Programming in C Unit 3

Unit 3 Data Types and Input/Output Operators

Structure:
3.1 Introduction
Objectives
3.2 Floating-point Numbers
Converting Integers to Floating-point and vice-versa
Mixed-mode Expressions
3.3 The type cast Operator
3.4 The type char
3.5 Keywords
3.6 Character Input and Output
3.7 Formatted input and output
3.8 The gets() and puts() functions
3.9 Interactive Programming
3.10 Summary
3.11 Terminal Questions
3.12 Answers to Self Assessment Questions
3.13 Answers to Terminal Questions
3.14 Exercises

3.1 Introduction
In the previous unit, you learned about the operators that a C programming
language supports. You also learned how the operators are used in the
expressions of C programs. In this unit, you will learn about the data types
that are supported in C. You will also study about the Input/output operators
which makes C as the most efficient and powerful programming language.
Integer is one of the fundamental data types. All C compilers support four
fundamental data types, namely integer (int), character (char), floating point
(float), and double-precision floating point (double). Like integer data type,
other data types also offer extended data types such as long double and
signed char.
C supports a rich set of operators. We have already used several of them,
such as =, +, -, *, / and %. An operator is a symbol that tells the computer to
perform certain mathematical or logical manipulations. Operators are used
in programs to manipulate data and variables. They usually form a part of
the mathematical or logical expressions.
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It is possible to combine operands of different data types in arithmetic

expressions. Such expressions are called mixed-mode arithmetic
expressions.
C language is accompanied by some library functions to handle
input/output(I/O) operations. In this unit we will make use of six I/O
functions : getchar(), putchar(), scanf(), printf(), gets() and puts(). These
functions are used to transfer the information between the computer and the
standard input/output devices. Throughout this course we assume that
keyboard is the standard input device and the user screen is the standard
output device. The first two functions, getchar() and putchar(), allow single
character to be transferred into and out of the computer; the functions
scanf() and printf() permit the transfer of single character, numerical values
and strings; the functions gets() and puts() facilitate the input and output of
strings. These functions can be accessed within a program by including the
header file stdio.h.
Objectives:
After studying this unit, you should be able to:
 apply the concept of real numbers in C and characters in C
 combine different data types and form more complicated arithmetic
expressions
 to transfer a character, numerical value and a string between the
computer and I/O devices
 to write programs using I/O functions to handle single character,
numerical values and strings

3.2 Floating-point Numbers

Floating point (or real) numbers are stored in 32 bit (on all 16 bit and 32 bit
machines), with 6 digits of precision. Floating point numbers are defined in
C by the keyword float. When the accuracy provided by a float number is
not sufficient, the type double can be used to define the number. A double
data type number uses 64 bits giving a precision of 14 digits. These are
known as double precision numbers. To extend the precision further, we
may use long double which uses 80 bits. The table 3.1 shows all the
allowed combinations of floating point numbers and qualifiers and their size
and range on a 16-bit machine.

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Table 3.1: Floating point numbers and qualifiers and their size and range on a
16-bit machine.

Type Size (bits) Range

Float 32 3.4E-38 to 3.4E+38
Double 64 1.7E-308 to 1.7E+308
long double 80 3.4E-4932 to 1.1E+4932

Program 3.1: The following program illustrates typical declarations,

assignments and values stored in various types of variables.
main()
{
/* …….DECLARATIONS……………………..*/
float x, p;
double y, q;
unsigned k;
/* ……………….DECLARATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS………..*/
int m=54321;
long int n=1234567890;
/*…………..ASSIGNMENTS……………………*/
x = 1.234567890000;
y = 9.87654321;
k = 54321;
p=q=1.0;
/*…………….PRINTING………………….*/
printf(“m=%d\n”,m);
printf(“n=%ld\n”,n);
printf(“x=%.12lf\n”,x);
printf(“x=%f\n”,x);
printf(“y=%.12lf\n”,y);
printf(“y=%lf\n”,y);
printf(“k=%u p= %f q=%.12lf\n”,k,p,q);
}
Output
m = -11215
n = 1234567890

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x = 1.234567880630
x = 1.234568
y = 9.876543210000
y = 9.876543
k = 54321 p = 1.000000 q= 1.000000000000
Program 3.2: Program to calculate the average of N numbers
#define N 10 /* SYMBOLIC CONSTANT */
main()
{
int count; /* DECLARATION OF
float sum, average, number; VARIABLES */
sum = 0; / * INITIALIZATION OF
count = 0; VARIABLES*/
while (count<N)
{
scanf(“%f”, &number);
sum = sum + number;
count = count + 1;
}
average = sum / N;
printf(“N = % d Sum = %f “, N, sum);
printf(“Average = %f”, average);
Output
1
2.3
4.67
1.42
7
3.67
4.08
2.2
4.25
8.21
N= 10 Sum= 38.799999 Average= 3.880000

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Program 3.3: Program to compute the roots of a quadratic equation

#include <math.h>
main()
{
float a,b,c,discriminant, root1, root2;
printf(“input the values of a,b and c\n”);
scanf (“%f %f %f”, &a, &b, &c);
discriminant = b * b – 4 * a *c;
if (discriminant<0)
printf(“roots are imaginary\n”);
else
{
root1 = (-b + sqrt(discriminant)) / (2 * a);
root2 = (-b - sqrt(discriminant)) / (2 * a);
printf (“Root1 = %5.2f \n Root2 = %5.2f \n”, root1, root2);
}
}
Output
input the values of a,b and c
2 4 -16
Root1 = 2.00
Root2 = -4.00
input the values of a,b and c
123
roots are imaginary
3.2.1 Converting Integers to Floating-point and vice-versa
C permits mixing of constants and variables of different types in an
expression, but during evaluation it adheres to very strict rules of type
conversion. We know that the computer considers one operator at a time,
involving two operands.
If the operands are of different types, the ‘lower’ type is automatically
converted to the ‘higher’ type before the operation proceeds. The result is of
higher type.

