Data types and variables

Yongseok Son
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Chung-Ang University
 Definitions
❖ Data type
▪ Data types specify how we enter data into our programs and
what type of data we enter (e.g., integer, floating point, character,
etc)
❖ Operator
▪ Operators specifies how an object can be manipulated (e.g., num
eric vs. string operations)
▪ Operators can be unary (e.g., ++), binary (e.g., +, -, *, /), ternary (
?:)
❖ Expression
▪ An expression in a programming language is a combination of val
ues, variables, operators, and functions
❖ Variable
▪ A variable is as named link/reference to a value stored in the syst
em’s memory
slide 2
Definitions
❖ Example
▪ x, y are variables
▪ y = x + 2 is an expression
▪ + is an operator

int x = 0;
int y = 0;
y = x + 2;

slide 3
 Data types in C language
❖ Data types specify how we enter data into our programs
and what type of data we enter
▪ C language has some predefined set of data types to handle
various kinds of data that we can use in our program
▪ These datatypes have different storage capacities

slide 4
 Data types in C language
❖ char
▪ The most basic data type in C
▪ It stores a single character and requires a single byte of
memory
❖ int
▪ An int variable is used to store an integer
❖ float
▪ It is used to store decimal numbers (numbers with floating point
value) with single precision
❖ double
▪ It is similar to float used to store decimal numbers (numbers
with floating point value) with double precision

slide 5
 Data types in C language
❖ Representation range of data types

Signed/Unsigned Data types Size Range

char 1 bytes -128(−27 ) ~ 127(27 − 1)
signed
short 2 bytes -32,768(−215 ) ~ 32,767(215 − 1)
int 4 bytes -2, 147, 483, 648(−231 ) ~ 2, 147, 483, 647(231 -1)
long 4 bytes -2, 147, 483, 648(−231 ) ~ 2, 147, 483, 647(231 -1)
unsigned char 1 bytes 0 ~ 255 (28-1)
unsigned
unsigned short 2 bytes 0 ~ 65, 535(216 -1)
unsigned int 4 bytes 0 ~ 4, 294, 967, 295(232 -1)
unsigned long 4 bytes 0 ~ 4, 294, 967, 295(232 -1)

slide 6
Data types in C language
❖ Unsigned (2bits): 0 ~ 2n-1
0 0 0

0 1 1
Data Range: 0 ~ 3 (22-1)
1 0 2

1 1 3

❖ Signed (2bits): -2n-1 ~ 2n-1-1

0 0 0

0 1 1 Data Range: -2 (-21) ~ 1 (21-1)

(-2, -1, 0, 1)
1 1 -1

1 0 -2

slide 7
 Data types in C language
❖ Data types and Storage Sapce

Integer 16bits

0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
short:

1bytes (8bits) 1bytes (8bits)

integer 32bits

int: 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

1bytes (8bits) 1bytes (8bits) 1bytes (8bits) 1bytes (8bits)

slide 8
Data types in C language: signed short
Value Bits Constants and Operations
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 SHRT_MAX
32767 (215 -1)

0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 SHRT_MAX - 1
32766 (215 -2)

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 – 1 = 1 + [-1]
1
[0000 0000 0000 0001]
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 +[1111 1111 1111 1111]
0
[0000 0000 0000 0000]
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
-1

…
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 SHRT_MIN + 1
-32767 (-215 + 1)

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 SHRT_MIN
-32768 (-215 )
slide 9
Data Types
▪ Data size and value range
Type Data size Value range
char 1 byte -128 to 127
unsigned char 1 byte 0 to 255
short 2 bytes -32,768 to 32,767
unsigned short 2 bytes 0 to 65,535
int 4 bytes -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
unsigned int 4 bytes 0 to 4,294,967,295
long 4 bytes -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
-9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to
long 8 bytes
9,223,372,036,854,775,807
unsigned long 4 bytes 0 to 4,294,967,295
64
unsigned long 8 bytes 0~18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (2 -1)
float 4 bytes -3.4E38 to 3.4E38
double 8 bytes -1.7E308 to 1.7E308

slide 10
Names in C
❖ Identifiers (variable name)
▪ Must begin with a character or underscore(_)
▪ May be followed by any combination of characters, underscores,
or digits(0-9)
▪ Case sensitive
▪ Ex) summary, exit_flag, i, _id, jerry7

