Introduction to Computer Programming

CIT 112 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER
PROGRAMMING
Department of Computer Science and IT

School of Science Engineering and Technology
Kabarak University
2.1
1 Introduction
1.1 Introduction to Programming

Software refers to a program or set of instructions that instructs a computer to perform some task.
Software can be divided into two major categories called system software and application software.
Systems software includes operating systems and various device drivers. Application software are used
to perform real-world tasks and solve specific problems.
A program is simply a set of instructions that tells a computer how to perform a particular task. Programs
are developed using programming languages. Computer programming is the art of developing computer
programs. Programming is rather like a recipe; a set of instructions that tells a cook how to make a
particular dish. It describes the ingredients (the data) and the sequence of steps (the process) on how to
mix those ingredients.
A programming language provides a set of rules to develop a program. A person who writes a program
using a programming language is called a programmer. His/her job is to convert a solution to a problem
(i.e. algorithm) into set of instructions understood by a computer. The programmer should also test the
program to see whether it is working properly and corrective actions should be taken if not.
1.2 Program Development

Developing a program involves a set of steps:
1. Define the problem
2. Outline the solution
3. Develop an algorithm1
4. Test the algorithm for correctness
5. Code the algorithm using a suitable programming language
6. Compile and correction of compile errors
7. Run the program on the computer
8. Test, document and maintain the program
Most of these steps are common to any problem solving task. Program development (software
development) may take several hours, days, weeks, months or years. After development, customers will
make use of the system. While in use, the system needs to be maintained. The maintenance phase will
continue for several months, years or even several decades. Therefore software development is not a
onetime task; it is a lifecycle where some of the above steps are reformed again and again. The steps are
discussed in the following.
1.2.1 Define the Problem
First of all the problem should be clearly defined. The problem can be divided into three components:
 Inputs – what do you have?
 Outputs – what do you want to have?
 Processing – how do you go from inputs to outputs?
Programmers should clearly understand “what are the inputs to the program”, “what is expected as
output(s)” and “how to process inputs to generate necessary outputs”. Consider an example where a
computer program is to be written to calculate and display the circumference and area of a circle when
the radious .
 Inputs – the radius (r)
 Outputs – circumference (c) and area (a)
 Processing
 c = 2pr, a = pr2
10 © Department of Computer Science and IT

1.2.2 Outline the Solution
The programmer should define:
 the major steps required to solve the problem
 any subtasks
 the major variables and data structures
 the major control structures (e.g. sequence, selection, repetition loops) 2 in the algorithm
 the underlined logic
Consider the above mentioned example. In order to calculate the circumference:
 Variables – radius (r), circumference (c)
 Calculation – c = 2pr
In order to calculate the area:
 Variables – radius (r), area (a)
 Calculation – a = pr2
1.2.3 Develop the Algorithm
The next step is to develop an algorithm that will produce the desired result(s). An algorithm is a segment
of precise steps that describes exactly the tasks to be performed, and the order in which they are to be
carried out to solve a problem. Pseudocode (a structured form of the English language) can be used to
express an algorithm. A suitable algorithm for our example would be:
Start
Input r
Calculate circumference
c = 2 * PI* r
Calculate area
a = PI* r^2
Output c & a
End
In here PI is a constant that represents the value of p.
1.2.4 Test the Algorithm for Correctness
The programmer must make sure that the algorithm is correct. The objective is to identify major logic
errors early, so that they may be easily corrected. Test data should be applied to each step, to check
whether the algorithm actually does what it is supposed to.
Our simple example can be quite easily check by submitting some values for radius (r) and walking
through the algorithm to see whether the resulting output is correct for each input.
1.2.5 Code the Algorithm
After all the design considerations have been met and when the algorithm is finalised code it using a
suitable programming language.
1.2.6 Compile
The next step is to compile (section 1.3) the program. While compiling syntax errors can be identified.
When the written program does not adhere to the programming language rules those are called syntax
errors. These errors occur mostly due to miss typed characters, symbols, missing punctuations, etc. If
there are no syntax errors the program gets compiled and it produces an executable program.
1.2.7 Run the Program
Executable program generated after compiling can then be executed. While the program is running
runtime errors and sometimes logic errors can be identified. Runtime errors occur while executing the
program and those are mostly due to incorrect inputs
1
An algorithm is a sequence actions that is used to solve a problem.
© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 1

1.2.8 Test, Document and Maintain the Program
Test the running program using test data to make sure program is producing correct output(s). During
this phase logic errors can be found. Logic errors occur due to incorrect algorithms (although you
provide correct inputs you do not get the correct outputs). All the steps involved in developing the
program algorithm and code should be documented for future reference. Programmers should also
maintain and update the program according to new or changing requirements.
1.3 Running a Program

After a program is developed using a programming language, it should be executed by the computer.
Programmers write programmes in human readable languages called high-level languages. However,
the computer understands only 1’s and 0’s (referred as the machine language3 or machine code).
Therefore we need to convert the human readable programs into a machine language before executing.
This is conversion is achieved by a special set of programs called compilers (or interpreters). These
programs convert the high-level language program, into machine language programs.
Figure 1.1 – Converting a human readable program into machine language

Compilers translate a source program (human-readable) into an executable (machine-readable) program
(Figure 1.2). Executable machine code produced by a compiler can be saved in a file (referred as the
executable file) and used whenever necessary. Since the source program is already compiled, no
compilation is needed again unless the source program is modified. The saving on the compilation time
is an advantage that is gain from compiling and therefore these programs run much faster. Programs
written in programming languages such as FORTRAN, COBOL, C, C++ and Pascal must be compiled
before executing.
Figure 1.2 – Compiling and executing a program
Figure 1.3 – Interpretation of a program

As in Figure 1.2 when the executable file is available it can be executed by providing necessary input
data so that it produces the desired outputs.
Interpreters convert a source program and execute it at the same time (Figure 1.3). Each time the program
runs, the interpreter converts high-level language instructions and input data to a machine readable
format and executes the program. This process can be slower than the process which
3
Machine language is the native language of the computer (i.e. what is understood by the hardware).

compiles the source program before execution. The program need to be converted as well as executed
at the same time. Programs written in languages like BASIC, Perl, Smalltalk, Lisp and VB Script are
interpreted.
1.4 Programming Languages

Programming languages were invented to make programming easier. They became popular because they
are much easier to handle than machine language. Programming languages are designed to be both high-
level and general purpose. A language is high-level if it is independent of the underlying hardware of a
computer. It is general purpose if it can be applied to a wide range of situations. There are more than
two thousand programming languages and some of these languages are general purpose while others are
suitable for specific classes of applications. Languages such as C, C++, Java, C# and Visual Basic can
be used to develop a variety of applications. On the other hand FORTRAN was initially developed for
numerical computing, Lisp for artificial intelligence, Simula for simulation and Prolog for natural
language processing (yet, these languages are general enough to be used for a wide range of problems.
As microprocessors, programming languages also can be grouped into several generations and currently
we are in the fourth generation. In the early days, computers were programmed using machine language
instructions that the hardware understood directly. Programs written using machine language belongs to
the first generation of programming languages. These programs were hardly human readable, therefore
understanding and modifying them was a difficult task.
Later programs were written in a human readable version of machine code called Assembly language.
Assembly language belongs to the second generation of programming languages. Each Assembly
language instruction directly maps into a machine language instruction (there is a 1-to-1 mapping).
Assembly language programs were automatically translated into machine language by a program called
an assembler. Writing and understanding Assembly language programs were easier than machine
language programs. However even the Assembly language programs tend to be lengthier and tedious to
write. Programs developed in Assembly runs only on a specific type of computer. Further, programmers
were required to have a sound knowledge about computer organization4.
With the introduction of third generation (also referred as 3GL) high-level languages were introduced.
These languages allowed programmers to ignore the details of the hardware. The programs written using
those languages were portable5 to more than one type of hardware. A compiler or an interpreter was
used to translate the high-level code to machine code. Languages such as FORTRAN, COBOL, C and
Pascal belong to the third generation.
All the modern languages such as Visual Basic, VB Script, Java, C# and MatLab belong to the fourth
generation (4GL). Programs written in these languages were more readable and understandable than the
3GL. They are much closer to natural languages. Source code of the programs written in these languages
is much smaller than other generation of languages (i.e. a single high level language instruction maps
into multiple machine language instructions). However, programs developed in 4GL generally do not
utilize resources optimally. They consume large amount of processing power and memory and they are
generally slower than the programs developed using languages belonging to other generations. Most of
these 4GL support development of Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) and responding to events such as
movement of the mouse, clicking of mouse or pressing a key on the keyboard.
Some people think that fifth generation languages are likely to be close to natural languages. Such
languages are one of the major research areas in the filed of Artificial Intelligence.
4
Computer organization describes; the internal organization of a computer, the instruction set, instruction
format, how to make use of registers, allocate and de allocate memory, talking to various I/O devices, etc.
5
Running the same program on machines with different hardware configurations.
4 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

1.5 Overview of C
“C’ seems a strange name for a programming language but it is one of the most widely used languages
in the world. C was introduced by Dennis Ritchie in 1972 at Bell Laboratories as a successor of the
language called B (Basic Combined Programming Language – BCPL). Since C was developed along
with the UNIX operating system it is strongly associated with UNIX. UNIX was developed at Bell
Laboratories and it was written almost entirely in C.
For many years, C was used mainly in academic environments. However with the release of C compilers
for commercial use and increasing popularity of UNIX, it began to gain wide-spread interest among
computer professionals. Various languages such as C++, Visual C++, Java and C# have branched away
from C by adding object-orientation and GUI features. Today C compilers are available for a number
of operating systems including all flavours of UNIX, Linux, MS-DOS, Windows and Apple Mac.
C is a robust language whose rich set of built-in functions and operations can be used to write any
complex program. C is well suited to write both commercial applications and system software since it
incorporates features of high-level languages and Assembly language. Programs written in C are
efficient and fast. Most C programs are fairly portable; that is with little or no modification and
compiling, C programs can be executed on different operating systems.
The syntax and coding style of C is simple and well structured. Due to this reason most of the modern
languages such as C++, Java and C# inherit C coding style. Therefore it is one of the best languages to
learn the art of programming. C is also suitable for many complex engineering applications.
1.6 Steps in Developing a Program in C

A programmer uses a text editor to create and modify files containing the C source code. A file
containing source code is called a source file (C source files are given the extension .c). After a C source
file has been created, the programmer must invoke the C compiler before the program can be executed.
If the compiler finds no errors in the source code it produces a file containing the machine code (this file
referred as the executable file).
The compilation of a C program is infact a three stages process; preprocessing, compiling and linking.
Figure 1.4 – Compilation process

Preprocessing is performed by a program called the preprocessor. It modifies the source code (in
memory) according to preprocessor directives (example: # define ) embedded in the source code. It
also strips comments and unnecessary white spaces from the source code. Preprocessor does not modify
the source code stored on disk, every thing is done on the copy loaded into the memory.
Compilation really happens then on the code produced by the preprocessor. The compiler translates the
preprocessor-modified source code into object code (machine code). While doing so it may encounter
syntax errors. If errors are found it will be immediately notified to the programmer and compiling will
discontinue. If the compiler finds any non-standard codes or conditions which are suspicious but
legitimate it will notify to the programmer as warnings and it continues to compile. A well written
program should not have any compilation errors or warnings.
Linking is the final step and it combines the program object code with other object codes to produce the
executable file. The other object codes come from run-time libraries, other libraries, or object files that
the programmer has created. Finally it saves the executable code as a file on the disk. If any linker
errors are encountered the executable file will not be generated.

2 – Introduction to C Programming
2.1 An Example C Program

In order to see the structure of a C program, it is best to start with a simple program. The following
code is a C program which displays the message “Hello, World!” on the screen.
/* Program-2.1 - My First Program */
#include <stdio.h>
main()
{
printf("Hello World!");
}
The heart of this program is the function printf , which actually does the work. The C language is built
from functions like printf that execute different tasks. The functions must be used in a framework
which starts with the word m ain( ) , followed by the block containing the function(s) which is marked
by braces ({ } ). The m ain( ) is a special function that is required in every C program.
The first line starting with characters / * and ending with characters * / is a comment. Comments are
used by programmers to add remarks and explanations within the program. It is always a good practice
to comment your code whenever possible. Comments are useful in program maintenance. Most of the
programs that people write needs to be modified after several months or years. In such cases they may
not remember why they have written a program in such a manner. In such cases comments will make a
programmer’s life easy in understanding the source code and the reasons for writing them. Compiler
ignores all the comments and they do not have any effect on the executable program.
Comments are of two types; single line comments and block comments. Single line comments start with
two slashes {/ / } and all the text until the end of the line is considered a comment. Block comments start
with characters / * and end with characters * / . Any text between those characters is considered a block
of comments.
Lines that start with a pound (# ) symbol are called directives for the preprocessor. A directive is not a
part of the actual program; it is used as a command to the preprocessor to direct the translation of the
program. The directive # include appears in all programs as it refers to the standard input output
header file ( stdio.h ). Here, the header file stdio.h includes information about the printf( ) function.
When using more than one directive each must appear on a separate line.
A header file includes data types, macros, function prototypes, inline functions and other common
declarations. A header file does not include any implementation of the functions declared. The C
preprocessor is used to insert the function definitions into the source files and the actual library file
which contains the function implementation is linked at link time. There are prewritten libraries of
functions such as printf( ) to help us. Some of these functions are very complex and long. Use of
prewritten functions makes the programmers life easier and they also allow faster and error free
development (since functions are used and tested by many programmers) development.
The function printf is embedded into a statement whose end is marked by a semicolon ( ;). Semicolon
indicates the end of a statement to the compiler.
The C language is case sensitive and all C programs are generally written in lowercase letters. Some of
the special words may be written in uppercase letters.
2.2 Your First C Program

Let us write our first real C program. Throughout this course students will be using Linux as the
development platform. A C program written for the Linux platform (or for UNIX) is slightly different
to the program shown earlier. A modified version of the Hello World program is given next.

