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Lect-11-Function and Return Value

The document discusses different types of functions in C including functions with no input/output, input only, output only, and input/output. It covers passing variables to functions by value and by reference and provides examples of function definitions and recursive functions.

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Sepatugeceah35 GeceAh
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23 views

Lect-11-Function and Return Value

The document discusses different types of functions in C including functions with no input/output, input only, output only, and input/output. It covers passing variables to functions by value and by reference and provides examples of function definitions and recursive functions.

Uploaded by

Sepatugeceah35 GeceAh
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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FUNCTION

AND
FUNCTION TYPES
What is a function
 A block of code that has a name and it has a
property that it is reusable
 A function can be executed as many times at
different points in a C Program as required
 Function groups a number of program statements
into a unit and gives it a name
 Function name is GLOBAL and UNIQUE
 The first function in C is always called ‘main()’
 Function call is the term to use the function
 C function can only return ONE value or NONE
Types of function based on I/O
 Function with no input and no output (*)
 Function with input and no output
 Function with no input and output
 Function with input and output(*)
 Example:
 Check-prime1.c
 Check-prime2.c
Variable passed to a function
 Information passed to a function is called arguments
 There are 3 methods of argument passing in C:
 No passing at all:
no variable is passed the function
 Pass by value:
when the variable is passed, only value of the variable goes
to the function, therefore changing the value in the function
will not effect variable itself
 Pass by reference (usually pointer):
when the reference variable is passed, chancing the value in
the function will effect the variable itself
 Example will follow
Example of a function
int sum(int x, int y)
{
int ans; //holds the answer that will be returned
ans = x + y; //calculate the sum
return ans; //return the answer
}

void main()
{
int a=3, b=4, c;
c = sum (a, b);
printf (“result of function sum: %d\n”, c);
a=7;
b=9;
c = sum (a, b);
printf (“result of function sum: %d\n”, c);

}
Variable in a function
 Variable in a function is destroyed after the function
is closed/ return
 Variable is created when the function is called
 Variable can be preserved if you declare the
variable with keyword ‘static’
 Example follows (fucntion-static.c)
Function definition
 Basic method to tell what type the function is
 Function definition must be placed on top of file
 If located on other file, must declare external using
extern keyword
Recursive function
 Recursive function is a function that calls itself
 Can create a very compact and efficient program
 Can be difficult to debug
 Example program is factorial:
 factorial-normal.c
 factorial-recursive.c
Parameter passing
 Variables are passed from calling function into the
function
 Function can work only by variables passed by the
caller
 Two types of parameter passing
 Pass by value
 Pass by reference
Passed by value
 Only value is passed from caller to the function
 Pass by value is the value passed to the function
 When value changed by function, it does not affect
the caller function
Pass by reference
 The reference (memory location) is passed from
caller to function
 When the value is changed in in the function, then it
will affect the caller
 The value changed is the same memory location
referenced by the caller
Note on pass by value and reference
 Beware of this
 This can be very deadly!!!!!
 Programs can cripple into death because of this
 Example follows

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