

 Functions are the building blocks of C or block of statements that performs a specific
task. Most real world programs will contain many functions. Before we can use a
function, we define a function prototype.

2.1 Function Prototype

 A Function prototype declares four attributes associated with a function

(i) The function name
(ii) Its return type
(iii) The number of its parameters
(iv) The type of its parameters

 A function prototype consists of a functions name, its return types and its parameter
lists. Examples of a function prototype are:
void myfunct(void);
int func(void);
void sum(int x, int y);

 A function Prototypes provide several benefits:

(i) They inform the compiler about the return type of a function
(ii) They enable the compiler to report when the number of arguments passed to a
function is not the same as the number of parameters declared by the function.

 When you call a function, the compiler needs to know the type of data returned by that
function. If you use a function that is not prototyped, then the compiler will simply
assume that the returned value is an integer.

2.2 Function Definition

Generally a function definition has this form:

return-type, function-name(parameter declaration, if any)

{
declarations
statements
}

In the function prototype

void sum(int x, int y);

void is the return type, sum is a function name and int x, int y are parameters.

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  The only function that does not need a prototype is main() since it is predefined by
the C language.
 When a function is called, execution transfers to that function. When a function ends,
execution resumes at the point in your program immediately following the call to the
function.
 The value that a called function computes may be returned to the calling function by
using the return statement

i.e. return expression;

 A function need not return a value. A return statement with no expression causes
control, but no useful value to be returned to the caller.
 Since main is a function like any other, it may return a value to its caller, which is in
effect the environment in which the program was executed.
 A return value of zero implies normal termination. Non-zero values signal unusual or
erroneous termination condition
 The function prototype declaration

int power(int m, int n);

means that power is a function that expects two int arguments and returns an int.
This declaration has to agree with the definition and uses of power.
 Any function inside a program may call any other function within the same program
 Traditionally, main() is not called by any other function.
 Remember a function call is a statement, so a semicolon must terminate it.

Examples

Example 1
This program uses two functions, main() and funct1(). Also notice the usage of
comments (Save the program as Hello.c)

/* A program with two functions*/

#include <stdio.h>
void funct1(void); /* prototype for funct1() */
main()
{
printf(“Hello “);
funct1(); /*calling funct1( ) */
printf(“This is a program involving two functions”);
}
void funct1(void)
{
printf(“World. ”) /*called function*/
}

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 Note: This program will display:
Hello world. This is a program involving two functions

Example 2
/* A program that returns a value */
# include <stdio.h>
int funct(void); /*Function prototype*/
main( )
{
int num;
num = funct(); /* calling funct()*/
printf(“The number is %d”, num);
}
int funct(void) /* Called function */
{
return 10;
}

Note: In this program, funct() returns an integer value to the calling main()
function and 10 is assigned to num.

2.3 Function Arguments

Definition:
A functions argument is a value that is passed to the function when the function is
called.

A function in C can have from zero to several arguments. (The upper limit is determined by
the compiler you are using, but the standard ANSI specifies that a function must be able to take
at least 31 arguments).

Examples

1. This program demonstrates the use of arguments and how to pass arguments to the called
function. (Save the program as argument.c)

#include <stdio.h>
void sum(int x,int y); /* The function sum() receives two integer values x and y */
main( )
{
sum(2, 20); /* sending 2 and 20 to sum ( ) as values of x and y respectively */
sum(40, 5);
}
void sum(int x, int y)
{
printf(“%d\n”, x + y);
}

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Note: When sum() is called, the value of each argument is copied into its marching
parameter.

In the first call sum(2,20), 2 is copied into x and 20 into y, in the second call
sum(40,5), 40 is copied to x and 5 is copied to y.

Exercise 4
Q.1 The moons gravity is about 17% of the Earths gravity. Write a program that allows you
to enter your weight and computes your effective weight on the moon.
You may use only one function, i.e. main() or you may add another function dedicated
for computation) (save the program as gravity)

Q.2 Write a program to convert temperatures from degrees Fahrenheit to degree centigrade
[you may use the formula C = (5/9)(F – 32)]. Let the program prompts the user to input
values of Fahrenheit, F from the key board. Use only one main functions main. (Save the
program as degree)

Q.3 Modify question two (Q2) above using another function, other than main, to do the
conversion. (Save the program as degree_modified)

Q4. Write a program with two functions; the first one is the main(). This will prompt the
user to input radius of a sphere and the second one, myvol(), will calculate the volume
of a sphere and return a value to main() that will print the result. (Save the program as
Sphere_volume)

Q.5 Write a program that displays the square of a number entered from the keyboard.
The square number is computed using the function squared( ). (Save the program as
square)

Q.6 Challenge problem.