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("Hello World!");
return 0;
}
Similar to the previous program, m ain( ) is placed as the first function; however with a slight difference.
The keyword int is added before the function m ain . The keyword int indicates that m ain( )
function returns an integer value. Most functions return some value and sometimes this return value
indicates the success or the failure of a function.
Because function m ain( ) returns an integer value, there must be a statement that indicates what this
value is. The statement “ return 0 ;” does that; in this case it returns zero (conventionally 0 is returned
to indicate the success of a function).
Use your favorite text editor in Linux and type the above program. Save it as HelloW orld.c (all C
source files are saved with the extension .c). Then use the shell and go to the directory that you have
saved your source file. Use the command gcc HelloW orld.c to compiler your program. If there are
no errors an executable file will be created in the same location with the default file name a.out . To
execute the program at the prompt type ./ a.out (i.e. to execute the a.out file in current directory).
When you execute your program it should display “Hello World!” on the screen.
$ vim HelloWorld.c
$ gcc HelloWorld.c
$ ./a.out
Hello World!$
However you will see the prompt ($ ) appearing just after the message “ Hello W orld! ” you can avoid
this by adding the new line character (\ n ) to the end of the message. Then your modified program
should look like the following:
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("Hello World!\n");
return 0;
}
2.3 C Tokens
The smallest element identified by the compiler in a source file is called a token. It may be a single
character or a sequence of characters to form a single item. Tokens can be classified as keywords,
literals, identifiers, operators, etc. Literals can be further classified as numeric constants, character
constants and string constants.
Language specific tokens used by a programming language are called keywords. Keywords are also
called as reserved words. They are defined as a part of the programming language therefore cannot be
used for anything else. Any user defined literals or identifiers should not conflict with keywords or
compiler directives. Table 2.1 lists keywords supported by the C language.
Table 2.1 – The C language keywords
auto break case char const continue default do

double else enum extern float for goto if
int long register return short signed sizeof static
struct switch typedef union unsigned void volatile while

Literals are factual data represented in a language. Numeric constants are an uninterrupted sequence of
digits (possibly containing a period). Numerical values such as 123, 10000 and 99.99 are examples.
Character constants represents a single character and it is surrounded by single quotation mark (‘).
Characters such as ‘a’, ‘A’, ‘$’ and ‘4’ are examples. A sequence of characters surrounded by double
quotation marks (inverted comma “” ) is called a string constant. A statement such as “I like ice cream.”
is a string constant.
Identifiers are also referred as names. A valid identifier is composed of a letter followed by a sequence
of letters, digits or underscore (_ ) symbols. An identifier must begin with a letter and the rest can be
letters, digits or underscores. Identifies are case sensitive; therefore the identifier abc is different from
ABC or Abc.
C identifiers can be very long and so it allows descriptive names like “number_of_students” and
“Total_number_of_cars_produced_per_year”. Sometimes a C compiler may consider only the first 32
characters in an identifier. While defining identifiers programmers should follow some of the naming
standards for better readability of the program. One such standard is the use of underscores symbol (_)
to combine two words (example: sub_total).
Operators are used with operands to build expressions. For example “4 + 5 ” is an expression containing
two operands (4 and 5 ) and one operator (+ symbol). C supports large number of mathematical and
logical operators such as + , - , * , / , % , ^ , & , & & , | , | | , etc. Operators will be discussed in chapter 3.
The C language uses several symbols such as semicolons (;), colons (:), commas (,), apostrophes (‘),
quotation marks (“” ), braces ([ ] ), brackets ({ } ), and parentheses (( ) ) to group block of code as a single
unit.
Figure 2.1 – C Tokens
2.4 Displaying Text

The printf is the most important function used to display text on the screen. It has two parentheses
which contains the string to be displayed, enclosed in quotation marks. Consider Program-2.4 given
below. It displays two successive statements using the printf function.
/* Program-2.4 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("Hi there");
printf("How are you?");
return 0;
}
If you compile this program and run it, the displayed output is:
Hi thereHow are you? $
How does this happens? The printf function first prints the string “Hi there”; the second time printf
function starts printing the second string from next position on the screen. This can be modified by

adding the new line (\ n ) character before the start of the second string or at the end of the first string.
Therefore the modified program can either be Program-2.5a or Program-2.5b.
/* Program-2.5a */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("Hi there ");
printf("\nHow are you?");
return 0;
}
/* Program-2.5b */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("Hi there\n");
printf("How are you?");
return 0;
}
Now the output is
Hi there
How are you?$
By adding another \ n at then end of the second string you can move the prompt ($ ) to the next line.
Exercise 2.1: Write a C program to display the following text on the screen.
University of Moratuwa
Katubedda,
Moratuwa,
Sri Lanka
www.mrt.ac.lk
2.4.1 Escape Codes
Escape codes are special characters that cannot be expressed otherwise in the source code such as new
line, tab and single quotes. All of these characters or symbols are preceded by an inverted (back) slash
(\ ). List of such escape codes are given in Table 2.2. Note that each of these escape codes represents
one character, although they consists of two characters.
Table 2.2 – Escape codes
Escape Code Meaning

\a Audible alert (bell)
\b Back space
\f Form feed
\n New line
\t Horizontal tab
\v Vertical tab
\’ Single quote (‘)
\” Double quote (“)
\? Question mark (?)
\\ Backslash (\)
2.5 Data Types

A data type in a programming language is a set of data with values having predefined characteristics
such as integers and characters. The language usually specifies the range of values for a given data

type, how the values are processed by the computer and how they are stored. Storage representations
and machine instructions to handle data types differ form machine to machine.
The variety of data types available allows the programmer to select the type appropriate to the needs of
the application as well as the machine. C supports a number of data types; if they are not enough
programmers can also define their own data types. C supports three classes of data types:
1. Primitive (or basic) data types – these are the fundamental data types supported by the language.
These can be classified as integer types, floating point types and character types.
2. User defined data types – based on the fundamental data types users can define their own data
types. These include type defined data types (using t ypedef keyword) and enumerated types
(using enum keyword).
3. Derived data types – programmers can derive data types such as arrays, structures, unions and
pointers by combining several data types together.
2.5.1 Primitive Data Types
The C language supports five primitive data types; namely integers (int ) floating point numbers ( float
), double precision floating point numbers ( double ), characters (char ) and void (void ). Many of these
data types can be further extended as long int and long double . Each of these data types requires
different storage capacities and has different range of values depending on the hardware (see Table 2.3).
Character (char ) type is considered as an integer type and actual characters are represented based on
their ASCII value.
Table 2.3 – Basic C data types (on a 32-bit machine)
Data Type Size in Bits Range of values

char 8 -128 to +127
int 32 -2147483648 to 2147483647
float 32 3.4e-38 to 3.4e+38 (accuracy up to 7 digits)
double 64 1.7e-308 to 1.7e+308 (accuracy up to 15 digits)
void 0 Without value (null)
Table 2.4 – Basic C data types and modifiers (on a 32-bit machine)
Data Type Size in Bits Range of values

Char 8 -128 to +127
unsigned char 8 0 to 255
signed char 8 -128 to +127
int 32 -2147483648 to +2147483647
signed int 32 -2147483648 to +2147483647
unsigned int 32 0 to 4294967295
short 8 -128 to +127
short int 8 -128 to +127
signed short int 8 -128 to +127
unsigned short int 8 0 to 255
long 32 -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
long int 32 -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
unsigned long 32 0 to 4,294,967,295
signed long 32 -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
float 32 3.4e-38 to 3.4e+38
double 64 1.7e-308 to 1.7e+308 (accuracy up to 15 digits)
long double 80 3.4e-4932 to 1.1e+4932 (accuracy up to 19 digits)
2.5.2 Modifiers
The basic data types can be modified by adding special keywords called data type modifiers to produce
new features or new types. The modifiers are signed , unsigned , long and short . For example
short int represents fairly small integer values and require half the amount of storage as

regular int numbers. Except with void type, the modifiers can be used with all the basic data types as
shown in Table 2.4.
2.6 Variables
A variable has a value that can change. It is a memory location that can hold a value of a certain data
type. Programmers refer to a variable by its name (identifier) so that it can be accessed during the course
of the program. Programmers cannot use any of the keywords as variable names.
2.6.1 Declaring Variables
In order to use a variable in C, the programmer must first declare it specifying the data type. The most
important restriction on using a variable in C is that they have to be declared at the beginning of the
program. The syntax to declare a new variable is to first write the data type then followed by a valid
variable identifier as given in the following examples:
int a;
float total;
unsigned int index_no;
short int number_of_students;
Above set of expressions declared, variables “a ” as an integer, “ total ” as a floating point number,
“ index_ no ” as unsigned integer (since there are no negative index numbers) and “ num
ber_ of_ students ” as a short integer.
Multiple variables belonging to the same data type can be defined as separate set of expressions or by
listing variable names one after the other (should be separated by a coma sign (,)).Consider the following
examples:
int a;
int b;
float total;
float sub_total;
above variables can also be defined as:
int a,b;
float total, sub_total;
After declaring a variable it should be initialised with a suitable value. In C, an uninitialised variable
can contain any garbage value therefore the programmer must make sure all the variables are initialised
before using them in any of the expressions. Initialising a variable can be done while declaring it, just
after declaring it or later within the code (before accessing/evaluating its value within an expression). In
initialising a variable any of the following three approaches are valid:
int a;
a = 10;
or
int a=10;
or
int a;
a = 10;
2.6.2 Constants
The value of a constant cannot be changed after an initial value is assigned to it. The C language supports
two types of constants; namely declared constants and defined constants. Declared constants are more
common and they are defined using the keyword const . With the const prefix the programmer can
declare constants with a specific data type exactly as it is done with variables.
const float pi = 3.141;
Programmers can define their own names for constants which are used quite often in a program. Without
having to refer to a variable such a constant can be defined simply by using the # define

pre-processor directive. These are called defined constants. Following expression illustrates the use of
the # define pre-processor directive
#define pi 3.141
2.7 Displaying Numbers

When displaying numbers special care must be given to the data type. Each data type has to be used
with printf function in a specific format. In order to display the correct values using the printf function
conversion specifiers should be used. They are used to instruct the compiler about the type of numbers
appearing in the program, which in turn determines the suitable memory storage locations.
Table 2.5 – The printf conversion specifiers
Conversion Specifiers Meaning of the output format

%c Character
%d Decimal integer
%e or %E Scientific notation
%f Floating point
%g or %G Scientific notation or floating point (whichever shorter)
%i Decimal integer
%o Octal number
%p Pointer
%s String of characters
%u Unsigned decimal integer
%x or %X Hexadecimal number
%% Display the % sign
The conversion specifiers are also referred as format characters or format specifiers. Table 2.5
summarises conversion specifies supported by the printf function. Consider the example given below:
/* Program-2.6 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("%d\n",128);
printf("%f\n",128.0);
return 0;
}
Executing above program will display the following:
128
128.000000
The first number is of the type integer while the second number is of the type float. Conversion specifier
% d stands for decimal while % f stands for float. Incorrect use of format characters would result in
wrong outputs.
Exercise 2.2: Rewrite Program-2.3 and try swapping the %d and %f. Run your program and observe
the output.
Exercise 2.3: Identify the output of each printf function call given in Program-2.7. Execute the
program and observe the outputs.
Consider Program-2.8 which makes use of variables. In this program variables “a ” and “b” are
initialised with values 10.0 and 3 and the answer ( b/ a) is stored in variable “c”.

/* Program-2.7 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("%d\n",65*2);
printf("%d\n",65/2);
printf("%f\n",65.0/2);
printf("%c\n",65);
printf("%x\n",255);
return 0;
}
/* Program-2.8 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a = 3;
float b = 10.0;
float c;
c = b/a;
printf("A is %d\n",a); //decimal value
printf("B is %d\n",b); //decimal value
printf("Answer is %f\n",c); //floating point value
return 0;
}
Executing Program-2.8 will display the following:
A is 3
B is 0
Answer is 3.333333
In Program-2.8 you may wish to see the answer appearing in a more manageable form like 3.3 or 3.33
rather than 3.333333. This can be achieved by using modifiers along with the format characters in order
to specify the required field width.
The format % .0 f will suppress all the digits to the right of the decimal point, while the format % .2 f
will display first two digits after that decimal point.
Exercise2.4: Modify Program-2.8 so that it displays an answer which is correct up to 2 decimal points.
Exercise 2.5: Write a program to assign the number 34.5678 to a variable named “number” then display
the number rounded to the nearest integer value and next the number rounded to two decimal places.
Program-2.9 illustrates the use of character variables.
/* Program-2.9 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
char first_letter;
first_letter = ‘A’;
printf("Character %c\n", first_letter); //display character
printf("ASCII value %d\n", first_letter); //display ASCII value
return 0;
}
Character A
ASCII value 65

2.8 Formatted Input
We have already used printf function to display formatted output. The scanf is a similar function that
is used to read data into a program. The scanf function accepts formatted input from the keyboard.
Program-2.10 demonstrates the use of the scanf function:
/* Program-2.10 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
float a,b,sum;
scanf("%f", &a); // read 1st number
scanf("%f", &b); // read 2nd number
sum = a + b; // total
printf("a+b = %f\n", sum); //display answer as float
return 0;
}
Three variables are declared (a , b and sum ) in Program-2.10. Values of “a ” and “b” are to be read
from the keyboard using the scanf function, while the value of the variable “sum ” is calculated as the
summation of “a ” and “b”. The scanf function uses the same set of formatting characters as the printf
function to describe the type of expected input.
Note that the scanf function uses the variables “a ” and “b”as “& a ” and “& b”. The symbol “& ” is
called the address of operator. The string “& a ” represents the memory address containing variable “a”
and is called a pointer (see Section 8).
When the program executes, it waits for the user to type the value of “a ” followed by the Enter key
and then it waits for the value of “b” followed by another the Ent er key. The supplied input values can
be separated either by pressing Ent er key or by leaving a blank space between the numbers. Both of
the following inputs are valid for Program-2.10.
2
3
Answer > 5.000000
or
2 3
Answer > 5.000000
Exercise 2.6: Modify Program-2.10 so that it displays the answer with only two decimal points.
The scanf function also supports mixed types of input data. Consider the following line of code:
scanf("%d%f", &a,&b);
The scanf function accepts variable “a ” as an integer and “b” as a floating point number.
In certain cases you may want to separate your inputs using a comma (,) rather than using the Ent er
key or a blank space. In such cases you must include the comma between format characters as:
scanf("%f,%f", &a,&b);
For such a program your inputs should be in the form:
2,3
One deficiency of the scanf function is that it cannot display strings while waiting for user input. This
will require use of an additional function like the printf in order to display a message as a prompt for
the user reminding the required data item.
Exercise 2.7: Modify Program-2.10 so that it displays the following output when executed.
Enter 1st number : 2
Enter 2nd number : 3
Answer > 5

