C Programming

C is a general-purpose, high-level language that was originally developed by Dennis M.

Ritchie to develop the UNIX operating system at Bell Labs. C has now become a widely
used professional language for various reasons −

 Easy to learn
 Structured language
 It produces efficient programs
 It can handle low-level activities
 It can be compiled on a variety of computer platforms
A C program basically consists of the following parts −

 Preprocessor Commands
 Functions
 Variables
 Statements & Expressions
 Comments
Let us look at a simple code that would print the words "Hello World" −

#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
/* my first program in C */
printf("Hello, World! \n");
return0;
}
 The first line of the program #include<stdio.h> is a preprocessor command, which
tells a C compiler to include stdio.h file before going to actual compilation.

 The next line intmain() is the main function where the program execution begins.

 The next line /*...*/ will be ignored by the compiler and it has been put to add
additional comments in the program. So such lines are called comments in the
program.

 The next line printf(...) is another function available in C which causes the message
"Hello, World!" to be displayed on the screen.

 The next line return 0; terminates the main() function and returns the value 0.

A C program consists of various tokens and a token is either a keyword, an identifier, a

constant, a string literal, or a symbol. For example, the following C statement consists of
five tokens −
 printf("Hello, World! \n");
The individual tokens are −
printf
(
"Hello, World! \n"
)
;

Semicolons
In a C program, the semicolon is a statement terminator. That is, each individual statement
must be ended with a semicolon.

Comments
Comments are like helping text in your C program and they are ignored by the compiler.
They start with /* and terminate with the characters */

Keywords
The following list shows the reserved words in C. These reserved words may not be used
as constants or variables or any other identifier names.

auto else long switch default

break enum register typedef if struct

case extern return union static _Packed

char float short unsigned while double

const for signed void do

continue goto sizeof volatile int

Integer Types
The following table provides the details of standard integer types with their storage sizes
and value ranges −

Type Storage size Value range

char 1 byte -128 to 127 or 0 to 255

unsigned char 1 byte 0 to 255

signed char 1 byte -128 to 127

-32,768 to 32,767 or -2,147,483,648 to

int 2 or 4 bytes
2,147,483,647

unsigned int 2 or 4 bytes 0 to 65,535 or 0 to 4,294,967,295

 short 2 bytes -32,768 to 32,767

unsigned short 2 bytes 0 to 65,535

long 4 bytes -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

unsigned long 4 bytes 0 to 4,294,967,295

To get the exact size of a type or a variable on a particular platform, you can use
the sizeof() operator.

Floating-Point Types
The following table provide the details of standard floating-point types with storage sizes
and value ranges and their precision −

Type Storage size Value range Precision

float 4 byte 1.2E-38 to 3.4E+38 6 decimal places

double 8 byte 2.3E-308 to 1.7E+308 15 decimal places

long double 10 byte 3.4E-4932 to 1.1E+4932 19 decimal places

The void Type

The void type specifies that no value is available. A function with no return value has the
return type as void.There are various functions in C which do not return any value or you
can say they return void.
Variables:

A variable is nothing but a name given to a storage area that our programs can manipulate.
Each variable in C has a specific type. The name of a variable can be composed of letters,
digits, and the underscore character. It must begin with either a letter or an underscore.
Upper and lowercase letters are distinct because C is case-sensitive.

The #define Preprocessor

Given below is the form to use #define preprocessor to define a constant −

#define identifier value

The following example explains it in detail −

#include<stdio.h>
#define LENGTH 10
#defineWIDTH 5
#define NEWLINE '\n'
int main(){
int area;
area= LENGTH * WIDTH;
printf("value of area : %d", area);
printf("%c", NEWLINE);
return0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

value of area : 50
An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical
functions. C language is rich in built-in operators and provides the following types of
operators −

 Arithmetic Operators
 Relational Operators
 Logical Operators
 Assignment Operators
 Misc Operators
Arithmetic Operators
The following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by the C language.
Assume variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −

Operator Description Example

+ Adds two operands. A + B = 30

− Subtracts second operand from the first. A − B = -10

* Multiplies both operands. A * B = 200

/ Divides numerator by de-numerator. B/A=2

% Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer B%A=0

division.

++ Increment operator increases the integer value by one. A++ = 11

-- Decrement operator decreases the integer value by one. A-- = 9

Relational Operators
The following table shows all the relational operators supported by C. Assume
variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −

Operator Description Example

== Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If yes, then (A == B) is not
the condition becomes true. true.
!= Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If the (A != B) is
values are not equal, then the condition becomes true. true.

> Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of (A > B) is not
right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. true.

< Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right (A < B) is true.
operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true.

>= Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the (A >= B) is not
value of right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. true.

<= Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the (A <= B) is
value of right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. true.

Logical Operators
Following table shows all the logical operators supported by C language. Assume
variable A holds 1 and variable B holds 0, then −

Operator Description Example

&& Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non-zero, then (A && B)
the condition becomes true. is false.

|| Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non-zero, (A || B)

then the condition becomes true. is true.

