CH-230-A

Programming in C and C++

C/C++

Lecture 2

Dr. Kinga Lipskoch

Fall 2019
Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Type Conversions
I When data of different types are combined (via operators)
some rules are applied
I Types are converted to a common type
I Usually, to the larger one (called promotion)
I Example: while summing an int and a float, the int is
converted into a float and then the sum is performed
I A demotion is performed when a type is converted to a
smaller one
I Example: a function takes an int parameter and you provide
a float
I A demotion implies possible loss of information
I Therefore, be careful with what to expect
I In the above example, the fractional part will be lost

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Casting

I It is possible to overcome standard conversions (casting)

I To force to a different data type, put the desired data type
before the expression to be converted
(type name) expression
I Casting is a unary operator with high precedence

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Casting: An Example

1 int a ;
2 float f1 = 3.456;
3 float f2 = 1.22;
4 /* these operations imply demotions */
5 a = ( int ) f1 * f2 ; /* a is now 3 */
6 a = ( int ) ( f1 * f2 ) ; /* a is now 4 */

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Incrementing and Decrementing

I The unary operators ++ and -- can be applied to increase or

decrease a variable by 1

1 int a , b ;
2 a = b = 0;
3 a ++; b - - ; ++ a ; --b ;

I Note that they can be both prefix and postfix operators

I The two versions are different

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Prefix and Postfix Modes

I Prefix means that first you modify and then you use the value
I Postfix means that first you use and then you modify the value
I int a = 10, b;

Expression New value of a New value of b

b = ++a; 11 11
b = a++; 11 10
b = --a; 9 9
b = a--; 9 10

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

The sizeof() Operator

I sizeof() returns the number of bytes needed to store a
specific object
I Useful for determining the sizes of the different data types on
your system
1 int a ;
2 printf ( " size int % lu \ n " , sizeof ( a ) ) ;
3 printf ( " size float % lu \ n " , sizeof ( float ) ) ;
4 printf ( " size double % lu \ n " , sizeof ( double ) ) ;

I For strings do not confuse sizeof() with strlen()

I Compile-time operator, will not work for dynamically allocated
memory

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Boolean Variables

I A boolean variable can assume only two logic values: true or

false
I Boolean variables and expressions are widely used in computer
languages to control branching and looping
I Some operators return boolean values
I A boolean expression is an expression whose value is true or
false

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Boolean Operators

I Boolean operators can be applied to boolean variables

I AND, OR, NOT

A NOT A A B A AND B A B A OR B
false true false false false false false false
true false false true false false true true
true false false true false true
true true true true true true

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Booleans in C

I Originally, C did not provide an ad-hoc boolean type but uses

rather the int type
I 0 is false, everything different from 0 is true
I In C99 the type _Bool was introduced, example: _Bool b = 0;
I Additionally, the library stdbool.h defines the type bool,
example: bool b = false;
I C also provides the three Boolean operators
I && for AND,
I || for OR,
I ! for NOT
I Applied to booleans they return booleans

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Boolean Operators: Example

1 int main () {
2 int a , b , c ;
3 a = 0; /* a is false */
4 b = 57; /* b is true */
5 c = a || b ; /* c is true */
6 c = a && b ; /* c is false */
7 a = !a; /* a is now true */
8 c = a && b ; /* c is now true */
9 c = ( a && ! b ) && ( a || b);
10 return 0;
11 }

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Relational Operators
I Relational operators are applied to other data types (numeric,
character, etc.) and produce boolean values
(b > 5) --> true
I Relational operators with boolean operators produce boolean
expressions
(b > 5) && (a < 1) --> true && false --> false
Relational operator Meaning
== Equality test
!= Inequality test
> Greater
< Smaller
>= Greater or equal
<= Smaller or equal

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Relational Operators: Example

1 int main () {
2 int a = 2 , b , c ;
3 float f1 = 1.34;
4 float f2 = 3.56;
5 char ch = ’D ’;
6 b = f1 >= f2 ;
7 c = !b;
8 b = c == b ;
9 b = b != c ;
10 c = f2 > a ;
11 c = ch > a ;
12 return 0;
13 }

C/C++ Fall 2019 13 / 30

Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Branching

I Up to now programs seem to execute all the instructions in

sequence, from the first to the last (a linear program)
I Change the control flow of a program with branching
statements
I Branching allows to execute (or not to execute) certain parts
of a program depending on boolean expressions or conditions

