C Expressions

An expression is a formula in which operands are linked to each other by the use of
operators to compute a value. An operand can be a function reference, a variable, an
array element or a constant.

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Let's see an example:

1. a-b;  

In the above expression, minus character (-) is an operator, and a, and b are the two
operands.

There are four types of expressions exist in C:

o Arithmetic expressions
o Relational expressions
o Logical expressions
o Conditional expressions

Each type of expression takes certain types of operands and uses a specific set of
operators. Evaluation of a particular expression produces a specific value.

For example:

1. x = 9/2 + a-b;  

The entire above line is a statement, not an expression. The portion after the equal is an
expression.
Arithmetic Expressions
An arithmetic expression is an expression that consists of operands and arithmetic
operators. An arithmetic expression computes a value of type int, float or double.

When an expression contains only integral operands, then it is known as pure integer
expression when it contains only real operands, it is known as pure real expression, and
when it contains both integral and real operands, it is known as mixed mode expression.

Evaluation of Arithmetic Expressions

The expressions are evaluated by performing one operation at a time. The precedence
and associativity of operators decide the order of the evaluation of individual
operations.

When individual operations are performed, the following cases can be happened:

o When both the operands are of type integer, then arithmetic will be performed,
and the result of the operation would be an integer value. For example, 3/2 will
yield 1 not 1.5 as the fractional part is ignored.
o When both the operands are of type float, then arithmetic will be performed, and
the result of the operation would be a real value. For example, 2.0/2.0 will yield
1.0, not 1.
o If one operand is of type integer and another operand is of type real, then the
mixed arithmetic will be performed. In this case, the first operand is converted
into a real operand, and then arithmetic is performed to produce the real value.
For example, 6/2.0 will yield 3.0 as the first value of 6 is converted into 6.0 and
then arithmetic is performed to produce 3.0.

Let's understand through an example.

6*2/ (2+1 * 2/3 + 6) + 8 * (8/4)

Evaluation of expression Description of each operation

6*2/( 2+1 * 2/3 +6) +8 * (8/4) An expression is given.

6*2/(2+2/3 + 6) + 8 * (8/4) 2 is multiplied by 1, giving value 2.

6*2/(2+0+6) + 8 * (8/4) 2 is divided by 3, giving value 0.

 6*2/ 8+ 8 * (8/4) 2 is added to 6, giving value 8.

6*2/8 + 8 * 2 8 is divided by 4, giving value 2.

12/8 +8 * 2 6 is multiplied by 2, giving value 12.

1+8*2 12 is divided by 8, giving value 1.

1 + 16 8 is multiplied by 2, giving value 16.

17 1 is added to 16, giving value 17.

Relational Expressions
o A relational expression is an expression used to compare two operands.
o It is a condition which is used to decide whether the action should be taken or
not.
o In relational expressions, a numeric value cannot be compared with the string
value.
o The result of the relational expression can be either zero or non-zero value. Here,
the zero value is equivalent to a false and non-zero value is equivalent to true.

Relational Description
Expression

x%2 = = 0 This condition is used to check whether the x is an even

number or not. The relational expression results in value 1 if x
is an even number otherwise results in value 0.

a!=b It is used to check whether a is not equal to b. This relational

expression results in 1 if a is not equal to b otherwise 0.

a+b = = x+y It is used to check whether the expression "a+b" is equal to

the expression "x+y".

a>=9 It is used to check whether the value of a is greater than or

equal to 9.

Let's see a simple example:

1. #include <stdio.h>  
2.  int main()  
3. {  
4.       
5.     int x=4;  
6.     if(x%2==0)  
7.     {  
8.         printf("The number x is even");  
9.     }  
10.     else  
11.     printf("The number x is not even");  
12.     return 0;  
13. }  

Output

Logical Expressions
o A logical expression is an expression that computes either a zero or non-zero
value.
o It is a complex test condition to take a decision.

Let's see some example of the logical expressions.

Logical Description
Expressions

( x > 4 ) && ( x < 6 ) It is a test condition to check whether the x is greater than 4 and x is
less than 6. The result of the condition is true only when both the
conditions are true.

x > 10 || y <11 It is a test condition used to check whether x is greater than 10 or y is

less than 11. The result of the test condition is true if either of the
conditions holds true value.

! ( x > 10 ) && ( y = It is a test condition used to check whether x is not greater than 10 and
=2) y is equal to 2. The result of the condition is true if both the conditions
are true.

Let's see a simple program of "&&" operator.

1. #include <stdio.h>  
2. int main()  
3. {  
4.     int x = 4;  
5.     int y = 10;  
6.     if ( (x <10) && (y>5))  
7.     {  
8.         printf("Condition is true");  
9.     }  
10.     else  
11.     printf("Condition is false");  
12.     return 0;  
13. }  

Output

Let's see a simple example of "| |" operator

1. #include <stdio.h>  
2. int main()  
3. {  
4.     int x = 4;  
5.     int y = 9;  
6.     if ( (x <6) || (y>10))  
7.     {  
8.         printf("Condition is true");  
9.     }  
10.     else  
11.     printf("Condition is false");  
12.     return 0;  
13. }  
 Output

Conditional Expressions
o A conditional expression is an expression that returns 1 if the condition is true
otherwise 0.
o A conditional operator is also known as a ternary operator.

The Syntax of Conditional operator

Suppose exp1, exp2 and exp3 are three expressions.

exp1 ? exp2 : exp3

The above expression is a conditional expression which is evaluated on the basis of the
value of the exp1 expression. If the condition of the expression exp1 holds true, then the
final conditional expression is represented by exp2 otherwise represented by exp3.

Let's understand through a simple example.

1. #include<stdio.h>  
2. #include<string.h>  
3. int main()  
4. {  
5.     int age = 25;  
6.     char status;  
7.     status = (age>22) ? 'M': 'U';  
8.     if(status == 'M')  
9.     printf("Married");  
10.     else  
11.     printf("Unmarried");  
12.     return 0;  
13. }  

Output