3 – Operators in C
Expressions can be built up from literals, variables and operators. The operators define how the variables
and literals in the expression will be manipulated. C supports several types of operators and they can be
classified as:
 Assignment operator
 Arithmetic operators
 Relational operators
 Logical operators
 Bitwise operators
 Special operators
 Pointer operators
Pointer operators and special operators will not be covered in this chapter. They will be introduced
later under relevant sections.
.
3.1 Assignment Operator
The assignment operator is the simple equal sign (=). The assignment operator is used to assign a
value to a variable. The format of an assignment statement is:
variable- nam e = expression;
The expression can be a single variable or a literal, or it may contain variables, literals and operators.
The assignment operation always takes place from right to left. Consider the following set of examples:
a = 5; // value of variable ‘a’ becomes 5
a = 5+10; // value of variable ‘a’ becomes 15
a = 5 + b; // value of variable ‘a’ becomes 5 + value of b
a = b + c; // value of variable ‘a’ becomes value of b + value of c
a = (x*x + y*y)/2;
In C lots of shortcuts are possible. For example, instead of the statement,
a = a + b;
the programmer may use the shorthand format:
a += b;
Such operators are called compound assignment operators. The assignment operator can be combined
with the major arithmetic operations such as; +, -, *, / and %. Therefore many similar assignments can
be used such as:
a -= b; // is same as a = a-b;
a *= b; // is same as a = a*b;
a /= b; // is same as a = a/b;
a %= b; // is same as a = a%b;
Table 3.1 – Arithmetic operators
Operator Action
+ Addition
- Subtraction
* Multiplication
/ Division
% Modulo division
++ Increment (extended)
-- Decrement (extended)

3.2 Arithmetic Operators
C supports five major arithmetic operators and two extended (shortcuts) operators (Table 3.1).
Program-3.1 illustrates the usage of major arithmetic operators.
/* Program-3.1 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a,b;
printf("Enter a: ");
scanf("%d", &a); //read value of a
printf("Enter b: ");
scanf("%d", &b); //read value of b
printf("\na+b = %d", a+b); //display sum of a & b

printf("\na-b = %d", a-b); //display subtraction of b from a
printf("\na*b = %d", a*b); //display multiplication of a & b
printf("\na/b = %d", a/b); //display division of a by b
printf("\na%%b = %d", a%b); //display modulus of a divided by b
return 0;
}
Executing Program-3.1 with “a ” as 5 and “b” as 2 will display the following:
Enter a: 5
Enter b: 2
a+b = 7
a-b = 3
a*b = 10
a/b = 2
a%b = 1
3.2.1 Increment and Decrement Operators
Increment and decrement operators are very useful operators. The operator + + means “add 1” or
“increment by 1”. Similarly operator - - mean “subtract 1” or “decrement by 1”. They are also equivalent
to + = 1 and - = 1 . For example, instead of using the following expression to increment a variable:
a = a + 1;
you may use:
a +=1; or a++;
Also expression:
a = a - 1;
can be written as:
a -=1; or a--;
Both increment and decrement operators can be used as a prefix or as a suffix. The operator can be
written before the identifier as a prefix (+ + a ) or after the identifier as a suffix (a+ + ). In simple
operations such as a+ + or + + a both have exactly the same meaning. However in some cases there is
a difference. Consider the following set of statements:
int a, x;
a = 3;
x = ++a;
After executing above segment of code, “a ” will be 4 and “x ” will be 4 .
In line 3, first the variable “a ” is incremented before assigning it to variable “x ”. Consider the
following segment of code.

int a, x;
a = 3;
x = a++;
After executing above code segment “a ” will be 4 and “x ” will be 3 .
In the second approach in line 3 first “a ” is assigned to “x ” and then “a ” is incremented.
Exercise 3.1 – Predict the values of variables “a”, “b”, “sum1” and “sum2” if the following code
segment is executed.
int a, b;
a = b = 2;
sum1 = a + (++b);
sum2 = a + (b++);
3.2.2 Precedence and Associatively of Arithmetic Operators
Precedence defines the priority of an operator while associativity indicates which variable(s) an operator
is associated with or applied to. Table 3.2 illustrates the precedence of arithmetic operators and their
associativity.
Table 3.2 – Precedence of arithmetic operators
Operator Precedence Associativity

++, -- Highest Right to left
*/%  Left to right
+– Lowest Left to right
In the same expression, if two operators of the same precedence are found, they are evaluated from left
to right, except for increment and decrement operators which are evaluated from right to left. Parentheses
can also be used to change the order of evaluation and it has the highest precedence. It is recommended
to use parentheses to simplify expressions without depending on the precedence.
3.3 Relational and Logical Operators

The relational operators are used to compare values forming relational expressions. The logical operators
are used to connect relational expressions together using the rules of formal logic. Both types of
expressions produce TRUE or FALSE results. In C, FALSE is the zero while any nonzero number is
TRUE. However, the logical and relational expressions produce the value “1” for TRUE and the value
“0” for FALSE. Table 3.3 shows relational and logical operators used in C.
Table 3.3 – Relational and logical operators
Operator Action
Relational Operators
> Greater than
>= Greater than or equal
< Less than
<= Less than or equal
== Equal
!= Not equal
Logical Operators
&& AND
|| OR
! NOT
3.3.1 Precedence of Relational and Logical Operators
As arithmetic operators, relational and logical operators also have precedence. Table 3.4 summarises
the relative precedence of the relational and logical operators. These operators are lower in precedence
than arithmetic operators.

Table 3.4 – Precedence of relational and logical operators

! Highest Right to left
> >= < <=  Left to right
= = !=  Left to right
&&  Left to right
|| Lowest Left to right
For an example consider the following expression:
10 > 8+1
is equivalent to the expression:
10 > (8+1)
In order to understand how logical expressions are evaluated consider the following expression:
a==b && c > d
This expression says that; “(a is equivalent to b) AN D (c is greater than d)”. In other words this
expression is evaluated as TRUE if both the conditions are met. That is if a = = b is TRUE and c >
d is also TRUE. If AND (& & ) is replaced by logical OR (| | ) operation then only one condition needs
to be TRUE.
Consider another expression (assume both “a” and “b” are integers and their value is 5):
!(a==b)
In this case, since both “a ” and “b” have similar value 5, the logical value of the expression within the
parenthesis is TRUE. However the NOT operation will negate the result which is TRUE. Therefore the
final result will be FALSE.
In order to see the effect of precedence consider the following expression:
a==b && x==y || m==n
Since equal operator (= = ) has a higher precedence than the logical operators the equality will be checked
first. Then the logical AND operation will be performed and finally logical OR operation will be
performed. Therefore this statement can be rewritten as:
((a==b) && (x==y)) || (m==n)
This expression is evaluated as TRUE if:
 a= = b is evaluated as TRUE and x= = y is evaluated as TRUE
 Or m = = n is evaluated as TRUE.
3.4 Bitwise Operators

Using C you can access and manipulate bits in variables, allowing you to perform low level operations.
C supports six bitwise operators and they are listed in Table 3.5. Their precedence is lower than
arithmetic, relational and logical operators (see Table 3.6).
Table 3.5 – Bitwise operators
Operator Action
& Bitwise AND
| Bitwise OR
^ Bitwise XOR
~ One’s complement
>> Right shift
<< Left shift

Table 3.6 – Precedence of bitwise operators

~ Highest Left to right
<< >>  Left to right
&  Left to right
^  Left to right
| Lowest Left to right
Bitwise AND, OR and XOR operators perform logical AND, OR and XOR operations at the bit level.
Consider following set of expressions:
int a,b,c;
a = 12;
b = 8;
c = a & b;
The bitwise AND operation will be performed at the bit level as follows:
a = 12  00001100
b = 8  00001000 &
00001000
Then the variable “c” will hold the result of bitwise AND operation between “a ” and “b” which is
000010002 (810).
Example 3.1 – Write a C program to convert a given character from uppercase to lowercase and vice
versa.
ASCII values of the uppercase and lowercase characters have a difference of 32. For example, in ASCII,
“A” is represented by 6510 while “a” is represented by 9710 (97-65 = 32). At the bit level, only difference
between the two characters is the 5th bit.
65 = 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 12
97 = 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 12
32 = 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 02
Therefore by inverting the 5th bit of a character it can be changed from uppercase to lowercase and vice
versa. Bitwise XOR operation can be used to invert bits. Therefore any ASCII value XOR with 32 will
invert its case form upper to lower and lower to upper. This is the concept used in Program 3.2 which
converts a given character from uppercase to lowercase and vice versa.
/* Program-3.2 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
char input;
printf("Character to convert: ");
scanf("%c",&input); //read character
printf("Converted character: %c", input ^ 32); //input XOR 32
return 0;
}
Executing Program-3.2 with character “b” as the input will display the following:
Character to convert: b
Converted character: B
Executing Program-3.2 with character “Q” as the input will display the following:
Character to convert : Q
Converted character : q

3.4.1 Shift Operators
Shift operators allow shifting of bits either to left or right. We know that 8 is represented in binary as:
8 = 00001000
and when it is shifted by one bit to right, we get:
8 = 00001000  00000100 = 4
Similarly when the number is shifted by one bit to left, we get:
16 = 00010000  00001000 = 8
The C right shift (> > ) operator shifts an 8-bit number by one or more bits to right while left shift
(< < ) operator shifts bits to left. Shifting a binary number to left by one bit will multiply it by 2 while
shifting it to right by one bit will divide it by 2. After the shift operation the final result should also be
a 8-bit number, therefore any additional bits are removed and missing bits will be filled with zero.
In general the right shift operator is used in the form:
variable >> number-of-bits
and left shift is given in the form:
variable >> number-of-bits
In the following expression the value in the variable “a” is shift by 2 bits to right:
a >> 2
Table 3.7 summarises all the operators supported by C, their precedences and associativities. However
some operators can be confusing, as they use the same characters (for example, * is used for
multiplication and also to denote pointers). However the following rule will reduce any confusion. The
unary operators (operators with only one operand such as & a (address of a)) have a higher precedence
than the binary operators (operators with two operands such as a* b). When operators have the same
precedence an expression is evaluated left to right.
Table 3.7 – Precedence of C operators

( ) [ ] -> . Highest Left to right
! ~ ++ -- 
&*  Right to left
*/%  Left to right
+-  Left to right
<< >>  Left to right
< <= > >=  Left to right
= = !=  Left to right
&  Left to right
^  Left to right
|  Left to right
&&  Left to right
||  Left to right
?:  Left to right
= += -= *= /=  Right to left
, Lowest Left to right

4 – Conditional Control Structures
A Program is usually not limited to a linear sequence of instructions. In real life, a programme usually
needs to change the sequence of execution according to some conditions. In C, there are many control
structures that are used to handle conditions and the resultant decisions. This chapter introduces if- else
and sw itch constructs.
4.1 The if Statement

A simple condition is expressed in the form:
if ( condition)
statem ent;
It starts with the keyword if , followed by a condition (a logical expression) enclosed within parenthesis,
followed by the result statement. The resulting statement is executed if the condition is evaluated as
TRUE. Note that there is no semicolon (;) after the condition expression. Consider the following
example:
if (marks >50)
printf("You have passed the exam!");
If the value of the variable “m arks ” is greater than 5 0 , the message “You have passed the exam
!” is displayed on the screen; otherwise the statement is skipped and no message is displayed. Program
4.1 illustrates the use of this in a C program.
/* Program-4.1 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int marks;
printf("Enter marks: ");
scanf("%d", &marks); //get marks
if (marks >50) // if marks >50 display message

printf("You have passed the exam!");
return 0;
}
Executing Program-4.1 with different inputs will behave as follows:
Case 1: Enter marks: 73
You have passed the exam!
Case 2:Enter marks: 34
Case 3:Enter marks: 50

In the second and third cases, the message “You have passed the exam !” will not be displayed.
More than one statement can be executed as a result of the condition by embedding set of statements in
a block (between two braces { } ).
Example 4.1 – Write a program which accepts a number (an amount of money to be paid by a customer
in rupees) entered from the keyboard. If the amount is greater than or equal to 1000 rupees, a 5% discount
is given to the customer. Then display the final amount that the customer has to pay.
First the program needs to check whether the given amount is greater than or equal to 1000; if it is the
case a 5% discount should be given. Then the final amount needs to be displayed. All these are done
only if the condition is TRUE. So instructions which compute discount and final amount should be
executed as a block. Program 4.2 is an implementation of this.

/* Program-4.2 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
float amount,final_amount, discount;
printf("Enter amount: ");
scanf("%f", &amount); //get amount
if (amount >= 1000) // if amount >= 1000 give discount

{
discount = amount* 0.05;
final_amount = amount - discount;
printf ("Discount: %.2f", discount);
printf ("\nTotal: %.2f", final_amount);
}
return 0;
}
Executing Program-4.2 with 1250.25 as the keyboard input display the following:
Enter amount: 1250.25
Discount: 62.51
Total: 1187.74
In Program-4.1 if the condition is TRUE, the set of statements inside the block are executed. If the
condition is FALSE (if the amount is less than 1000) those statements will not be executed.
Example 4.2 – Modify Program-4.2 so that it displays the message “No discount…” if the amount is
less than 1000.
Another if clause is required to check whether the amount is less than 1000. The second if clause can
be used before or after the first (existing) if clause. Program-4.3 below has been modified from Program-
4.2 to address this.
/* Program-4.3 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{

{
}
if (amount < 1000) // if amount < 1000 no discount
printf ("No discount...");
return 0;
}
Exercise 4.1 – Modify Program-4.1 so that it displays the message “You are failed!”, if marks are less
than or equal to 50.
In many programs it is required to perform some action when a condition is TRUE and another action
when it is FALSE. In such cases, the if clause can be used to check the TRUE condition and act upon
it. However it does not act upon the FALSE condition. Therefore the expression resulting the FALSE
condition needs to be reorganised. In example 4.2 when we wanted to identify the case where the amount
is not greater than 1000 (the FALSE case) we were checking whether it is less than 1000 (< 1 0 0
0 ).