! Called Logical NOT Operator. It is used to reverse the logical state of its !(A &&
operand. If a condition is true, then Logical NOT operator will make it B) is
false. true.

Assignment Operators
The following table lists the assignment operators supported by the C language −

Operator Description Example

= Simple assignment operator. Assigns values from right side C = A + B will

operands to left side operand assign the value of
A + B to C

+= Add AND assignment operator. It adds the right operand to C += A is

the left operand and assign the result to the left operand. equivalent to C = C
+A

-= Subtract AND assignment operator. It subtracts the right C -= A is equivalent

operand from the left operand and assigns the result to the to C = C - A
left operand.
*= Multiply AND assignment operator. It multiplies the right C *= A is
operand with the left operand and assigns the result to the equivalent to C = C
left operand. *A

/= Divide AND assignment operator. It divides the left operand C /= A is

with the right operand and assigns the result to the left equivalent to C = C
operand. /A

%= Modulus AND assignment operator. It takes modulus using C %= A is

two operands and assigns the result to the left operand. equivalent to C = C
%A

<<= Left shift AND assignment operator. C <<= 2 is same as

C = C << 2

>>= Right shift AND assignment operator. C >>= 2 is same as

C = C >> 2

Special Operators :sizeof() & ternary

Besides the operators discussed above, there are a few other important operators
including sizeof and ? : supported by the C Language.

Operator Description Example

sizeof() Returns the size of a variable. sizeof(a), where a is integer, will return 4.

?: If Condition is true ? then value X : otherwise

Conditional Expression.
value Y

The ? : Operator
Syntax:
Exp1 ?Exp2 : Exp3;

Where Exp1, Exp2, and Exp3 are expressions. The value of a ?expression is determined
like this −

 Exp1 is evaluated. If it is true, then Exp2 is evaluated and becomes the value of the
entire ?expression.

 If Exp1 is false, then Exp3 is evaluated and its value becomes the value of the
expression.
The getchar() and putchar() Functions

 The int getchar(void) function reads the next available character from the screen
and returns it as an integer. This function reads only single character at a time. You
can use this method in the loop in case you want to read more than one character
from the screen.
  The int putchar(int c) function puts the passed character on the screen and returns
the same character. This function puts only single character at a time. You can use
this method in the loop in case you want to display more than one character on the
screen.

Decision Making Statements

Sr.No. Statement & Description

1 if statement
An if statement consists of a boolean expression followed by one or more statements.

2 if...else statement
An if statement can be followed by an optional else statement, which executes when
the Boolean expression is false.

3 nested if statements
You can use one if or else if statement inside another if or else if statement(s).

4 switch statement
A switch statement allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list of values.

Loops

Sr.No. Loop Type & Description

1 while loop
Repeats a statement or group of statements while a given condition is true. It tests the
condition before executing the loop body.

2 for loop
Executes a sequence of statements multiple times and abbreviates the code that
manages the loop variable.

3 do...while loop
It is more like a while statement, except that it tests the condition at the end of the
loop body.

4 nested loops
You can use one or more loops inside any other while, for, or do..while loop.

Loop Control Statements

Loop control statements change execution from its normal sequence. When execution
leaves a scope, all automatic objects that were created in that scope are destroyed.
C supports the following control statements.
Sr.No. Control Statement & Description

1 break statement
Terminates the loop or switch statement and transfers execution to the statement
immediately following the loop or switch.

2 continue statement
Causes the loop to skip the remainder of its body and immediately retest its
condition prior to reiterating.

3 goto statement
Transfers control to the labeled statement.
Arrays

Arrays a kind of data structure that can store a fixed-size sequential collection of elements
of the same type. An array is used to store a collection of data, but it is often more useful to
think of an array as a collection of variables of the same type.

Instead of declaring individual variables, such as number0, number1, ..., and number99,
you declare one array variable such as numbers and use numbers[0], numbers[1], and ...,
numbers[99] to represent individual variables. A specific element in an array is accessed
by an index.

All arrays consist of contiguous memory locations. The lowest address corresponds to the
first element and the highest address to the last element.
Declaring Arrays

To declare an array in C, a programmer specifies the type of the elements and the number
of elements required by an array as follows −

typearrayName [ arraySize ];
This is called a single-dimensional array. The arraySize must be an integer constant
greater than zero and type can be any valid C data type. For example, to declare a 10-
element array called balance of type double, use this statement −

double balance[10];
Here balance is a variable array which is sufficient to hold up to 10 double numbers.