The following program intends to use a function called convert(), which prompts the
user for an amount in USD and convert the value into TSH, (Using an exchange rate of
Tshs.2500/= per US dollar). It is then expected to return this value to main program so as
to display the conversion. Examine the code and explain why it can‟t give the expected
result. Rewrite the program so that it can work as expected. (Save the program as
convert)

#include<stdio.h>
float convert(void);
main()
{
float USD, TSH;
TSH = convert();
printf("USD %f = TSH %f",USD,TSH);
}

float convert()
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 {

float dollar;
printf("Enter amount in USD: ");
scanf("%f", &dollar);
return dollar * 2500;
}
Re-write the code so that it can work properly

More examples
1. To see how a function prototype can catch an error, try to compile this program
(save it as vol.cpp)

#include <stdio.h>
float volume(float S1, float S2, float S3);
main ()
{
float vol;
vol = volume (20.5, 5.5, 10.5, 15.5); /*error*/
printf(“Volume = %f”, vol);
}

/*compute volume*/
float volume(float S1 float S2, float S3)
{
return S1*S2*S3;
}

Note: This program will not compile because the volume () function is declared as having
only 3 parameters, but the program is attempting to call it with 4 parameters

2. Analyze the following program and state whether it is correct or not. If not state why?

#include<stdio.h>
foat myfunc( float num);
main()
{
printf(“%f”, myfunc(10.5);
}
float myfunc(float num);
{
return num * num;
}

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Exercise 5

Q1. Write a program that uses a function called myvolume(), let the program compute the
volume of a cylinder from the formula v = πr2h. Have the main() function sends the
values of r and h to myvolume() which perform the calculation and return the result to
main to be displayed (Save the program as cylinder)

Q2. Write a program with two functions; the first one is the main( ). This will prompt the
user to input radius of a sphere and the second one, myvol( ), will calculate the volume of
a sphere and return a value to main( ) that will print the result.
(The Volume of a sphere is given by: 4/3 * π * r3 ) (Save the program as
SphereVolume)

Q3. Challenge problem:

Write a program, which uses convert.c) and Gravity as functions. (Save the program as
combined)

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3.0 CHARACTER SET
C uses Uppercase letters A to Z, the lowercase letters a to z, the digits 0 to 9, and certain
special characters as building blocks to form basic program elements, e.g. constants, variables,
operators and expressions

The following are special characters

! * + \ “ <
# ( = | { >
„ ) ~ ; } /
@ - [ : , ?
& _ ] „ . (blank)

C uses combination of these characters such as \b, \n, and \t to represent special conditions as
shown below:

Combination of characters Meaning.

\b backspace
\n new line
\t Horizontal tab

These character combinations are known as ESCAPE SEQUENCES

3.1 Identifiers
Identifiers
Identifies are names given to various program elements such as variables, function and arrays.
Identifiers consist of letters and digits, in any order, except that the first character must be a
letter. Lowercase and uppercase are permitted, though common usage favors the use of
lowercase letters. Upper and lower case letters are not inter changeable (i.e. an uppercase is
not equivalent to the corresponding lowercase) An underscore ( _ ) can also be included as it is
considered to be a letter, and can take any position, even though commonly is used in the
middle of an identifier. A character space is not used in identifier.

Examples:
The fallowing names are valid identifiers
x, y1, dog_1, _temperature
name, area, tax_rate, TABLE

The following names are not valid identifiers for the reasons stated.
1_day the first character must be a letter
“x” illegal character (“)
Order-no illegal character (-)
tax rate illegal character (blank space)

15
An identifier can be arbitrary long up to 31 characters. It is good practice, however, to use at
most 8 characters in an identifier.

As a rule an identifies should contain enough characters so that its meaning is readily apparent.
On the other hand excessive number of characters should be avoided.

3.2 Keywords
Keywords in C are reserved words that have standard pre-defined meaning. Keywords are
used for their intended purpose only, and can not be used as programmer-defined identifiers.