The C language allows us to use the if- else structure in such scenarios. You can include both the
cases (TRUE and FALSE) using the if- else structure.
4.2 The if-else Structure

The if-else structure takes the form:
if ( condition)
statem ent- 1 ;
else
statem ent- 2 ;
When the condition is evaluated, one of the two statements will be executed and then the program
resumes its original flow. Blocks make it possible to use many statements rather than just one. Then the
Program-4.3 can be modified as follows:
/* Program-4.4 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{

{
}
else // else no discount
printf ("No discount...");
return 0;
}
Exercise 4.2 – Modify Program-4.1 so that it displays the message “You have passed the exam!”, if
marks are greater than 50. If not display the message “You have failed!”.
Exercise 4.3 – Write a program to identify whether a number input from the keyboard is even or odd. If
it is even, the program should display the message “Number is even”, else it should display “Number is
odd”.
4.3 The if-else-if Ladder

In certain cases multiple conditions are to be detected. In such cases the conditions and their associated
statements can be arranged in a construct that takes the form:
if ( condition- 1 )
statem ent- 1 ;
else if ( condition- 2 )
statem ent- 2 ;
else if ( condition- 3 )
statem ent- 3 ;
…
else
statem ent- n;
The above construct is referred as the if-else-if ladder. The different conditions are evaluated starting
from the top of the ladder and whenever a condition is evaluated as TRUE, the corresponding
statement(s) are executed and the rest of the construct it skipped.
Example 4.3 – Write a program to display the student’s grade based on the following table:

Marks Grade
>=75 A
> 50 and <75 B
> 25 and <50 C
< 25 F
In this case multiple conditions are to be checked. Marks obtained by a student can only be in one of
the ranges. Therefore if-else-if ladder can be used to implement following program.
/* Program-4.5 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int marks;
scanf("%d", &marks); //read marks
if(marks > 75) // if over 75

printf("Your grade is: A");
else if(marks >= 50 && marks <75) // if between 50 & 75
printf("Your grade is: B");
else if(marks >= 25 && marks <50) // if between 25 & 50
printf("Your grade is: C");
else
printf ("Your grade is: F"); // if less than 25
return 0;
}
Notice that in Program-4.5, some of the conditional expressions inside the if clause are not as simple as
they were earlier. They combine several expressions with logical operators such as AND ( & & ) and OR
(| | ). These are called compound relational tests.
Due to the top down execution of the if-else-if ladder Program-4.5 can also be written as follows:
/* Program-4.6 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int marks;
scanf("%d", &marks); //get marks
if(marks > 75)

printf("Your grade is A"); // if over 75
else if(marks >= 50 )
printf("Your grade is B"); // if over 50
else if(marks >= 25 )
printf("Your grade is C"); // if over 25
else
printf ("Your grade is F"); // if not
return 0;
}
In Program-4.6, when the marks are entered from the keyboard the first expression ( m arks > 7 5 ) is
evaluated. If m arks is not greater than 75, the next expression is evaluated to see whether it is greater
than 50. If the second expression is not satisfied either, the program evaluates the third expression and
so on until it finds a TRUE condition. If it cannot find a TRUE expression statement(s) after the else
keyword will get executed.

4.4 Nesting Conditions
Sometimes we need to check for multiple decisions. This can be accomplished by two approaches; using
compound relational tests or using nested conditions. When conditions are nested the if-else/if- else-if
construct may contain other if-else/if-else-if constructs within themselves. In nesting you must be careful
to keep track of different if s and corresponding else s. Consider the following example:
if (a>=2)
if (b >= 4)
printf("Result 1");
else
printf("Result 2");
An else matches with the last if in the same block. In this example the else corrosponds to the second
if . Therefore if both a > = 2 AND b > = 4 are TRUE “ Result 1 ” will be displayed; if a> =
2 is TRUE but if b > = 4 is FALSE “ Result 2 ” will be displayed. If a > = 2 is FALSE nothing
will be displayed. To reduce any confusion braces can be used to simplify the source code. Therefore
the above can be rewritten as follows:
if (a>=2)
{
if (b >= 4)
printf("Result 1");
else
printf("Result 2");
}
In the above, if else is to be associated with the first if then we can write as follows:
if (a>=2)
{
if (b >= 4)
printf("Result 1");
}
else
printf("Result 2");
Exercise 4.4 – Rewrite the program in Example 4.3 using nested conditions (i.e. using braces ‘{‘ and
‘}’.
Example 4.4 – A car increases it velocity from u ms-1 to v ms-1 within t seconds. Write a program to
calculate the acceleration.
The relationship among acceleration (a), u, v and t can be given as v  u  at . Therefore the
vu
acceleration can be found by the formula a  . In the program we implement users can input
t
any values for u, v and t. However, to find the correct acceleration t has to be non zero and positive
(since we cannot go back in time and a number should not be divided by zero). So our program should
make sure it accepts only the correct inputs. The Program-4.7 calculates the acceleration given u, v and
t.
4.5 Conditional Operator

Conditional operator (?:) is one of the special operators supported by the C language. The conditional
operator evaluates an expression and returns one of two values based on whether condition is TRUE or
FALSE. It has the form:
condition ? result- 1 : result- 2 ;
If the condition is TRUE the expression returns result- 1 and if not it returns result- 2 .
Example 4.5 – Consider the following example which determines the value of variable “b” based on the
whether the given input is greater than 50 or not.
/* Program-4.7 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
float u,v,t,a;
printf("Enter u (m/s): ");
scanf("%f", &u); //get starting velocity
printf("Enter v (m/s): ");
scanf("%f", &v); //get current velocity
printf("Enter t (s) : ");
scanf("%f", &t); //get time
if(t >= 0)
{
a = (v-u)/t;
printf("acceleration is: %.2f m/s", a);
}
else
printf ("Incorrect time");
return 0;
}
/* Program-4.8 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a,b;
printf("Enter value of a: ");
scanf("%d", &a); //get starting velocity
b = a > 50 ? 1 : 2;
printf("Value of b: %d", b);
return 0;
}
Executing Program-4.8 display the following:
Enter value of a: 51
Value of b: 1
Enter value of a: 45
Value of b: 2
If the input is greater than 50 variable “b” will be assigned “1” and if not it will be assigned “2”.
Conditional operator can be used to implement simple if-else constructs. However use of conditional
operator is not recommended in modern day programming since it may reduce the readability of the
source code.
4.6 The switch Construct

Instead of using if-else-if ladder, the switch construct can be used to handle multiple choices, such as
menu options. The syntax of the switch construct is different from if-else construct. The objective is to
check several possible constant values for an expression. It has the form:
sw itch ( control variable)
{
case constant - 1 :
statem ent( s) ;
break;
case constant - 2 :
statem ent( s) ;
break;
…

case constant - n:
statem ent( s) ;
break;
default:
statem ent( s) ;
}
The switch construct starts with the sw itch keyword followed by a block which contains the different
cases. Switch evaluates the control variable and first checks if its value is equal to constant- 1 ; if it is
the case, then it executes the statement(s) following that line until it reaches the break keyword. When
the b reak keyword is found no more cases will be considered and the control is transferred out of the
switch structure to next part of the program. If the value of the expression is not equal to constant- 1
it will check the value of constant- 2 . If they are equal it will execute relevant statement(s). This
process continuous until it finds a matching value. If a matching value is not found among any case s,
the statement(s) given after the default keyword will be executed.
The control variable of the switch must be of the type int , long or char (any other datatype is not
allowed). Also note that the value we specify after case keyword must be a constant and cannot be a
variable (example: n*2).
Example 4.6 – Write a program to display the following menu on the screen and let the user select a
menu item. Based on the user’s selection display the category of software that the user selected program
belongs to.
Menu
1 – Microsoft Word
2 – Yahoo messenger
3 – AutoCAD
4 – Java Games
Enter number of your preference:

Program-4.9 implements a solution to the above problem:
/* Program-4.9 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a;
printf("\t\tMenu");
printf("\n ---------------------------------- ");
printf("\n1 - Microsoft Word");
printf("\n2 - Yahoo messenger");
printf("\n3 - AutoCAD");
printf("\n4 - Java Games");
printf("\n ---------------------------------- ");
printf("\nEnter number of your preference: ");
scanf("%d",&a); //read input
switch (a)
{
case 1: //if input is 1
printf("\nPersonal Computer Software");
break;
printf("\nWeb based Software");
break;
printf("\nScientific Software");
break;
printf("\nEmbedded Software");

break;
default:
printf("\nIncorrect input");
}
return 0;
}
Menu
1 - Microsoft Word
2 - Yahoo messenger
3 - AutoCAD
4 - Java Games
Enter number of your preference: 1
Personal Computer Software

Exercise 4.5 – Develop a simple calculator to accept two floating point numbers from the keyboard.
Then display a menu to the user and let him/her select a mathematical operation to be performed on
those two numbers. Then display the answer. A sample run of you program should be similar to the
following:
Enter number 1: 20
Enter number 2: 12
Mathematical Operation
1 - Add
2 - Subtract
3 - Multiply
4 - Divide
Enter your preference: 2
Answer : 8.00
In certain cases you may need to execute the same statement(s) for several cases of a switch block. In
such cases several cases can be grouped together as follows:
switch (x)
{
case 1:
case 2:
case 3:
printf(“Valid input”);
break;
default:
printf(“Invalid input”);
break;
}

5 – Control Structures
A Program is usually not limited to a linear sequence of instructions or conditional structures and it is
sometimes required to execute a statement or a block of statements repeatedly. These repetitive
constructs are called loops or control structures. The C language supports three constructs; namely for
, w hile and do- w hile loops. Rest of this chapter introduces these control structures.
5.1 The for loop

The for loop construct is used to repeat a statement or block of statements a specified number of times.
The general form of a for loop is:
for ( counter- initialization; condition; increm ent)
statem ent( s) ;
The construct includes the initialization of the counter, the condition and the increment. The main
function of the for loop is to repeat the statement(s) while the condition remains true. The condition
should check for a specific value of the counter. In addition it provides ways to initialize the counter and
increment (or decrement) the counter. Therefore the for loop is designed to perform a repetitive action
for a pre-defined number of times. Consider the following example:
/* Program-5.1 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int counter;
for(counter=1; counter <= 5; counter++) //loop 5 times
{
printf("This is a loop\n");
}
return 0;
}
Execution of program-5.1 displays:
This is a loop
This is a loop
This is a loop
This is a loop
This is a loop
In the above example, the variable “ counter ” starts with an initial value of “1 ”. The second expression
inside the parenthesis determines the number of repetitions of the loop. It reads as; “as long as the counter
is less than or equal to 5 repeat the statement(s)”. The third expression is the incrimination of the counter;
it is achieved by the + + operator. You may also decrement the counter depending on the requirement,
but you have to use suitable control expression and an initial value.
In the first round of execution the “ counter ” is set to “1 ”. Then the expression “ counter < = 5 ” is
evaluated. Since the current value of the “ counter ” is “1 ” expression is evaluated as TRUE. Therefore
the printf function gets executed. Then the “ counter ” is incremented by the + + operator and now its
new value becomes “2 ”. At this point the first round of the loop is completed. Then in the second round
the expression is evaluated again. Since the “counter” is “2” the expression will be TRUE. Therefore
the printf function gets executed for the second time. Then the “ counter ” is incremented once more
and its new value becomes “3 ”. This process continues for another 2 rounds. After a total of five rounds
the “ counter ” becomes “6 ”. When the expression is evaluated at the beginning of the sixth round the
“ counter ” is greater than 5 therefore expression becomes FALSE. Then the loop will terminate and
the control is given to rest of the instructions which are outside the loop.
Exercise 5.1 – Write a C program to display all the integers from 100 to 200.
Example 5.1 – Write a program to calculate the sum of all the even numbers up to 100.

First even number is 0 and the last even number is 100. By adding 2 to an even number the next even
number can be found. Therefore the counter should be incremented by 2 in each round. Program-5.2 is
an implementation of the above requirement.
/* Program-5.2 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int counter, sum;
sum = 0;
for(counter=0; counter <= 100; (counter += 2)) //increment by 2
{
sum += counter;
}
printf("Total : %d", sum);
return 0;
}
Exercise 5.2 – Modify Program-5.2 such that it computes the sum of all the odd numbers up to 100.
Exercise 5.3 – Write a program to compute the sum of all integers form 1 to 100.
Exercise 5.4 – Write a program to calculate the factorial of any given positive integer.
Each of the three parts inside the parentheses of the for statement is optional. You may omit any of
them as long as your program contains the necessary statements to take care of the loop execution. Even
the statement(s) inside the loop are optional. You can omit even all the expressions as in the following
example:
for(;;;)
printf("Hello World\n");
This loop is an infinite one (called an infinite loop). It is repeated continuously unless you include a
suitable condition inside the loop block to terminate the execution. If there is no such condition, the only
thing you can do is to abort the program (a program can be aborted by pressing Ctrl+ Break ).
Example 5.2 – Write a program to compute the sum of all integers between any given two numbers.
In this program both inputs should be given from the keyboard. Therefore at the time of development
both initial value and the final value are not known.
/* Program-5.3 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num1, num2, sum;
sum=0;
printf("Enter first number: ");
scanf("%d", &num1); //read num1
printf("Enter second number: ");
scanf("%d", &num2); //read num2
for(; num1 <= num2; num1++)

{
sum += num1; //sum = sum+num1
}
printf("Total : %d", sum);
return 0;
}
5.2 The while Loop

The w hile loop construct contains only the condition. The programmer has to take care about the
other elements (initialization and incrementing). The general form of the while loop is:

w hile ( condition)
{
statem ent( s) ;
{
The loop is controlled by the logical expression that appears between the parentheses. The loop
continues as long as the expression is TRUE. It will stop when the condition becomes FALSE it will
stop. You need to make sure that the expression will stop at some point otherwise it will become an
infinite loop. The w hile loop is suitable in cases where the exact number of repetitions is not known in
advance. Consider the following example:
/* Program-5.4 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int num;
printf("Enter number of times to repeat: ");
scanf("%d", &num);
while (num != 0)
{
num--;
}
return 0;
}
Execution of Program-5.4 with 5 as the input will display the following:
Enter number of times to repeat: 5
Hello World!
Hello World!
Hello World!
Hello World!
Hello World!
In Program-5.4 the number of times to loop, depends on the user input. In such cases use of w hile loop
is desirable than the for loop. In program-5.4 variable “ num ” act as the counter. The conditions inside
the w hile loop check whether the counter is not equal to zero (num != 0 ) if so it will execute
the printf function. Next we need to make sure that the program loops only 5 times. That is achieved
by decrementing the counter (num - - ) at each round. If the counter is not decremented the program will
loop forever.
Exercise 5.5 – What would happen if we enter -1 as the number of times to loop in Program-5.4? Modify
Program-5.4 so that it works only for positive integers.
5.3 The do-while Loop

Another useful loop is the do- w hile loop. The only difference between the do- w hile loop and
other loops is that in the do- w hile loop the condition comes after the statement(s). It takes the
following form:
do
{
statem ent( s) ;
}
w hile ( condition) ;
This means that the statement(s) inside the loop will be executed at least once regardless of the
condition being evaluated. Consider the following example:

/* Program-5.5 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
float price, total;
total = 0 ; //set initial value to 0
do //request for price
{
printf("Enter price (0 to end): ");
scanf("%f", &price); //get price
total += price;
} while (price > 0); // if valid price continue loop
printf("Total : %.2f", total);
return 0;
}
Execution of Program-5.5 with some inputs will display the following:
Enter price (0 to end): 10
Enter price (0 to end): 12.50
Enter price (0 to end): 99.99
Enter price (0 to end): 0
Total : 122.49
Program-5.5 accepts prices of items from the keyboard and then it computes the total. User can enter
any number of prices and the program will add them up. It will terminate only if zero or any negative
number is entered. In order to calculate the total or terminate the program there should be at least one
input from the keyboard. Therefore in this type of a program do- w hile loop is recommended than the
w hile loop.
Exercise 5.6 – Modify Program-4.8 such that it first displays the menu. Then based on the user selection
it should display the correct message. After displaying the correct message it should again display the
menu. The program should exit when the user enter 0.
In summary, the for loop is recommended for cases where the number of repetitions is known in
advance. The w hile loop is recommended for cases where the number of repetitions are unknown or
unclear during the development process. The do- w hile loop is recommended for cases where the loop
to be executed needs to run at least once regardless of the condition. However, each type of loop can be
interchanged with the other two types by including proper control mechanisms.
5.4 Nesting of Loops

Like the conditional structures loops can also be nested inside one another. You can nest loops of any
kind inside another to any depth you want. However having large number of nesting will reduce the
readability of your source code.
Example 5.3 – Write a C program to display the following pattern:
$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$
There are 10 “$” symbols in a single row (10 columns) and there are 5 rows. This can be implemented
by having a two loops one nested inside another which print individual “$” symbols. However the printf
function does not support displaying text on a row that you have already printed. Therefore first you
need to fully complete the first row and then you should go to the next. Therefore the loop which handles
printing of individual rows should be the outer loop and one which prints elements within a row
(columns) should be the inner loop. Program-5.6 displays the above symbol pattern.

