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(A) Loops: Programming For MSC Part I Part 4: Control Flow

The document discusses different types of loops in C programming: 1. While loops repeat a statement as long as a condition is true. Do-while loops execute a statement at least once and then repeat it as long as the condition is true. 2. For loops combine a counter with a while loop to execute a statement a specific number of times. They allow initializing, checking, and updating a counter variable. 3. Switch statements provide an alternative to chained if-else statements when multiple branches depend on a single expression. They allow selecting different code blocks based on integral case labels.

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Jayesh Shinde
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46 views6 pages

(A) Loops: Programming For MSC Part I Part 4: Control Flow

The document discusses different types of loops in C programming: 1. While loops repeat a statement as long as a condition is true. Do-while loops execute a statement at least once and then repeat it as long as the condition is true. 2. For loops combine a counter with a while loop to execute a statement a specific number of times. They allow initializing, checking, and updating a counter variable. 3. Switch statements provide an alternative to chained if-else statements when multiple branches depend on a single expression. They allow selecting different code blocks based on integral case labels.

Uploaded by

Jayesh Shinde
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Programming for MSc Part I Part 4: Control Flow

(a) Loops

Definition

• A loop statement instructs the computer to repeat an


operation (the Loop Body ) depending on a condition
• Loops are less general than recursion but often easier to setup
• There are different types of loops, they differn in how and
when the loop condition is being checked
• A loop must be guaranteed to terminate at some point

The ‘while’ Loop

• A while loop in C looks a bit like the if statement:


while (condition) statement
• statement will be repeated as long as condition is true
• The condition is checked before each execution
−→ So statement may not be executed at all!

Example:

while (string[0] != ’\0’)


{
string[0] = toupper (string[0]);
++string;
}

Herbert Martin Dietze <[email protected]> 62


Programming for MSc Part I Part 4: Control Flow — Loops

The ‘do-while’ Loop

• Sometimes we want the loop to be executed at least once


• Therefore it would be better to check the condition after
instead of before the loop body execution
• The do-while loop in C does just that:
do statement while (condition);
• statement will be executed once, and after that as long as
condition is true

Example:

char c;
do
{
printf ("Enter operator or ’q’ to quit!\n");
c = getchar ();
handle_operator (c);
}
while (toupper (c) != ’Q’);

‘while’ vs ‘do-while’

• The condition in while is usually positive while the condition


in do-while is usually negative
• Use do-while if the code must be executed at least once,
else while

Herbert Martin Dietze <[email protected]> 63


Programming for MSc Part I Part 4: Control Flow — Loops

The ‘for’ Loop

• In some cases we want to execute a loop just n times


• We will therefore need a counter to count to n
• The for loop in C combines the while loop with a way to
handle such a counter:
for (expression1; expression2; expression3) statement
• It doe the following things:
1. Execute expression1 (e.g. initialize a counter)
2. While expression2 is true:
(a) Execute statement
(b) Execute expression3
• This can be used for many other things besides counting!

Example:

void cstring_reverse (char *s)


{
int i, size = (int)strlen (s), half = size / 2;
char tmp;

for (i = 0; i < half; i++)


{
tmp = s[size - 1 - i];
s[size - 1 - i] = s[i];
s[i] = tmp;
}
}

Herbert Martin Dietze <[email protected]> 64


Programming for MSc Part I Part 4: Control Flow — Loops

Empty Loops

• Sometimes empty loops make sense


• But often they don’t make the code more readable

Example:

char buf[256];
char *s = read_string (buf);
while (*++s);
append (s, "42");

−→ What does that code do?

Ugly because:

• Assignment and test in one expression: “*++s”


• Condition not quite clear (should be “*s != ’’\0’’”)
• Not quite clear whether the empty loop was on purpose

Slightly enhanced version:

char buf[256];
char *s;
for (s = read_string (buf); *s != ’\0’; s++)
{
}
append (s, "42");

Herbert Martin Dietze <[email protected]> 65


Programming for MSc Part I Part 4: Control Flow

(b) Advanced Branching

The Conditional Operator

• The Conditional Operator is a shortcut for some if statements


• It sets an expression’s value depending on a condition
• The syntax is:
condition? expression1: expression2

Example:

if (x < y)
{
z = x;
}
else
{
z = y;
}

This can be written as:

z = (x < y)? x: y;

−→ Handle with care, this can make code unreadable!

Herbert Martin Dietze <[email protected]> 66


Programming for MSc Part I Part 4: Control Flow

The ‘switch’ Statement

• Sometimes many different branches in a program would make


it very complicated when using if-else constructs
• In some cases the switch statement can help here:
switch (integral-expression) { case-or-default-labels }

Example:

switch (getchar ())


{
case ’a’:
do_a ();
break;
case ’b’:
do_b ();
break;
case ’q’:
do_quit ();
break;
default:
printf ("Invalid input!\n");
}

• After each case there must be one integral constant


• The default label is equivalent to else
• The breaks bail out of the switch statement

Herbert Martin Dietze <[email protected]> 67

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