Examples the standard keywords are:

int long return do char float

auto break case const continue default
double else enum extern for if
long short signed static switch void
typedef unsigned

Note that the keywords are all lowercase.

3.3 Constants
The C programming language has four basic types of constants. These are:
i) integer constants
ii) floating point constants
iii) character constants
iv) string constants

Integer and floating point constants represent numbers. They are both referred to as
numeric-type constants

The following rules apply to numeric-type constants.

1. Commas and blank spaces cannot be included within numeric type constants.
2. The constants can be preceded by minus (-) sign, (an operator that changes the sign of
positive constant)
3. The value of constants cannot exceed the specified minimum and maximum bounds.

(i) Integer Constants

An integer constant is an integer-valued number; it consists of a sequence of digits and can be
written in different number system. Decimal (base 10), Octal (base 8) and Hexadecimal (base
16).

A decimal integer constant can consist of any combination of digits 0 through 9. If the constant
contains two or more digits, the first digit must be something other than zero.

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Valid decimal integer constants are shown below:

0 1 743 5280 32767 9999

Invalid decimal integer constants with reasons stated:

Invalid Integers Reasons

12,245 illegal character (,)
56.0 illegal character (.)
10 20 30 illegal character (blank space)
123-45-6789 illegal character (-)
0900 the first charter cannot be zero.

(ii) Floating Point Constants

A floating point constant is a base 10 number that contains either a decimal point or an
exponent (or both).

Valid floating-point constants are shown below:

0. 1. 0.2 827.602
50000. 0.000743 12.3 315.0066
2E-8 0.006e-3 1.6667E+8
.12121212e12

Invalid floating-point constants are shown below with reasons stated.

Invalid Floating Point Constants Reasons

1 either a decimal point or an exponent must be present
1,000.00 illegal character (,)
2E+10.2 the exponent must be an integer quantity (it cannot
contain decimal point)
3E 10 illegal character (blank Space) in the exponent

The interpretation of a floating-point constant with exponent is essentially the same as for
scientific notation except that the base 10 is replaced by E (or e). Thus

1.2 x 10 –3 would be written as 1.2E-3

or 1.2e – 3
and this is equivalent to 0.12e – 2
or 12e – 4

Example 1
The quantity 3 x 105 can be reprinted in C by any of the following floating-point constants:

300000. 3e5 3e +5 3E5 3.0e+5

.3e6 0.3E6 30E4 30.E+4 300e3

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Example 2
The quantity 5.026 x 10-17 can be represented in C by any of the following floating-point
constants:
5.026E-17 .5026e-16 50.26e-18 0.0005026E –13

(iii) Character Constants

A character constant is a single character enclosed in apostrophes (single quotation marks)

Examples of character constants are:

„A‟, „X‟, „3‟, „A‟, „ ‟
Note that the last constant is a blank space enclosed in apostrophes.

Example
The following are character constants and their corresponding values as defined by the ASCII
character set.

Constant Value
„A‟ 65
„X‟ 120
„5‟ 53
„$‟ 36
“ 32

3.4 Escape Sequences

Escape sequence are characters that causes certain action to take place. In C these are usually a
normal or special character preceded by a backslash (\).

The commonly used escape sequences are:

Character Escape Sequence ASCII Value

New line \n (line feed) 010
Horizontal tab \t 009
Bell alert \a 007
Backspace \b 008
Vertical tabs \v 011
Form feed \f 012
Carriage return \r 013
Quotation mark (\“) 034
Question mark (\?) 063
Back slash (\”) 092
Null \0 000

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 3.5 ASCII Character Set

All personal computers make use of the American Standard Code for Information Interchange
(ASCII) character set, in which each individual character is numerically encoded with its own
unique 7-bit combination (Hence a total of 27 =128 different characters. The table 1 below
contains the ASCII character set.