/* Program-5.6 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int i,j;
for(i=0;i<=5;i++) //outer loop
{
for(j=0;j<=10;j++) // inner loop
{
printf("$");
} // end of inner loop
printf("\n");
} //end of outer loop
return 0;
}
Exercise 5.7 – Write a C program to display the following symbol pattern:
*
**
***
****
*****
******
5.5 The break Keyword

The b reak keyword is used to terminate a loop, immediately bypassing any conditions. The control
will be transferred to the first statement following the loop block. If you have nested loops, then the
break statement inside one loop transfers the control to the immediate outer loop. The break statement
can be used to terminate an infinite loop or to force a loop to end before its normal termination. Consider
the following example:
/* Program-5.7 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int n;
for(n=10;n>0;n--)
{
if(n == 5)
{
printf("Countdown aborted!");
break;
}
}
return 0;
}
Under normal circumstances the Program-5.7 will display the “ Hello W orld! ” message 10 times.
Notice that in this example the for loop is written as a decrement rather than an increment. During the
first 5 iterations the program executes normally displaying the message “ Hello W orld! ”. Then at the
beginning of the sixth iteration variable “n ” becomes “5 ”. Therefore the if condition which evaluates
whether “n= = 5 ” becomes TRUE, so it will execute the printf function and then the b reak instruction.
At this point the loop will terminate because of the break keyword.
Example 5.4 – Write a C program to display the message “Hello World!” 10000 times. The program
should allow users to terminate the program at any time by pressing any key before it displays all the
10000 messages.

The C function kbhit can be used to check for a keystroke. If a key has been pressed, it returns the
value “1 ” otherwise it returns “0 ”. The kbhit function is defined in the header file conio.h .
/* Program-5.8 */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
int main()
{
int i;
for(i=0;i<=10000;i++) // loop 10000 times
{
printf("Hello World! %d\n",i);
if(kbhit() != 0) // if a key is pressed
{
printf("Loop terminated");
break; //terminate loop
}
}
return 0;
}
5.6 The continue Keyword

The keyword continue causes the program to skip the rest of the loop in the current iteration,
causing it to jump to the next iteration. Consider the following example.
/* Program-5.9 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int i;
for(i=-5;i<=5;i++) // loop from -5 to 5
{
if (i == 0) // if 0 skip
continue;
printf("5 divided by %d is: \t %.2f \n", i, (5.0/i));
}
return 0;
}
In program-5.9, 5 is divided by all the integers from - 5 to + 5. However a number should not be divided
by 0 . In Program-5.9, when “i” is 0 (when the if condition is TRUE) the continue keyword is used to
skip the rest of the iteration which will skip the printf function.
5.7 The exit Function

The exit function (defined in the header file stdlib.h ) is used to terminate the running program with
a specific exit code. It takes the following form:
exit ( int exit- code)
The exit-code is used by the operating systems and may also be used by the calling program. By
convention, an exit-code of 0 indicates a normal exit where as any other value indicates an abnormal
exit or an error. If a program is to be terminated before the ret urn 0 ; statement in within the m ain
function following code can be used:
exit (0);
Exercise 5.8 – Write a C program to display a sine table. The program should display all the sine values
from 0 to 360 degrees (at 5 degrees increments) and it should display only 20 rows at a time.

6 – Arrays
Arrays are a series of elements of the same data type placed consecutively in memory that can be
individually referenced by adding an index to a unique name. Using an array we can store five values of
type int with a single identifier without having to declare five different variables with a different
identifier. Arrays are useful when you store related data items, such as grades received by the students,
sine values of a series of angles, etc. Like any other variable in C an array must be declared before it is
used. The typical declaration of an array is:
datatype array- nam e[ no- of- elem ents] ;
Notice that the array name must not be separated from the square brackets containing the index. When
declaring an array, the number of array elements should be constant. As arrays are blocks of static
memory locations of a given size, the compiler must be able to determine exactly how much memory to
allocate at compilation time.
6.1 Initialising an Array

An array will not be initialised when it is declared; therefore its contents are undetermined until we
store some values in it. The following array can hold marks for five subjects.
int marks[5];
The elements of an array can be initialised in two ways. In the first approach, the value of each element
of the array is listed within two curly brackets ({ } ) and a comma (,) is used to separate one value from
another. For example:
marks[5] = {55, 33, 86, 81, 67};
In the second approach elements of the array can be initialised one at a time. This approach makes use
of the format:
arr ay- nam e[ index] ;
For example:
marks[0] = 55;
marks[1] = 33;
marks[2] = 86;
marks[3] = 81;
marks[4] = 67;
In an array index of the first element is considered as zero rather than one. Therefore in an array with
“n” elements first index is “0” and the last index is “n-1”. This confusion can be overcome by initialising
an array with “n+1” elements and neglecting the first element (element with zero index). Consider the
following example:
/* Program-6.1 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int i,sum;
int marks[5]; //array of 5 elements
float average;
sum=0;
for(i=0;i<5;i++)
{
printf("Enter marks for subject %d: ", i+1);
scanf("%d", &marks[i]); //get the marks
}
for(i=0;i<=5;i++) //total marks
{
sum +=marks[i];

}
average = sum/5.0; //5.0 indicates a float value
printf("Average : %.2f", average);
return 0;
}
Execution of Program-6.1 displays the following:
Enter marks for subject 1: 55
Average : 64.60
The Program-6.1 accepts marks for 5 subjects from the keyboard and stores them in an array named m
arks . Then in the second loop it computes total of all marks stored in the array and finally it computes
the average.
6.2 Multidimensional Arrays

The type of arrays that we discussed up to now is called a one-dimensional (or single dimensional) array,
as it takes one index and store only one type of data. The array that was used in Program-6.1 hold only
marks of one student. It can be extended to store marks of many students using a two- dimensional array.
Such an array is declared in the following form:
datatype array- nam e[ size- 1 ] [ size- 2 ] ;
You can declare an array to hold marks of 100 students with store marks of 5 subjects as in the following
example:
int students[100][5];
The first index defines the number of students and the second index defines the number of subjects.
Altogether it declares 500 (1005) memory locations. Initialising marks of the first student can be
performed in the following manner.
Marks[0][0] = 55;
marks[0][1] = 33;
marks[0][2] = 86;
marks[0][3] = 81;
marks[0][4] = 67;
Similarly we can define arrays with n dimensions and such arrays are called n-dimensional or
multidimensional arrays.
A two-dimensional array is initialised in the same way. The following statement declares and initialises
a two-dimensional array of type int which holds the scores of three students in five different tests.
int students[3][5]= {
{55, 33, 86, 81, 67},
{45, 46, 86, 30, 47},
{39, 82, 59, 57, 60}
};
Exercise 6.1 – Write a program to store marks of 5 students for 5 subjects given through the keyboard.
Calculate the average of each students marks and the average of marks taken by all the students.

7 – Functions
The C functions that you have used so far (such as printf and scanf ) are built into the C libraries, but
you can also write your own functions. Therefore functions can be classified as built-in and user defined.
A modular program is usually made up of different functions, each one accomplishing a specific task
such as calculating the square root or the factorial. In general a modular program consists of the m ain(
) function followed by set of user defined functions as given below:
# include ……
# define …..
Prototyp es of functions
int m ain( )
{
……….
}
function_ 1 ( )
{
………..
}
function_ 2 ( )
{
………..
}
…………
function_ n( )
{
………..
}
The source code contains other elements in addition to the function blocks. It starts with the
# include directive, followed by the # define directive (if any) then followed by the prototypes of
functions. The prototype is a declaration of a function used in the program. Then comes the program
building block which includes the m ain( ) function and implementation of the user defined
functions.
7.1 A Function
A function is a subprogram that can act on data and return a value. Some functions may accept certain
input parameters (such as printf ), some may return a value of a certain data type (such as kbhit ) and
some may accept as well as return a value (sqrt ).
Every C program has at least one function, the m ain( ) . When a program is executed the m ain( ) is
called automatically. The m ain( ) may call other functions and some of them might call other functions.
Each function has a unique name and when the name is encountered while in execution the control of
the program is transferred to the statement(s) within the function. When the function is ended (returns)
the control is resumed to the next statement following the function call.
Well designed functions perform a specific and easily understood task. Complicated tasks should be
broken down into multiple functions and then each can be called in the proper order.

7.2 Function Prototypes
Using functions in your program requires that you first declare the function (the prototype). Later you
can implement the function. The prototype tells the compiler in advance about some characteristics
(name of the function, return type and parameters) of a function. A function prototype takes the form:
type function- nam e( type argem ent- 1 , type argum en t- 2 , …..) ;
The function prototype is a statement that ends with a semicolon. The function name is any legal
identifier followed by the function parenthesis without any space in between. The function “type” is the
data type of the return value. If the function does not return a value, the data type is defined as void .
The arguments (or parameters) come inside the parenthesis, preceded by their types and separated by
the commas. If the function does not any parameters, it is either kept blank or the word void is used
inside the parenthesises. Following are some examples for prototypes:
void exit(int x);
int kbhit( );
double power(double x, double y);
The first function returns no value and it takes an integer argument. Second prototype returns an integer
value and has no inputs. Third function returns a double value and takes two double values.
7.3 Function Definition

The definition of a function is the actual body of the function. It starts with function header, which is
the same as the function prototype but does not end with a semicolon. The function prototype and the
definition must have exactly the same return type, name and parameter list. If they do not match the
compiler will issue error messages during compilation. Function definition takes the form:
Retu rn- type function- nam e( type argem ent- 1 , type argum ent- 2 , ….. )
{
Statem ent( s) ;
}
Consider the following function, which accepts an integer as the input and returns its square.
int square(int x)
{
int y;
y = x*x;
return y;
}
Whenever you want to call this function you can include a statement like the following in the program.
b = square(a);
Here, the value of variable “a ” is passed to the function, where it is received by the function as the value
of variable “x ”. The function returns the square as the value of “y ”. The variable “b” in the calling
function receives the return value.
Example 7.1 – Write a C program to calculate the circumference and area of a circle given its radius.
Implement calculation of circumference and areas as separate functions.
/*Program-7.1 */
#include <stdio.h>
const float pi = 3.141;
float area(float r); //function prototype

float circumference(float r); //function prototype
int main()
{
float radius;
printf("Enter radius: ");
scanf("%f",&radius); //read radius

printf("\nArea : %.2f", area(radius));
printf("\nCircumference : %.2f", circumference(radius));
return 0;
}
/* Function computes the area of a circle given its radius*/

float area(float r)
{
return (pi*r*r);
}
/* Function computes the circumference of a circle given radius*/

float circumference(float r)
{
return (2*pi*r);
}
It is also possible to define several functions with the same name but with different parameters. As given
below:
float area(int r);
float area(float r);
Both these functions calculate the area of a circle given the radius. However the first function accepts
an integer as the input while the second function accepts a floating point number. Based on the type of
the given input the program dynamically calls the correct function. Consider the following program:
/*Program-7.2 */
#include <stdio.h>
const float pi = 3.141; //define pi
void area(float r); // function prototype

void area(int r); // function prototype
int main()
{
int radius;
printf("Enter radius: ");
scanf("%d",&radius);
area(radius);
area((float)radius); //convert to float
return 0;
}
void area(float r)
{
printf("\nFloating point input");
printf("\nArea is: %.2f", (pi*r*r));
}
void area(int r)
{
printf("\nInteger input");
printf("\nArea is: %.2f", (pi*r*r));
}
Execution of Program-7.2 displays:
Enter radius: 1
Integer input
Area is: 3.14
Floating point input
Area is: 3.14

Program-7.2 executes each function based on the given input. The program accepts an integer from the
keyboard and when the expression area( radius) ; is executed it calls the function which accepts and
integer as the input parameter and it display the message “I nteger input ” and the area. The expression
are a( ( float) radius) ; converts the integer value to a floating point number (this process is called
casting) before calling the function. When it is called since the input is a floating point value it executes
the function which displays the message “ Floating point input ”.
Although you can have multiple functions with the same name but with different input parameters, you
cannot have functions with the same name with a different output parameter. It is also possible to have
the same name for functions with different behaviour with different input parameters, however best
practices suggest that no two functions should have the same name unless they perform identical tasks.
7.4 Passing Variables to Functions

You can use as many functions as you need in your programs and you can call a function from another
or even from it-self. In order to avoid errors when using functions, you have to have a clear
understanding about the mechanism of passing variables from one function to another.
7.4.1 The Scope of a Variable
A variable has a scope, which determines how long it is available to your program (or function) and
where it can be accessed from. Variables declared within a block are scoped only to that block; they can
be accessed only within that block and go out of existence when the execution of the block is completed.
A variable declared inside a function is called a local variable. Scope of a local variable is limited to the
function. Such variables are not seen by any other functions including the m ain function. When you
pass a variable to a function (such as the variable radius in Program-7.1), you are actually passing a
copy of the variable (called passed by value), but not the variable it self. This means that the value of
the passed variable cannot be changed by any other function. Even if you use another variable with the
same name in the function, you still have two local variables isolated from each other.
On the other hand you can also define global variables which are accessible from any function within
the same source file. The global variable can be defined within the program but anywhere outside
function block including the m ain function. For example you can define a global variable
“ discount ” as follows:
#include <stdio.h>
float discount; //global variable
float sub_total(float total); //function prototype
int main()
{
....
A variable defined in such a manner is visible to the m ain function and the “sub_ total ” function.
You can modify its value in either place and read it from another place.
A well written C source code should not have any global variables unless they are specifically required
since an accidental change to a global variable may produce erroneous results.
7.4.2 Default Parameters
For every parameter you declare in a function prototype and declaration the calling function must pass
in a value. The value passed must be of the declared type. Thus if you have a function declared as:
long my_function(int a);
the function must in fact take an integer value as an input. If the function definition differs or if you pass
a value of a wrong data type you will get a compilation error. However when you declare the function
prototype you can define a default value for the parameter as follows:
long my_function(int a = 50);