Initializing Arrays
You can initialize an array in C either one by one or using a single statement as follows −

double balance[5] = {1000.0, 2.0, 3.4, 7.0, 50.0};

The number of values between braces { } cannot be larger than the number of elements
that we declare for the array between square brackets [ ].
If you omit the size of the array, an array just big enough to hold the initialization is
created. Therefore, if you write −

double balance[] = {1000.0, 2.0, 3.4, 7.0, 50.0};

You will create exactly the same array as you did in the previous example. Following is an
example to assign a single element of the array −

balance[4] = 50.0;
The above statement assigns the 5th element in the array with a value of 50.0. All arrays
have 0 as the index of their first element which is also called the base index and the last
index of an array will be total size of the array minus 1. Shown below is the pictorial
representation of the array we discussed above −

Accessing Array Elements

An element is accessed by indexing the array name. This is done by placing the index of
the element within square brackets after the name of the array. For example −

double salary = balance[9];

The above statement will take the 10th element from the array and assign the value to
salary variable. The following example Shows how to use all the three above mentioned
concepts viz. declaration, assignment, and accessing arrays −

#include<stdio.h>
int main ()
{
int n[10];/* n is an array of 10 integers */
inti,j;
/* initialize elements of array n to 0 */
for(i=0;i<10;i++){
n[i]=i+100;/* set element at location i to i + 100 */
}
/* output each array element's value */
for(j =0; j <10; j++){
printf("Element[%d] = %d\n", j, n[j]);
}
return0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Element[0] = 100
Element[1] = 101
Element[2] = 102
Element[3] = 103
Element[4] = 104
Element[5] = 105
Element[6] = 106
Element[7] = 107
Element[8] = 108
Element[9] = 109
Multi Dimensional Arrays

Form of a multidimensional array declaration −

type name[size1][size2]...[sizeN];
For example, the following declaration creates a three dimensional integer array −

intthreedim[5][10][4];

Two-dimensional Arrays
The simplest form of multidimensional array is the two-dimensional array. A two-
dimensional array is, in essence, a list of one-dimensional arrays. To declare a two-
dimensional integer array of size [x][y], you would write something as follows −

typearrayName [ x ][ y ];
Where type can be any valid C data type and arrayName will be a valid C identifier. A
two-dimensional array can be considered as a table which will have x number of rows and
y number of columns. A two-dimensional array a, which contains three rows and four
columns can be shown as follows –

Thus, every element in the array a is identified by an element name of the form a[ i ][ j ],
where 'a' is the name of the array, and 'i' and 'j' are the subscripts that uniquely identify
each element in 'a'.

Initializing Two-Dimensional Arrays

Multidimensional arrays may be initialized by specifying bracketed values for each row.
Following is an array with 3 rows and each row has 4 columns.

int a[3][4]={
{0,1,2,3},/* initializers for row indexed by 0 */
{4,5,6,7},/* initializers for row indexed by 1 */
{8,9,10,11}/* initializers for row indexed by 2 */
};
The nested braces, which indicate the intended row, are optional. The following
initialization is equivalent to the previous example −

int a[3][4] = {0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11};

Accessing Two-Dimensional Array Elements
An element in a two-dimensional array is accessed by using the subscripts, i.e., row index
and column index of the array. For example −

intval = a[2][3];
The above statement will take the 4th element from the 3rd row of the array. You can
verify it in the above figure. Let us check the following program where we have used a
nested loop to handle a two-dimensional array −

#include<stdio.h>
int main (){
/* an array with 5 rows and 2 columns*/
int a[5][2]={{0,0},{1,2},{2,4},{3,6},{4,8}};
inti, j;
/* output each array element's value */
for(i=0;i<5;i++){
for( j =0; j <2; j++){
printf("a[%d][%d] = %d\n",i,j, a[i][j]);
}
}
return0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

a[0][0]: 0
a[0][1]: 0
a[1][0]: 1
a[1][1]: 2
a[2][0]: 2
a[2][1]: 4
a[3][0]: 3
a[3][1]: 6
a[4][0]: 4
a[4][1]: 8
As explained above, you can have arrays with any number of dimensions, although it is
likely that most of the arrays you create will be of one or two dimensions.

Arrays allow to define type of variables that can hold several data items of the same kind.
Similarly structure is another user defined data type available in C that allows to combine
data items of different kinds.

Structures:
C Structure is collection of different datatypes ( variables ) which are grouped together.
Whereas, array of structures is nothing but collection of structures. This is also called as
structure array in C.
Structures are used to represent a record. Suppose you want to keep track of your books
in a library. You might want to track the following attributes about each book −

 Title
 Author
 Subject
 Book ID
Defining a Structure
To define a structure, you must use the struct statement. The struct statement defines a
new data type, with more than one member. The format of the struct statement is as
follows −

struct [structure tag] {

member definition;

member definition;

...

member definition;

} [one or more structure variables];

The structure tag is optional and each member definition is a normal variable definition,
such as int i; or float f; or any other valid variable definition. At the end of the structure's
definition, before the final semicolon, you can specify one or more structure variables but
it is optional. Here is the way you would declare the Book structure −

struct Books {

char title[50];

char author[50];

char subject[100];

int book_id;

} book;

Accessing Structure Members

To access any member of a structure, we use the member access operator (.). The member
access operator is coded as a period between the structure variable name and the
structure member that we wish to access. You would use the keyword struct to define
variables of structure type.