❖ Keywords
▪ Reserved identifiers that have predefined meaning to the C
compiler.
▪ Ex) if, else, char, int, while

slide 11
Symbolic Constants
❖ Names given to values that cannot be changed
❖ Use preprocessor directive #define
#define N 3000
#define FALSE 0
#define PI 3.14159
#define FIGURE "triangle"

❖ Symbols which occur in the C program are replaced by

their value before actual compilation

slide 12
Declaring Variables
❖ Variable
▪ Named memory location where data value is stored
▪ Each variable has a certain type (e.g. int, char, float, …)
▪ Contents of a variable can change
▪ Variables must be declared before use in a program
▪ Declaration of variables should be done at the opening brace of
a function in C

❖ Basic declaration format

▪ data_type var1, var2, …;
• Examples
✓ int i,j,k;
✓ float length, height;

slide 13
 Variable and Constant
❖ In programming, a variable is a container (storage are) to hold data
❖ To indicate the storage area, each variable should be given a unique name
(identifier)
▪ Variable names are just the symbolic representation of a memory location
▪ Example
• int playerScore = 95;
✓ Here, playerscore is a variable of integer type
✓ The variable is assigned an integer value 95
❖ A constant is a value (or an identifier) whose value cannot be altered in a
program
▪ Example
• 1, 2.5, ‘c’ etc
• Here, 1, 2.5 and ‘c’ are literal constants
• You cannot assign different values to these terms
▪ You can also create non-modifiable variables in C
• Example
✓ Const double PI = 3.14;

slide 14
 Initializing C Variable
❖ Variables should be declared in the C program before use
❖ Memory space is not allowed for a variable while declaration
▪ It happens only on variable definition
❖ Variable initialization means assigning a value to the variable

Type Syntax
Datatype variable name;
Variable declaration
ex) int x, y, z; char flag, ch;
Datatype variable name = value;
Variable initialization
ex) int x = 50, y = 30; char flag = ‘x’, ch = ‘y’;

slide 15
Types of Variables in C Program
❖ Local variable
❖ Global variable

slide 16
Types of Variables in C Program
❖ Local variable
▪ The scope of local variables will be within the function only
▪ These variables are declared within the function and
cannot be accessed outside the function
▪ In the below example, m and n variables are having scope
within the main function only
• These are not visible to test function
▪ Likewise, a and b variables are having scope within the
test function only
• These are not visible to main function
#include <stdio.h> void test()
void test(); {
int main() int a = 50, b = 80;
{ }
int m = 22, n = 44;
test();
}

slide 17
Types of Variables in C Program
❖ Properties of local variable
▪ A local variable is allocated on stack
▪ Local variables are uninitialized by default and contains
garbage value
▪ Lifetime of a local variable is until the function or block
• A local variable dies once the program control reaches
outside its block
▪ Local variable is accessed using block scope access

slide 18
Types of Variables in C Program
❖ Properties of local variable
▪ The scope of local variables will be decided by the function
or block
▪ Example

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
{
int num1 = 10; //Declare a variable in a block
}

printf("%d\n", num1); //Compilation error.

//num1 cannot be used outside of a block
return 0;
}

slide 19
Types of Variables in C Program
❖ Global variable
▪ The scope of global variables will be throughout the
program
• These variables can be accessed from anywhere in the
program
▪ This variable is defined outside the main function
• So that, this variable is visible to main function and all other
sub functions
#include <stdio.h> void test()
void test(); {
int m = 22, n = 44; m = 5, n = 6;
int main() printf(m=%d, n=%d\n”, m, n);
{ }
m = 1;
n = 2;
printf(m=%d, n=%d\n”, m, n);
test();
}

slide 20
Types of Variables in C Program
❖ Global variables are allocated within data segment of
program instead of stack
❖ Memory for global variable is allocated once and persists
throughout the program
❖ They are accessible to all function of the same and other
programs (using extern keyword)

slide 21
Types of Variables in C Program
❖ External variables are also known as global variables
▪ These variables are defined outside the function
▪ These variables are available globally throughout the
function
▪ “Extern” keyword is used to declare and define the
external variables

<print.c> <main.c>
#include <stdio.h> #include <stdio.h>
int num1 = 10; extern int num1;

void printNumber() void printNumber()