The default value is used if no input is supplied to the function. Similarly a function with many input
parameters can have a default value for each parameter.
Exercise 7.1 – Predict the output of each printf function in Program-7.3.
/*Program-7.3 */
#include <stdio.h>
void swap1(int x,int y);

void swap2(int x);
int a;
int main()
{
int b,c;
a=5;
b=10;
c=15;
printf("\nValue before 1st function a= %d, b= %d c= %d" ,a,b,c);
swap1(b,c);
printf("\nValue after 1st function a= %d, b= %d c= %d" ,a,b,c);
swap2(b);
printf("\nValue after 2nd function a= %d, b= %d c= %d" ,a,b,c);
printf("Test");
return 0;
}
void swap1(int x, int y)

{
int z;
z = x;
x = y;
y = z;
}
void swap2(int x)
{
int z;
z = x;
x = a;
a = z;
}

8 – Pointers
Pointers are another important feature of the C language. Although it may appear a little confusing for
a novice programmer they are a powerful tool and handy to use once they are mastered. The power of
C compared to most other languages lies with proper use of pointers. Pointers are useful due to following
reasons:
 They enable us to access a variable that is defined outside a function.
 Pointers are more efficient in handling data tables and sometimes even arrays.
 Pointers tend to reduce the length and complexity of a program.
 They increase the execution speed.
 Use of pointers allows easy access to character strings.
Computers use memory to store both instructions and values of variables of a program. The computer’s
memory is a sequential collection of storage cells with the capacity of a single byte. Each of these
memory cells has an address associated with it.
Whenever a variable is declared the system allocates some memory to hold the value of the variable.
Such memory location can be accessed by providing the memory address. Consider the following
example:
int number = 35;
The above expression allocates a memory location to hold the value of variable “num ber ” that can
hold an integer (4 bytes) and it also initialises the variable. Suppose the address of that memory location
is 2000. Then after executing above expression the memory address 2000 should hold 35. During
execution of the program, the system always associates the name “ num ber ” with the memory address
2000. We may have access to the value “3 5 ” by using either the name “ num ber ” or the address 2000.
Since memory addresses are simple numbers, they can also be assigned to some variables. Such variables
that hold memory addresses are called pointers. Therefore a pointer is nothing but a variable that
contains an address which is a location of another variable in memory.
8.1 Declaring Pointers

A pointer is declared using the indirection (* ) operator. The typical declaration of a pointer is:
datatype * po inter- nam e;
If a pointer “a ” is pointing to an integer, it is declared as:
int *a;
Since a pointer is a variable, its value is also stored in another memory location. Therefore in
computation even the address of the pointer can be used.
The location of a variable in memory is system dependent and therefore the address of a variable is not
known directly. The address operator (& ) allow us to retrieve the address from a variable associated
with it. Consider the following example:
/* Program-8.1 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int number = 20;
int *pnt;
pnt = &number;
printf("\nThe number is: %d", number);

printf("\nThe address of the number is: %d", &number);
printf("\nThe pointer is: %d", pnt);
printf("\nThe address of the pointer is: %d", &pnt);
printf("\nThe value of the pointer is: %d", *pnt);

return 0;
}
The number is: 20
The address of the number is: 1245064
The pointer is: 1245064
The address of the pointer is: 1245060
The value of the pointer is: 20
The first printf function displays the value of variable “ num ber ”. The second printf statement
displays the address of the memory location occupied by the variable named “ num ber ”. The third
statement displays the value of the “pnt ” which is assigned by the expression pnt = & num ber; .
Note that now the address of variable “num ber ” and value of pointer “ pnt ” is the same. The fourth
printf function displays the address of the pointer. The final statement displays the value of the pointer
“ pnt ” which holds the value of the variable “ num ber ”.
Example 8.1 – Write a program to swap two integer numbers using pointers.
/* Program-8.2 */
#include <stdio.h>
void swap(int *a,int *b);
int main()
{
int a,b;
a = 5;
b = 10;
printf("\nBefore swapping a= %d: b= %d", a, b);

swap(&a, &b); //call function
printf("\nAfter swapping a= %d: b= %d", a, b);
return 0;
}
void swap(int *a, int *b)

{
int x;
x = *b;
*b = *a;
*a = x;
}
Before swapping a= 5: b= 10
After swapping a= 10: b= 5
8.2 Text Strings and Pointers

An array of characters is called a string. Strings in C are handled differently than most other languages.
A pointer is used to keep track of a text string stored in memory. It will point to the first character of the
string. By knowing the beginning address and the length of the string, the program can locate it.
A character pointer is used to point to the first character of a string as given in the following example:
char *a;
a = "Hello World!";
Consider the following example:

/* Program-8.3 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
char *a;
a = "Hello World";
printf("String: %s\n", a);

printf("First character: %c\n", *a);
printf("Starting memory address: %d\n", a);
printf("First character: %d\n", *a);
return 0;
}
Exaction of Program-8.3 will display:
String: Hello World
First character: H
Starting memory address: 4235496
First character: 72
In Program-8.3 the first printf function displays the string pointed by pointer “a ”. The second printf
function display the value pointed by pointer “a ” which is the first character of the string. The third
printf function displays the starting memory address of the string which is the value of pointer “a ”.
The final printf function displays the ASCII value of the first character in the string.
8.3 Pointers and Arrays

An array is a series of elements of the same data type. Pointers can be used to manipulate arrays rather
than using an index. The name of an array points to the first element of the array. If you declare an array
in the following manner:
int marks[5];
you can point to the first element of the array using either one of the following pointers:
marks //first element
&marks[0] //first element
Also the following pairs of pointers are equivalent:
marks+1 == &marks[1]
......
marks+4 == &marks[4]
Or you can use the array name to refer to the contents of the array elements like:
*(marks) //value of 1st element
*(marks+1) //value of 2nd element
Program 8.4 illustrates the use of array name, index and pointers.
/* Program-8.4 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int marks[5]= {89, 45, 73, 98, 39};
printf("%d\n", marks); //memory address pointed by pointer

printf("%d\n", &marks[0]); //memory address of 1st element
printf("%d\n", *marks); //value pointed by pointer
printf("%d\n", marks[0]); //value of 1st array element
return 0;
}

9 – Handling Files
The programs that we developed up to now were neither able to produce permanent output nor were
they able to read data inputs other than from the keyboard. Using files you can save your output data
permanently and retrieve them later.
A file in general is a collection of related records, such as student information, marks obtained in an
exam, employee salaries, etc. Each record is a collection of related items called fields, such as “student
name”, “date of birth”, “subjects registered”, etc. The common operations associated with a file are:
 Read from a file (input)
 Write to a file (output)
 Append to a file (write to the end of a file)
 Update a file (modifying any location within the file)
In C language data is transferred to and from a file in three ways:
 Record input/output (one record at a time)
 String input/output (one string at a time)
 Character input/output (one character at a time)
9.1 The File Protocol

Accessing a file is a three step process:
 Opening a connection to a file
 Reading/writing data from/to the file
 Closing the connection
9.1.1 Opening a Connection to a File
In order to use a file on a disk you must establish a connection with it. A connection can be established
using the fopen function. The function takes the general form:
fopen( file_ nam e, access_ m ode)
The file_ nam e is the name of the file to be accessed and it may also include the path. The
access_ m ode defines whether the file is open for reading, writing or appending data. Table 9.1
summarises the access modes supported by fopen function.
Table 9.1 – File access modes
Access mode Description

“r” Open an existing file for reading only.
“w” Open a file for writing only. If the file does not exist create a new one. If the file
exists it will be overwritten.
“a” Open a file for appending only. If the file does not exist create a new one. New
data will be added to the end of the file.
“r+” Open an existing file for reading and writing
“w+” Open a new file for reading and writing
“a+” Open a file for reading and appending. If the file does not exist create a new one.
The following code opens a file named “my file.txt” in the current directory for appending data:
FILE *fp;
fp = fopen("my file.txt", "a");
The function fopen returns a pointer (referred as the file pointer) to the structure6 FI LE which is defined
in the stdio.h headier file. When you open a file it would be better to make sure that the
6
Structures are used to store records with different data types.

operation is successful. If the establishment of a connection is successful the function returns a pointer
to the file. If an error is encountered while establishing a connection the functions returns N ULL.
9.1.2 Closing the Connection to a File
After a connection to a file is established it can be used to read or write data. When all the file processing
is over the connection should be closed. Closing the connection is important as it writes any remaining
data in the buffer to the output file. The function fclose is used to close the file. For example:
fclose(fp)
When closing the file the file pointer “ fp ” is used as an argument of the function. When a file is
successfully closed the function fclose returns a zero and any other value indicates an error.
9.1.3 Reading Data from a File
When reading data from a ASCII file you can either read one character or one string at a time.
Reading Characters from a File
To read one character at a time you can use the getc function. It takes the form:
getc( file_ pointer)
You can assign the output of the function getc to an int or char variable.
Example 9.1 – Write a program to read the file “my file.txt” which has the message:
Hello World!
This is my first file
The following program reads the file “my file.txt” one character at a time and displays it on the screen.
/* Program-9.1 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
FILE *fp;
char c;
fp = fopen("my text.txt", "r"); //open read-only

if(fp != NULL)
{
c = getc(fp); //read the 1st character
while ( c != EOF) //if not the end of file
{
printf("%c",c);
c= getc(fp); //read next character
}
fclose(fp); //close the file
}
else
printf("\nError while opening file...");
return 0;
}
Execution of Program-9.1 will display
Hello World!
This is my first file
In Program-9.1 a connection is first established to the file. Then the expression if( fp != NULL) evaluates
whether the connection is successful. If it is not successful the program will display the message “ Error
w hile opening file... ” If it is successful it reads the first character from the file. If the character is
not the end of the file (indicated by the End Of File (EOF) mark) it displays the

character. Then the program continues to read the rest of the characters in the file until it finds the
EOF mark. Afterwards the connection to the file is closed using the fclose function.
Reading a String from a File
In real-life applications it is more useful to read one string at a time rather than one character. With every
read, the program has to check for the line feed (LF) character so it can find the end of each string. Also
it must check for the EOF mark which comes at the end of the file. The fgets function can be used to
read a string at a time. The function generally takes the form:
fgets( string, m ax_ character s, file_ pointer)
The “ string ” is a character array (also called a character buffer) and “m ax_ characters ” define the
maximum number of characters to read form a line. The function fgets returns a char pointer. It returns
NULL if EOF mark is encountered. One deficiency in fgets is that it can only read to a fixed character
buffer, therefore you need to know in advance the maximum number of characters in a string.
Example 9.2 – Modify Program-9.1 such that it uses the fgets function instead of fgetc function.
Suppose the file does not have more than 100 characters in a line.
/* Program-9.2 */
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
FILE *fp;
char buffer[100]; //char array with 100 elements
char *result; // hold the result of the fgets function
fp = fopen("my text.txt", "r"); //open read-only

if(fp != NULL)
{
result = fgets(buffer, 100, fp); //read the 1st string
while(result != NULL) //if not the end of file
{
printf("%s",buffer);
result = fgets(buffer, 100, fp); //read the next string
}
}
else
printf("\nError while opening file");
return 0;
}
9.1.4 Writing Data to a File
You can also write data to file either one character at a time or a string at a time.
Writing Character to a File
To write a character to a file the putc function can be used. It has the form:
putc( c, fp)
where c is the character while fp is the file pointer. It returns an int value which indicates the success
or the failure of the function. It returns the int value of the character if it is successful, if not it returns
EOF mark.
Example 9.3 – Write a C program to store the message “Introduction C Programming” in a file named
“message.txt”.
Program-9.3 is an implementation of the above requirement. The function putc is used to write
characters in the message to the file. To find the number of characters in the message the strlen

function which returns the number of characters in a string is used. A pointer is used to point to the
string and the pointer is incremented by one memory location at a time.
/* Program-9.3 */
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main()
{
FILE *fp;
int i; //loop counter
char *message;
message = "Introduction C Programming";
fp = fopen("c:\\message.txt", "w"); //open for writing

if(fp != NULL) //if success
{
for (i =0 ; i < strlen(message);i++)
putc(*(message+i),fp); //write character pointed by pointer
}
else
printf("\nError while opening file");
return 0;
}
Writing a String to a File
The advantage of putc is that it allows you to control every byte that you write into the file. However
sometimes you may want to write one string at a time. Two functions, namely fputs and fprintf can
be used for this purpose. The fprintf function is identical to the printf function only difference being
that it writes to a file rather than to the screen. The format of each function is:
fputs( string, file_ pointer)
fprintf( file_ pointer, “% s”, string)
Exercise 9.1 – Modify Program-9.3 such that it uses the fputs rather than the fputc function to write the
message to the file.
Exercise 9.2 – Develop a simple telephone directory which saves your friends contact information in a
file named directory.txt. The program should have a menu similar to the following:
----------------Menu-------------------------
1. Add new friend.
2. Display contact info.
3. Exit
Enter menu number:

When you press “1” it should request you to enter following data:
---------New friend info--------
Name : Saman
Phone-No: 011-2123456
e-Mail : saman@cse.mrt.ac.lk
After adding new contact information it should again display the menu. When you press “2” it should
display all the contact information stored in the directory.txt file as follows:
--------------Contact info---------------
Name Tel-No e-Mail
Kamala 077-7123123 kamala@yahoo.com
Kalani 033-4100101 kalani@gmail.com
Saman 011-2123456 saman@cse.mrt.ac.lk

Annex A – Lab 2 & 3
Introduction to C Programming
Objectives
 Compile/link C programs on Linux using gcc.
 Correct/fix syntax errors and bugs taking clues from compiler error messages and warnings.
 Debug programs through program testing.
 Learn how to detect programming errors through program testing.
Prerequisites
 Students are expected to be familiar with a text editor on Linux (such as vi or vim).
 A basic understanding of compiling and linking in concept.
 Knowledge in area such as C language syntax, input output function is recommended.
Requirements
 The GNU C and C++ compiler7.
Remarks
 This assignment will be continued next week as well.
 No evaluation will be done based on these lab sessions.
 All the source codes and executables related to this lab session should be saved in a folder
named Lab2 _ 3 which should be created within your hom e directory.
A.1 Compiling and Linking