Table 1: The ASCII Character Set

ASCII ASCII ASCII ASCII

Value Character Value Character Value Character Value Character
000 NUL 032 blank 064 @ 096 `
001 SOH 033 ! 065 A 097 a
002 STX 034 “ 066 B 098 b
003 ETX 035 # 067 C 099 c
004 EOT 036 $ 068 D 100 d
005 ENO 037 % 069 E 101 e
006 ACK 038 & 070 F 102 f
007 BEL 039 „ 071 G 103 g
008 BS 040 ( 072 H 104 h
009 HT 041 ) 073 I 105 i
010 LF 042 * 074 J 106 j
011 VT 043 + 075 K 107 k
012 FF 044 „ 076 L 108 l
013 CR 045 - 077 M 119 m
014 SO 046 . 078 N 110 n
015 SI 047 / 079 O 111 o
016 DLE 048 0 080 P 112 p
017 DCI 049 1 081 Q 113 q
018 DC2 050 2 082 R 114 r
019 DC3 051 3 083 S 115 s
020 DC4 052 4 084 T 116 t
021 NAK 053 5 085 U 117 u
022 SYN 054 6 086 V 118 v
023 ETB 055 7 087 W 119 w
024 CAN 056 8 088 X 120 x
025 EM 057 9 089 Y 121 y
026 SUB 058 : 090 Z 122 z
027 ESC 059 ; 091 [ 123 {
028 FS 060 < 092 \ 124 |
02 GS 061 = 093 ] 125 }
030 RS 062 > 094 ↑ 126 ~
031 US 063 ? 095 - 127 DEL
Note: The first 32 characters and the last character are control characters; they cannot be printed.

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 4.0 OPERATORS
In C programming language we have five Arithmetic operators

Operator Meaning
+ Addition
- Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ Division
% Modulus

Note: The modulo operator (%) can be used with integer types only
The modulus operator produces the remainder of an integer division

e.g. 5 % 2 = 1
4%2=0

4.1 Relational and Logical Operators in C programming

The C language contains a rich set of operators. The relational operators compare two values
and return a true or false based upon the comparison of the result.

The relational operators include the following:

Operator Meaning
> Greater than
>= Greater than or equal
< Less than
<= Less than or equal
== Equal
!= Not equal

The Logical Operators connect together true/false results and these are:-

Operator Action
&& AND
|| OR
! NOT

Practical examples on usage of relational and logical operators are covered in the next chapter

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4.2 Order of Precedence

It is necessary to be careful of the meaning of such expressions as

a+b*c

We may want the effect as either

(a + b) * C
or
a + (b * c)

All operators have a priority. High priority operators are evaluated before lower priority ones.
Operators of the same priority are evaluated from left to right, so that

a - b - c

is evaluated as

( a - b ) - c
as you would expect.

From high priority to low priority, the order for all C operators is as given in the table below:

Operator Category Operators Associativity

Unary operator - ++ -- ! size of (type) R L
Arithmetic multiply, divide and * / % L  R
reminder
Arithmetic add and subtract + - L  R
Relational operators < <= > >= L  R
Equality operators = = != L  R
Logical AND && L  R
Logical OR || L  R
Assignment operator = += - = * = / = % = R L

The following operators have the following meanings

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Suppose that x, y and z are variables which have been assigned the value 2, 3, and 4
respectively. Then the expression

x *= -2 * (y + z) / 3

Is equivalent to the expression

x = (x * ( -2 * (y + z) / 3))

The expression will cause the value –9.33 to be assigned to x.

Furthermore, the expression:

x < 10 && 2 * y < z

is interpreted as

(x < 10) && ( ( 2 * y ) < z ))

And will be evaluated to False, F.

4.3 Expressions and Statements

(i) Expressions

An expression represents a single data item, such as number or a character. The expression
may consist of a single entity, such as a constant, a variable an array element or a reference to a
function. An expression may also consist of a combination of such entities connected by one
or more operators.

Expression can also represent logical conditions that are either TRUE or FALSE. In C the
conditions TRUE and FALSE are represented by the integer values 1 and 0, respectively.

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Examples of expression

a + b

x = y

c = a + b

c == y

x <= y

++i

The first expression involves the use of additional operator (+)

The second expression involves the assignment operator (=)

The third expression combines the features of the first two expressions. In this case the value
of the expression a + b is assigned to the variable c

The fourth expression is the test of equality. Thus, the expression will have the valve 1
(TRUE) if the value of x is equal to the value of y. Otherwise, the expression will have the
value 0 (FALSE).

The last expression causes the value of the variable 1 to be increased by 1. The expression.

++i
is thus equivalent to

i = i +1

The operator + +i is called the Unary operator.