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Selection: if ... else

I In general selection constructs allow to choose a way in a

binary bifurcation
I De facto you can use it in three ways
I if () single selection
I if ()
else double selection
I if ()
else if ()
else if ()
...
else multiple selection

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

The if Syntax (1)

I General syntax:
1 if ( condition )
2 statement 1;
3 else
4 statement 2;
5 other_statement ; /* always executed */

I The else part can be omitted

I Statement: single statement or multiple statements
I Multiple statements need to be surrounded by braces { }

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

The if Syntax (2)

I Preferred syntax (always use braces)

1 if ( condition ) {
2 statements ;
3 }
4 else {
5 statements ;
6 }

I If you add statements, program flow is not changed (less

errors)
I Using indentation, you can easily see where block starts and
ends

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

if: Flow Chart

condition
TRUE FALSE

statement 1 statement 2

other_statement

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

if: Example
1 # include < stdio .h >
2 int main () {
3 int first , second ;
4 printf ( " Type the first number :\ n " ) ;
5 scanf ( " % d " , & first ) ;
6 printf ( " Type the second number :\ n " ) ;
7 scanf ( " % d " , & second ) ;
8 if ( first > second ) {
9 printf ( " The larger one is % d \ n " , first ) ;
10 }
11 else {
12 printf ( " The larger one is % d \ n " , second ) ;
13 }
14 printf ( " Can you see the logical error ?\ n " ) ;
15 return 0;
16 }
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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Statements and Compound Statements

I Statements can be grouped together to form compound

statements
I A compound statement is a set of statements surrounded by
braces
1 int a = 3;
2 if ( a > 0) {
3 printf ( " a is positive % d \ n " , a ) ;
4 a = a - 2 * a;
5 printf ( " now a is negative % d \ n " , a )
6 }

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Multiple Choices: switch

I switch can be used when an expression should be compared

with many values
I The same goal can be obtained with multiple if’s
I The expression must return an integer value

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

switch: The Syntax

1 switch ( expression ) {
2 case c1 :
3 statement1 ;
4 break ;
5

6 case c2 :
7 statement2 ;
8 break ;
9
10 ...
11

12 default :
13 def ault_s tateme nt ;
14 }

C/C++ Fall 2019 22 / 30

Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

switch: Flow Chart

expression == c1
True statement 1

False
expression == c2 True statement 2
False
expression == cn True statement n
False
default
statement

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

switch: Example
1 # include < stdio .h >
2 int main () {
3 int c ;
4 for ( c = 0; c <= 3; c ++) {
5 printf ( " c : % d \ n " , c ) ;
6
7 switch ( c ) {
8 case 1:
9 printf ( " Here is 1\ n " ) ;
10 break ;
11 case 2:
12 printf ( " Here is 2\ n " ) ;
13 /* Fall through */
14 case 3:
15 case 4:
16 printf ( " Here is 3 , 4\ n " ) ;
17 break ;
18 default :
19 printf ( " Here is default \ n " ) ;
20 }
21 }
22 return 0;
23 }

C/C++ Fall 2019 24 / 30

Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Iterations

I In many cases it is necessary to repeat a set of operations

many times
I Example: compute the average grade of the exam
I Read all the grades, and sum them
I Divide the sum by the number of grades
I C provides three constructs

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Iterations: while

I General syntax:
1 while ( condition ) {
2 statement ;
3 }

I Keep executing the statement as long as the condition is true

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

while: Flow Chart

condition
FALSE
TRUE

statement

other_statement

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Example:
Compute the Sum of the First n Natural Numbers
1 # include < stdio .h >
2 int main () {
3 int idx , n , sum = 0;
4 printf ( " Enter a positive number " ) ;
5 scanf ( " % d " , & n ) ;
6 idx = 1;
7 while ( idx <= n ) {
8 sum += idx ;
9 idx ++;
10 }
11 printf ( " The sum is % d \ n " , sum ) ;
12 return 0;
13 }

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

Iterations: for

I General syntax:
1 for ( initial - statement ; condition ; iteration -
statement )
2 statement ;

I Example:
1 for ( n = 0; n <= 10; n ++)
2 printf ( " % d \ n " , n ) ;

I The for and while loops can be made interchangeable

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Conversions Booleans Relational Operators Branching Iterations

for: Flow Chart

initial-
statement

condition
FALSE
iteration- TRUE
statement
statement

other_statement

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