In compiler based programming languages like C, the source code must be first compiled and then
linked with the necessary libraries to produce an executable program. The process of compiling and
linking depends on the environment in which it is carried out, the particular compiler or the linker involved
and tools used if any. Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) are software tools which provide
facilities for; editing, compiling, linking and debugging software (will cover in Lab5).
In this section we shall learn how to compile and link a C program using the GNU C and C++ compiler,
gcc. No other tools will be used.
When you invoke gcc, it normally does pre-processing, compilation, assembly and linking. The overall
options allow you to stop this process at an intermediate stage. For example, the - c option says not to
run the linker. Then the output consists of object files output by the assembler.
Step 1: Type the C program given below using text editor such as Kw r ite and then save it as
test 1 .c in your hom e directory.
Start Kw rite as follow; Main Menu  Accessories  More Accessories  Kw r ite
/*display Hello World */ //Comments
#include <stdio.h> //Pre-processor directives
int main() //Start main function

{
printf("Hello world!\n"); //use printf function to display message
return 0;
} //End main
Step 2: Open a new terminal with the shell prompt by r ight- clicking on the Desktop area and
selecting “new Term inal”. Now you can enter any Linux shell command using the shell. Go
to the Lab2 _ 3 directory where you saved the program source file test 1 .c using cd command.
7
http://www.gnu.org/

Step 3: Next, to compile and link the program saved in Step 1, enter the following command.
$ gcc test1.c
$
By default, the output of the linker will be saved as a file named a.out in the working
directory. Use the ls command to see whether a.out file is created.
$ ls
a.out test1.c
$
Step 4: Lastly, to run the new program, execute the file a.out as shown below.8
$ ./a.out
Hello world!
$
Step 5: Now, go ahead and modify the program given above to display its source code on standard
output.
Hint: Study the use of escape sequences (escape codes) \ n and \ t with printf.
A.2 Syntax Errors and Bugs

Programmers been humans more often than not they end up writing incorrect source code.
Some of these errors result in source code that does not confirm to the syntax of the programming
language and are caught by the compiler at compile time. Some others however, surface only at run-
time and cause programs to fail at performing their intended tasks. Such defects in programs are called
bugs and the process of eliminating them is called debugging.
Step 1: The program given below calculates the roots of the quadratic equation ax 2  bx  c  0
provided that b  4ax  0 .
2
Type the following program using a text editor and then save it as test 2 .c.
#include <stdio.h> //Pre-processor directives
#include <math.h>
int main() //Start main Function

{
double a, b, c, delta;
printf("Enter a, b, c: );
scanf("%lf %lf %lf", &a, &b, &c); //read a, b and c
double delta = b*b - 4*c;
if (delta < 0) //if complex roots

printf("complex roots!\n");
else //if roots are not complex
{
double t = sqrt(delta); //get the square root
double r1 = (-b -t) / (2*a);
double r2 = (-b + t) / (2*a);
printf("%.2f %.2f\n", r1, r2)
}
return 0;
} //end main
Step 2: Now, to compile the program, enter the command gcc - c test 2 .c. The text below also
shows what you may expect next! Notice that we are not trying to link the output of the compiler
yet.
8
Why is it that we have to type ./a.out to execute the file a.out in the working directory? (i.e. why won’t typing
a.out alone work?)

$ gcc -c test2.c
test2.c:8:16: warning: multi-line string literals are deprecated
test2.c: In function ‘main’:
test2.c:8: ‘lf’ undeclared (first use in this function)
test2.c:8: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
test2.c:8: for each function it appears in.)

test2.c:8: parse error before string constant
test2.c:8: stray ’\’ in program
test2.c:8: stray ’\’ in program
test2.c:19:22: missing terminating " character
test2.c:8:16: possible start of unterminated string literal
$
All of the above messages are reported by the C compiler when it attempted to compile the
source file, test 2 .c. This is because of the errors in the source code. Typically, there will be
two types of messages reported errors and warnings.
Errors, are cases where the supplied source code does not confirm to the syntax of the
language. Warnings on the other hand indicate bad coding practices on part of the programmer
such as unused variables.
The way errors are reported depends on the compiler and the IDE used. In this case we are not
using any IDE and the compiler used is GNU C compiler. Notice that for each syntax error, the
compiler reports the file name and the line number where it found the error.
Step 3: Lets, try to correct some of the errors reported above. Notice that most of the error messages
are concerned with line 8.
Open the file test 2 .c in Kw r ite editor and to jump straight to line 8 Comparing the printf
statement on line 8 with what you found in the earlier program (i.e. test 1 .c) try to figure out
what is wrong and correct it on your own. You may also want to take in to consideration the
following warning:
test2.c:8:16: possible start of unterminated string literal
After fixing line 8, go back and try compiling test 2 . c again and see whether it compiles without
errors now.
If you corrected the error on line 8 properly, you should now get set of messages similar to the
following:
test2.c: In function ‘main’:
test2.c:10: redeclaration of ‘delta’
test2.c:6: ‘delta’ previously declared here
test2.c:20: parse error before ’}’ token
test2.c:20: parse error before ’}’ token
Given the fact that this error concerns the printf statement on line 19, make an attempt to
correct it on your own by comparing this particular printf statement with other printf
statements that you know to be correct.
After correcting the error, go back to command mode and locate the cursor at the point of first
error, i.e.
test2.c:10: redeclaration of ‘delta’
test2.c:6: ‘delta’ previously declared here
Both the first and the second error messages are in fact caused by the same error. To correct
it, modify the line 10 to be like as shown below.
delta = b*b - 4*c;
Now, recompile the program. If you correctly followed all the above instructions, you should not
get any more error messages.

Step 4: Now, get back to the shell and look for a file with the same file name as your source code file
but having the .o extension instead. This is the object file that the compiler/assembler produced
from your source code file. To obtain an executable program, this file must be linked with any
necessary libraries using an appropriate linker.
Normally, any C program needs to be linked with the standard C library and this is usually done
automatically without you having to specify it explicitly. However any other libraries must be
specified to the linker if they are to be linked with your program.
To link the object file test 2 .o with the standard C library enter the following command:
$ gcc test2.o
test2.o: In function ‘main’:
test2.o(.text+0x96): undefined reference to ‘sqrt’
collect2: ld returned 1 exit status
$
Here the linker has reported errors. The cause of the problem is the sqrt function. Whenever,
any mathematical functions (i.e. sqrt, sin, cos, etc.) are used, the m ath library needs to be
linked with your program in addition to the standard C library.
$ gcc -lm test2.o
$
Step 5: If you do not get any errors from the linker, you may run the program by entering the following
command. Press Ent er key after typing the three values for the coefficients a , b and c.
$ ./a.out
Enter a, b, c: 1 -7 12
3.00 4.00
$
Try the program with several more sets of values for a , b and c. Such sets of values used for
testing a program are known as test cases.
Step 6: When developing software, syntax errors are probably the easiest to detect and eliminate.
Referring to the previous step, did the program work correctly? If you tried a test case where a
is not equal to 1, you would notice that it fails.
$ ./a.out
enter a, b, c: 1 -7 12
3.00 4.00
$ ./a.out
enter a, b, c: 2 -14 24
1.00 6.00
$
Step7: Had you paid attention to the expression on line 10, you would have noticed a slight fault. The
expression concerned, calculates the discriminator (   b 2  4ac ) of the quadratic equation.
However, it fails to use the proper formula in calculation.
delta = b * b - 4 * c;
This is an example of a programming error or a bug. Detecting bugs in programs is not an easy
task. Code inspection, where one or more people read someone else’s program, line by line
and program testing, running the program on sample input data (like we did above) are two
techniques which are standard practice in Software Engineering.
Now, go ahead and correct the expression on your own. Once you compile and link the program,
try the test case(s) for which the program failed earlier and see whether it works correctly now.
Step 8: Next, try the following test case against your program and see how it behaves when a is equal
to zero.
$ ./a.out
enter a, b, c: 0 -7 12
inf inf
$

When a program performs an illegal operation at run-time (when it is executing), it is called a
run-time error. In the last example, the program performed a division by zero for the data set
{ 0 , - 7 , 1 2 } . Looking at the source code, it is clearly evident that if the user enters a value of
0 for a , this leads to a division by zero on later in the program (lines 17 and 18). One possible
solution is to check the value the user entered for coefficient a using an if statement. Since we
check before we divide, even if the user enters a value of zero, it does not lead to a division by
zero.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>
int main()
{
double a, b, c, delta;
printf("Enter a, b, c: ");
scanf("%lf %lf %lf", &a, &b, &c); //read a, b and c
if (a ==0.0 a) // if a zero
printf("Coefficient a should be non-zero.\n");
else // if a not zero
{
delta = b * b - 4 * a * c;
if(delta < 0)
printf("complex roots!\n");
else
{
double t = sqrt(delta);
double r1 = (-b - t) / (2 * a);
double r2 = (-b + t) / (2 * a);
printf("%.2f %.2f\n", r1, r2);
}
}
return 0;
}
Discussion
Try to find answers to following questions (no need of submission).
1. Are all languages compiler based like C?
2. Explain the difference between a compiler error and a warning?
3. What is a bug with reference to software?
4. Does program testing show the presence of bugs or their absence? Explain your answer.
5. Given that you have the C source file test3.c, write down the commands for the following:
a. To compile (compile only) the file using gcc.
b. What are the output files produced by this command?
c. To compile and link the file with the standard C library. What is the name of the
executable produced?
d. Modify the command in (c) to change the name of the executable file to test from its
default name.
e. To link the object file produced in (a) above, with the math library in addition to the
standard C library.
6. What would happen if a program uses library other than the standard C library and the
particular library was not specified to the linker when linking the program?
7. What does GNU stand for?

Annex B – Lab 4
Conditional Structures (1)
Remarks
 This lab session will be evaluated and it will carry 4% of your final marks.
named Lab4 which should be created within your hom e directory. If not zero marks will be
given.
 Before you leave the lab make sure you show your instructor that you have saved your file in
Lab4 folder.
Exercises
Exercise B.1 – Write a program to input a temperature reading in either Celsius(c) or Fahrenheit(f) scale
and convert it to the other scale. The temperature reading consists of a decimal number followed
by letter ”F” or ”f ” if the temperature is in Fahrenheit scale or letter ”C” or ”c” if it is in Celsius
scale. You may use a similar format for the output of the program.
5( f  32)
Note: c 
9
$ ./a.out
Temperature reading: 100C
212F
$ ./a.out
Temperature reading: 100F
37C
Exercise B.2 – Given a date as a triplet of numbers (y , m , d), with y indicating the year, m the
month (m = 1 for January, m = 2 for February, etc.), and d the day of the month, the
corresponding day of the week f (f = 0 for Sunday, f = 1 for Monday, etc.) can be found as
follows:
(a) if m < 3
(b) let m = m + 12 and let y = y - 1
(c) let a = 2m + 6 (m + 1) / 10
(d) let b = y + y/4 – y/100 + y/400
(e) let f1 = d + a + b + 1
(t) let f = f1 mod 7
(g) stop.
Write a program that will read a date and print the corresponding day of the week. All divisions
indicated above are integer divisions.
Discussion
Given that the else clause in the following code fragment belongs to the outer statement, write down 2
possible ways in which it can be implemented properly. No need of submission.
int a, b, c;
. . .
if (a > b )
if (b < c)
{
...
}
else
{
...
}

Annex C – Lab 5
Conditional Structures (2)
Objectives
 Develop C programs using an Integrated Development Environment (IDE).
 Correct/fix syntax errors and bugs taking clues from error messages, warnings and debug
features provided by the IDE.
Prerequisites
 Students are expected to be familiar in developing C program on a Linux platform.
Requirements
 The KDevelop IDE.
Remarks
 This lab session will not be evaluated.
named Lab5 which should be created within your hom e directory.
Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a GUI based application or set of tools that allows a
programmer to write, compile, edit, and in some cases test and debug within an integrated, interactive
environment. These tools provide lot of features that make programming a fun. It may take sometime
for you to understand each and every feature provided by the IDE but it will certainly enhance your
productivity. Some of these tools go beyond conventional program development and testing and even
provide facility to manage various documents related to the project or source code and to keep track of
different versions of the source code. KDevelop is one of the heavily used IDE for developing C/C++
programs in the Linux platform. From this lab session onwards if you prefer you can use KDevelop for
program development.
C.1 Using KDevelop

Step 1: To launch KDevelop use the menu sequence Start Menu  Program m ing 
KDevelop.
Step 2: Then the KDevelop Setup window appears. When you use KDevlop for the first time you
need to do bit of initial configuration through the KDevelop Setup window.
First it displays the Welcome message. Just read it and click the Next > button.
Step 3: Then it asks you to select the most common syntax highlighting style. Select the radio button
labelled KDevelop 2 .0 style and click the Next > button.
Step 4: Then it asks you to select the layout of the user interface. Select the radio button with the label
Childfram e Mode (this is the commonly used layout). However if you prefer you may select
any of the other two layouts given. Then press the Next > button.
Step 5: Then you will see list of tools that is installed in your computer. Try to identify some of those
tools and the press the Next > button.
Then press Next > button three times.
Finally click on the Finish button.
Then Tip of the Day message appears. Close the message box by clicking on the Close
button. If you do not wish to receive any more such tips uncheck the checkbox labelled Show
t ips on startup .

C.2 Your First Program with KDevlop
Step 1: In order to work with KDevlop first you need to create a new project. From the menu select
Project  New .
Step 2: Then Application W izard window appears.
Using the Application W izard you can select the type of the application you are developing.
Since we are developing shell based C programs, from the tree select the branch labelled Term
inal and then select C. If you are developing GUI based applications you can select KDE or
GNOME.
Then click on N ext button.
Step 3: Then it requests you to enter Generate Settings.
Type First I DE in the Project nam e: textbox.
Set the Project directory: to / hom e/ firstyear/ Lab5 / firstide . If you have not
already created the Lab5 folder you need to create it.
In the Author: textbox type your name then type your e-Mail address in the Em ail: textbox.
Finally click on the Create button.
Step 4: Then KDevelop will create a list of files that are required to develop and run your program.
This process may take few minutes (depending on the type of the application that you are
developing).
When it is finished click the Exit button.
Step 5: KDevelop will automatically write a part of the program. The code generated by KDevelop may
not be in the same format that we are used to. So if you want you can change some of the code.
Before you do any changes to the code get familiar with the KDevelop user interface. Identify
various components in your project such as source files, header files, class tree, functions in
your program, contents in the project directory, toolbar, help system, etc.
If you need any clarification about any icon or button in KDevelop you can access the "The User
Manual to KDevelop" by pressing F1 key or using the menu Help  The User Manual to
KDevelop.
Step 6: Now go back to your source file named m ain.c. Then do the following changes to the code
(these changes are done just to simplify the code). Your changed code should be similar to the
following:
#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
#include <config.h>
#endif
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
{
printf("Hello, world!\n");
return 0;
}
Step 7: Now its time to run your first C program using KDevelop. First you need to compile your program.
Use Build  Com pile File menu or click on the Com pile File icon ( ) on the toolbar. You
may also use the keyboard shortcut Shift+ F8 as well.
While compilation you may get waning message about a make file. For the moment forget
about it.