{ {
printf("%d\n", num1); printf("%d\n", num1);
} }

slide 22
Variable in Main Memory
❖ Stack segment
▪ Stack segment is used to store local variables and is used for passing
arguments to the functions
❖ Heap segment
▪ Heap is the segment where dynamic memory
allocation takes place using malloc function
❖ Bss (block starting symbol) segment stack
▪ The bss segment contains the global variables and static variables heap
▪ Uninitialized variables
❖ Data segment bss
▪ The data segment contains the global variables and static variables
▪ Initialized variables data
❖ Text segment text
▪ The text segment of the program contains the
Segments of memory
executable instructions of the program
▪ Text segment contains machine code of the compiled program

slide 23
 Variable in Main Memory
❖ Example

#include <stdio.h> stack

int a = 10; //initialized variable stored in data segment
int b; //uninitialized variable stored in bss segment heap

int main() bss

{
int a = 3; //local variable stored in stack segment
data
int *b = malloc (sizeof(int)); //heap segment
}
text
Segments of memory

slide 24
 Data types and sizes
❖ sizeof ( )
▪ sizeof() is a unary operator used to find size of a type in
memory
• The unary operator “sizeof” generates the size of a variable or data
type
• It returns amount of memory that is allocated to that data types
• It returns total bytes needed in memory to represent a data type or
value or expression

slide 25
Data types and sizes
❖ Example of sizeof() function

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int integerVar;
printf("Size of char = %d\n", sizeof(char)); //sizeof(type)
printf("Size of int = %d\n", sizeof(integerVar)); //sizeof(variable-name)
printf("Size of expression (3+2) = %d\n", sizeof(3 + 2)); //sizeof(expression)
return 0;
}

Size of char = 1
Size of int = 4
Size of expression (3 + 2) = 4

slide 26
Data types and sizes
❖ Example of sizeof() function
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
char a;
short b; <Results>
int c; 1, 1
long d; 2, 2
long long e; 4, 4
float f; 4, 4
double g; 8, 8
printf("%d, %d\n", sizeof(char), sizeof(a)); 4, 4
printf("%d, %d\n", sizeof(short), sizeof(b)); 8, 8
printf("%d, %d\n", sizeof(int), sizeof(c));
printf("%d, %d\n", sizeof(long), sizeof(d));
printf("%d, %d\n", sizeof(long long), sizeof(e));
printf("%d, %d\n", sizeof(float), sizeof(f));
printf("%d, %d\n", sizeof(double), sizeof(g));
return 0;
}

slide 27
Overflow
❖ Overflow
▪ Overflow occurs when an operation attempts to create a
numeric value that is outsize of the range that can be
represented with a given number of digits
▪ Either larger than the maximum or lower than the minimum
representable value

overflow

variable

slide 28
Overflow
❖ An example of overflow
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
short s_money = 32767; // Max value 32767
unsigned short u_money = 65535; // Max value 65535

s_money = s_money + 1;
printf("s_money = %d", s_money); <Result>

u_money = u_money + 1; assasa = -32768

s_money
printf("u_money = %d", u_money); u_money = 0
return 0;
}

slide 29
ASCII Code
❖ American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII)
▪ ASCII is a character encoding standard
▪ ASCII is made up of 128 symbols in the character set
▪ These symbols consists of letters, number, and characters
▪ Each symbol in the character set can be represented by a decimal
value ranging from 0 to 127

slide 30
ASCII Code: A table of ASCII code

slide 31
ASCII Code
❖ Representation and storage of character data values

char c1 = ‘a’ ;
Integer 8bits
The binary number 01100001, which is the
0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 code value for the character ‘a’, is stored
char:

1byte (8bits)

slide 32
Escape Character
❖ Starts with backslash (\)
❖ Indicate special meaning and interpretation

Escape character meaning

\b backspace
\t tab
\n newline
\" double quote
\' single quote
\\ back slash

slide 33
ASCII Code
❖ An example of ASCII code
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
char code1 = 'A'; // Character
char code2 = 65; // ASCII code (Dec)
char code3 = 0x41; // ASCII code (Hex)
printf(“code1 = %c\n", code1);
printf(“code2 = %c\n", code2);
printf(“code3 = %c\n", code3);
}

<Results>
code1 = A
code2 = A
code3 = A

slide 34