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(ii) Statements

A statement causes a computer to carry some action. There are three different types of
statements in C.
i. Expression statement
ii. Compound statement
iii. Control statement

An expression statement consists of an expression followed by a semi-colon. The execution

of an expression statement causes the expression to be evaluated.

Example of expression statement

a = 3;
c = a + b;
++i;
printf(“Area = %f”, area);
;

The statement consisting of a semicolon is called an empty or NULL statement.

A compound statement consists of several individual statements enclosed within a pair of

braces ({ }). The individual statements may themselves be expressions statements,
compound statements or control statements. The compound statements provide capability
for embedding statements within other statements. Unlike expression statements, a compound
statement does not end within a semi-colon.

Examples of a compound statement.

{
pi = 3.141593;
circumference = 2 * pi * radius;
area = pi * radius * radius;
}

This compound statement consists of three assignment-type expression statement, though it is

considered a single entity within the program in which it appears.

Note that compound statement does not end with a semicolon after the brace.

Control statements are used to create special program features such as logical tests, loops and
branches. Many control statement require that other statements embedded within them as
shown in the example below:

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Example

while (count < = n)

{
printf(“x = “);
sanf(“%f”, & x);
sum += x;
++count;
}

This statement consists of a compound statement, which in turn contains four expressions
statements. The compound statement will continue to execute as long as long as the value of
count does not exceed the value of n.

4.4 Symbolic Constants

A symbolic constant is a name given to some numeric constant, or a character constant or
string constant, or any other constants. Symbolic constant names are also known as constant
identifiers. Pre-processor directive #define is used for defining symbolic constants.

Syntax for Creating Symbolic Constants

#define symbolic_constant_name value_of_the_constant

Examples of Symbolic Constants

#define PI 3.141592
#define GOLDENRATIO 1.6
#define MAX 500

Exercise 6

Q.1 Summarizes the rules for naming identifiers. Are upper case letters equivalent to
lowercase letters?

Q.2 What are the keywords in C? What restrictions apply for their use?

Q.3 Name and describe the four basic data types in C?

Q.5 Describe two different ways that floating-point constants can be described?

Q.6 What is an expression? What are its components?

Q.7 suppose a, b, and c are integer variables that have been assigned the values a = 8, b = 3
and c = -5. Determine the value of each of the following.

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 (a) a + b + c (b) 2 * b + 3 + (a – c) (c) a / b
(d) a % b (e) a * (c % b) (f)(a * c) % b
(g) a / c (h) a % c (i) a * b / c

Q. 8 A C Program contains the following expressions:

int i = 8, j =5;
float x = 0.005, y = -0.01;
char c = „c‟, d = „d‟;
Determine the value of each of the following expressions. Use the value initially
assigned to the variables for each expression.
a) x > = 0
b) (3 * i – 2 * j) % (2 * d – c)
c) 2 * ( i/5 ) + (4 * (j – 3 )) % (i + j – 2 )
d) – (i + j)
e) ++ i
f) --j
g) i < = j
h) c > d
i) c = = 99
j) (2 * x + y ) = = 0
k) 5 * ( i + j ) > „c‟
l) (2 * x + (y = = 0 )
m) (i > 0 ) && (j < 5 )
n) (i > 0 ) ¦¦ (j < 5 )

Q. 9 Given
x = 1, y = 4, z=2
Determine the following.
x + y mod z * 5 – y

Q. 10 Given x = 4; b = 6, c=8
Deter Determine the value of the following:
(a +b * c) < (4 * 6+ 8)

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Q. 13. Given x = TRUE
y = TRUE
z = FALSE
Find the value of the following:
(i) x && y
(ii) (x && y) && z
(iii) x && (y && z)
(iv) x < y ¦¦ y > z
(v) (x ¦¦ y) ¦¦ z

Q. 14 A C program contains the following declarations:

int i = 8, j =5, k;
float x = 0.005, y = -0.01, z;
char a, b, c = „c‟, d = „d‟;
Determine the value of each of the following:
(a) k = ( i + j) (b) z = k = x (c) i = j
(d) k = (x + y) (e) i = j = 1.1 (f) k = c
(g) z = i / j (h) i += 2 (i) i /= j
(j) i %= j (k) y - = x (l) i += (j - 2 )

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