Step 8: Then to execute your program select the Build  Execute menu or click on the Run icon
( ) on the toolbar. You may also use the function key F9 .
If you program get successfully executed you should see the following message appearing in
the shell.
Hello, world!
Press Enter to continue!

Step 9: Press the Ent er key to terminate your program.
C.3 Locating Errors in a Program

Let us write a program to calculate the factorial of a given number.
Step 1: Create a new C Terminal project named Fact I DE. Then type the follwoing program as it is.
int main()
{
int num, fact,i;
fact=0;
printf("Enter number to find factorial: ");

scanf("%d",num);
for(i=1 ; i <=num; i++)

{
fact *= i
}
printf("Factorial of %d is: %d", num, fact);
return 0;
}
Step 2: Compile the program by clicking the Com pile File icon on the toolbar. Then you may see a
list of message (in the messages tab) appearing which may look like the follwoing:
source='main.c' object='main.o' libtool=no \
depfile='.deps/main.Po' tmpdepfile='.deps/main.TPo' \
depmode=gcc3 /bin/sh ../admin/depcomp \
gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I. -I.. -O2 -O0 -g3 -Wall -c `test -f
'main.c' || echo './'`main.c
main.c: In function `main':
main.c:31: warning: format argument is not a pointer (arg 2)
main.c:36: parse error before '}' token
gmake: *** [main.o] Error 1
*** failed ***
It informs you about 2 errors in line 31 and 36 (line number may be different in your program). To go to
the line having an error double click on the message "main.c:31: warning: format argument
is not a pointer (arg 2)". Then the cursor automatically moves to the line.
Step 3: Correct the error in the program.
Step 4: Then go to the next error message and double click on it. Then your cursor will move to the
appropriate line within the program. Correct the error.
Step 5: Then compile your program again. If you correct both errors now your program should compile
without any error or warning and you should see the message "success".
Step 6: Then execute your program by selecting Build  Execute menu or by pressing F9 key.
Executing about program with 5 as the input will display:
Enter number to find factorial: 5
Factorial of 5 is: 0
Press Enter to continue!

If you get something similar as above your program is ok. But what about the factorial of 5, is it 0?
Although your program gets compiled successfully now you have a run-time error. These errors can be
tracked by debugging a program.
C.4 Debugging a Program

Step 1: Go back to the source code and place a Breakpoint on the line with the expression
fact * = i;. To place a Breakpoint move your mouse pointer near the shaded pane in front of
the Editor window (area that your write you code) and click on it. Then you should see a small
Blue spot appearing. To clear a Breakpoint select Clear All breakpoints or Disable
breakp oint from the pop-up menu (to get the pop-up menu you need to right click it.
Step 2: To debug you program select Debug  Start menu or click the Debug icon ( ) on the
toolbar.
If you do not see the shell appearing select Debug  St op from the menu or click on the
Stop icon. Then use the Options  KDevlop Setup.. menu open the KDevlop Setup
window locate Debu gg er and check the checkbox labelled Enable separate term inal
for application i/ o . Then click on the OK button. Now try to debug your program again.
Step 3: When the program request you to enter a number to find the factorial type 5 and press Ent er
key. Then go back to the IDE and locate the small Yellow triangle. This will indicate the current
line that is in execution.
Step 4: Highlight the token num and then right click. Then from the pop-up menu select W atch: num
. This will allow you to check the value of variable num while in debugging mode. Similarly do it
for variables i and fact .
On the left hand side of the window you should be able to see the current values of variables
num , fact and i.
Step 5: Then from the Debug menu select Run .
Notice that the value of variable i get changed but not other variables.
Step 6: Again select the Run from Debug menu. You will still see only variable i is getting changed
where as variable fact should also get changed. Repeat Debug  Run menu until you
complete all the 5 loops.
Then select Debug  Stop menu or click the Stop icon ( ) to stop debugging your program.
Now you should be able to understand that there is some error in the statement fact * = i;
which is supposed to change the value of variable fact . However you did observe that variable
i is getting changed. Then the error should be with the value of fact . Do you remember that the
starting value of fact is 0 . If not, debug your program again and see that fact is always 0 . So
regardless of the value of i the multiplication is always 0 . So this is the error.
Change initial value of variable fact to be 1 and Run your program again. Now enter 5 and
see whether you are getting the correct answer. Try your program with several other inputs.
Exercise C.1 – Consider Exercise B.2. Modify it so that you use the sw itch statement to print the days
as Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, .. using the value f derived from the given algorithm.

Annex D – Lab 6
Control Structures (1)
Remarks
given.
Lab6 folder.
 You can either use a simple text editor or IDE such as KDevelop.
Exercises
Exercise D.1 – Write a program to input a series of positive integers and determine whether they are
prime. The program should terminate if a negative integer is given as the input. A prime number
is a number that is divisible by only one and itself. However one is not considered a prime
number. Execution of your program should produce something similar to the following:
$ ./a.out
1
2
Prime
3
Prime
4
5
Prime
6
-1
$
Exercise D.2 – Write a program to find out whether a given number is a perfect number. The program
should terminate if a negative integer is given as the input. A perfect number is a number whose
factors other than itself add up to itself.
Example: 6 = 1 + 2 + 3, 28 = 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14
$ ./a.out
6
Perfect
7
28
Perfect
11
-1
$
Exercise D.3 – Write a program to display the following symbol pattern. You must use loops.
******
*****
****
***
**
*
**
***
****
*****
******

Annex E – Lab 7
Control Structures and Arrays
Remarks
given.
Lab7 folder.
Exercises
Exercise E.1 – Write a program to calculate and display the total and the average of 10 integer
numbers input from the keyboard. An example would be as follows:
Enter 10 integers: 5 78 96 54 34 12 3 7 88 5
Total = 382
Average = 38.2
Exercise E.2 – Write a program to find and display the minimum and the maximum among 10
numbers entered from the keyboard. Use a single-dimensional array to store the numbers
entered. The numbers can be non-integers. An example would be as follows:
Enter 10 numbers: 5 7.8 9.6 54 3.4 1.2 3 7 8.8 5
Minimum = 1.2
Maximum = 54
Exercise E.3 – Suppose there are 4 students each having marks of 3 subjects. Write a program to read
the marks from the keyboard and calculate and display the total marks of each student. Use a
2D (two-dimensional) array to store the marks. An example would be as follows:
Enter the marks of four students, on four rows:
50 60 80
60 75 90
30 49 99
66 58 67
Total marks of four students:

190
225
178
191

Annex F – Lab 9
Functions
Remarks
given.
Lab0 folder.
Exercises
Exercise F.1 – Write a program to read in two matrices A and B of dimensions 34 and 43 respectively,
and compute and display their product AB (of dimensions 33). Assume that the elements of
the matrices are integers. Use functions to while implementing this program.
$ ./a.out
Matrix A:
1 2 4 5
3 3 4 4
4 4 5 5
Matrix B:
1 3 5
7 7 7
3 4 5
3 4 5
Matrix AB:
42 53 64
48 62 76
62 80 98
$
Hint: Define global variables of two-dimensional arrays to store the values of the matrices. Break
down the program in to three main functions to:
 Read in the elements of matrices A and B
 Compute the product of the two matrices
 Display the resultant matrix AB

Annex G – Lab 10
File Handling
Remarks
named Lab1 0 which should be created within your hom e directory. If not zero marks will be
given.
Lab1 0 folder.
Exercises
Exercise G.1 – Given a string S of length N from a text file, count the total number of words T, in S.
Use file-handling mechanism of C language to access the files.
Assume words to be delimited by a space, an exclamation mark, a question mark, a comma, a
period, a semicolon and a colon. Further, you may assume that there may be only one word
delimiter at most between any two words in S.
N , the number of characters in S (i.e. length of S), will be at least 1 and at most 100.
The input will be given in the text file problem .in and the output should be written to the text
file problem .out .
An example would be as follows:
problem.in
This is a test.
$ ./a.out
Number of words: 4

Annex H - Library Functions
The C language is accomplished by a number of library functions that performs various tasks. Following
is a list of commonly used functions. For a more complete list reader should refer to the manual (or help)
of the version of C compiler that is being used.
H.1 Character Manipulation Functions
Function Header file Prototype description
isalnum ctype.h int isalnum(int character) Determines if the character is alphanumeric. If
true return nonzero value, else 0.
isalpha ctype.h int isalpha(int character) Determines if the character is alphabetic. If true
return nonzero value, else 0.
isascii ctype.h int isascii(int character) Determines if the character is an ASCII
character. If true return nonzero value, else 0.
isdigit ctype.h int isdigit(int character) Determines if the character is a decimal digit. If
islower ctype.h int islower(int character) Determines if the character is a lowercase. If
ispunct ctype.h int ispunct(int character) Determines if the character is a punctuation
character. If true return nonzero value, else 0.
isspace ctype.h int isspace(int character) Determines if the character is a whitespace. If
isupper ctype.h int isupper(int character) Determines if the character is a uppercase. If
isxdigit ctype.h int isdigit(int character) Determines if the character is a hexadecimal
digit. If true return nonzero value, else 0.
toascii ctype.h int toascii(int character) Convert value of argument to ASCII.
tolower ctype.h int tolower(int character) Convert a character to lowercase.
toupper ctype.h int toupper(int character) Convert a character to uppercase.
H.2 String Manipulation Functions

strcmp string.h int strcmp(char *str1, char *str2) Compare 2 strings. Return negative value if str1
< str2, return positive value is str1 > str2 and if
both are identical return 0;
strcmpi string.h int strcmpi(char *str1,char *str2) Compare 2 strings without considering the case.
Return negative value if str1 < str2, return
positive value is str1 > str2 and if both are
identical return 0;
strcpy string.h char *strcpy(char *str1, char Copy str2 to str1.
*str2)
strlen string.h int strlen(char *str) Count the number of characters in a string.
H.3 Mathematical Functions

abs stdlib.h int abs(int x) Return absolute value of x.
acos math.h double acos(double radians) Return the arc cosine.

asin math.h double asin(double radians) Return the arc sine.
atan math.h double atan(double radians) Return the arc tangent.
ceil math.h double atan(double value) Return a value rounded up to the next higher integer
cos math.h double cos(double radians) Return the cosine.
exp math.h double exp(double x) Raise e to the power x.
fabs math.h double fabs(double x) Return the absolute value of x.
log math.h double log(double x) Return the natural logarithm of x.
log10 math.h double log10(double x) Return the logarithm of x (base 10).
pow math.h double pow(double x, Return xy .
double y)
sin math.h double sin(double radians) Return the sine.
sqrt math.h double sqrt(double x) Return square root of x.
tan math.h double tan(double radians) Return the tangent.
H.4 I/O Functions

Function Header file Prototype Description
fclose stdio.h int fclose(FILE *fp) Close file pointed by fp.
feof stdio.h int feof(FILE *fp) Determine whether end of file is reached. If so
return none zero else zero is returned.
fgetc stdio.h int fgetc(FILE *fp) Read single character from file.
fgets stdio.h char *fgets(char *buffer, int Read single string from file
sizeofbuffer, FILE *fp)
fopen stdio.h FILE *fopen(char *filename, Open file.
char *accessmode)
fprintf stdio.h int fprintf(FILE *fp, char Send data (arg1, arg2, ..) to file of the given data
*format, arg1, arg2, …) format.
fputc stdio.h Int fputc(char c, FILE *fp) Send character to file.
fputs stdio.h Int fputs(char *string, FILE Send string to file.
*fp)
getc stdio.h int getc(FILE *fp) Enter single character from file.
gets stdio.h char *gets(char *string) Enter string from standard input.
puts stdio.h int *gets(char *string) Send string to standard output.
H.5 Miscellaneous Functions

exit stdlib.h void exit(int number) Close all files and buffers and terminate the
program.
kbhit conio.h int kbhit(void) Is a key press. If key is pressed return nonzero
and if not return 0;

Acknowledgements
Some sections in this handout are extracted from:

 Learn C in Three Days by Sam A. Abolrous, BPB Publications
 Programming in ANSI C, Second Edition by E. Balagurusamy, Tata McGraw-Hill

Introduction to Computer Programming

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Introduction to Computer Programming

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CIT 112 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER

Department of Computer Science and IT

1.1 Introduction to Programming

1.2 Program Development

10 © Department of Computer Science and IT

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 1

1.3 Running a Program

Figure 1.1 – Converting a human readable program into machine language

Figure 1.2 – Compiling and executing a program

Figure 1.3 – Interpretation of a program

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 3

1.4 Programming Languages

4 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

1.6 Steps in Developing a Program in C

Figure 1.4 – Compilation process

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 5

6 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

2.1 An Example C Program

2.2 Your First C Program

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 7

auto break case char const continue default do

8 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Figure 2.1 – C Tokens

2.4 Displaying Text

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 9

Escape Code Meaning

2.5 Data Types

10 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Data Type Size in Bits Range of values

Data Type Size in Bits Range of values

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 11

12 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

2.7 Displaying Numbers

Conversion Specifiers Meaning of the output format

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 13

14 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 15

Table 3.1 – Arithmetic operators

16 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

printf("\na+b = %d", a+b); //display sum of a & b

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 17

Operator Precedence Associativity

3.3 Relational and Logical Operators

18 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Operator Precedence Associativity

3.4 Bitwise Operators

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 19

Operator Precedence Associativity

20 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Operator Precedence Associativity

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 21

4.1 The if Statement

if (marks >50) // if marks >50 display message

Case 2:Enter marks: 34

Case 3:Enter marks: 50

22 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

if (amount >= 1000) // if amount >= 1000 give discount

if (amount >= 1000) // if amount >= 1000 give discount

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 23

4.2 The if-else Structure

if (amount >= 1000) // if amount >= 1000 give discount

4.3 The if-else-if Ladder

24 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

if(marks > 75) // if over 75

if(marks > 75)

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 25

4.5 Conditional Operator

4.6 The switch Construct

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 27

Enter number of your preference:

scanf("%d",&a); //read input

28 © Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Enter number of your preference: 1

Personal Computer Software

Enter your preference: 2

© Department of Computer Science and Engineering 29

void swap(int a, int b)