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Given below is the sequence of rules that are applied while evaluating
expressions.
All short type are automatically converted to int ; then
1. If one of the operands is long double, the other will be converted to
long double and the result will be long double;
2. else, if one of the operands is double, the other will be converted to
double and the result will be double;
3. else, if one of the operands is float, the other will be converted to float
and the result will be float;
4. else, if one of the operands is unsigned long int, the other will be
converted to unsigned long int and the result will be unsigned long
int;
5. else if one of the operands is long int and the other is unsigned int,
then:
 if unsigned int can be converted to long int, the unsigned int
operand will be converted as such and the result will be long int;
 else, both operands will be converted to unsigned long int and the
result will be unsigned long int;
6. else, if one of the operands is long int , the other will be converted to
long int and the result will be long int;
7. else, if one of the operands is unsigned int , the other will be converted
to unsigned int and the result will be unsigned int;
The final result of an expression is converted to type of the variable on the
left of the assignment sign before assigning the value to it. However, the
following changes are introduced during the final assignment:
1. float to int causes truncation of the fractional part.
2. double to float causes rounding of digits.
3. long int to int causes dropping of the excess higher order bits
3.2.2 Mixed-mode Expressions
When one of the operands is real and the other is integer, the expression is
called a mixed-mode arithmetic expression. If either operand is of the real
type, then only the real operation is performed and the result is always real
number. Thus
25 / 10.0 = 2.5
Whereas 25 / 10 =2

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Self Assessment Questions

1. When the accuracy provided by a float number is not sufficient, the
type long float can be used to define the number. (True/False)
2. A double data type uses __________ bits.
3. If the operands are of different data types, the ‘lower’ type is
automatically converted to the ‘higher’ type before the operation
proceeds. (True/False)
4. During the final assignment ________ to int causes dropping of the
excess higher order bits.
5. The value of the expression 22.0/10 is ________.

3.3 The type cast Operator

C performs type conversions automatically. However, there are instances
when we want to force a type conversion in a way that is different from the
automatic conversion. Consider, for example, the calculation of ratio of
doctors to engineers in a town.
Ratio = doctor_number / engineer _number
Since doctor _number and engineer_number are declared as integers in
the program, the decimal part of the result of the division would be lost and
Ratio would represent a wrong figure. This problem can be solved by
converting locally one of the variables to the floating point as shown below:
Ratio = (float) doctor_number / engineer _number
The operator (float) converts the doctor_number to floating point for the
purpose of evaluation of the expression. Then using the rule of automatic
conversion, the division is performed in floating point mode, thus retaining
the fractional part of the result. Note that in no way does the operator (float)
affect the value of the variable doctor_number. And also, the type of
doctor_number remains as int in the other parts of the program.
The process of such local conversion is known as casting a value. The
general form of cast is:
(type-name) expression
where type-name is one of the standard C data types. The expression may
be a constant, variable or an expression. The Table 3.2 shows some
examples of casts and their actions:

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Table 3.2: Use of Casts

Example Action
X=(int) 8.5 8.5 is converted to integer by truncation.
A=(int) 21.3 / (int) 4.5 Evaluated as 21/4 and the result would be 5.
B=(double) sum/n Division is done in floating point mode.
Y= (int) (a+b) The result of a+b is converted to integer.
Z= (int) a+b a is converted to integer and then added to b.
P=cos(( double)x) Converts x to double before using it.

Program 3.4: The following program shows the use of casts

main()
{
/* Program to find average of two integers */
float avg;
int n=2,n1,n2;
printf(“enter any 2 numbers\n”);
scanf(“%d %d”,&n1,&n2);
avg=(n1+n2)/(float)n;
printf(“ their average is\n”,avg);
}
Casting can be used to round-off a given value. Consider the following
statement:
X= (int) (y+0.5);
If y is 37.7, y+0.5 is 38.2 and on casting, the result becomes 38, the value
that is assigned to X. Of course, the expression, being cast is not changed.
When combining two different types of variables in an expression, never
assume the rules of automatic conversion. It is always a good practice to
explicitly force the conversion. It is more safer and more portable. For
example, when y and p are double and m is int, the following two
statements are equivalent.
y = p + m;
y = p + (double)m;
However, the second statement is preferable. It will work the same way on
all machines and is more readable.

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Self Assessment Questions

6. Casting can be used to round-off a given value. (True/False)
7. The value of A in the expression A=(int)11.35/(int)14.5 is ___________.
8. If the value of X is 35.2, then the value of A in the expression:
A = (int)(X+0.5); is ______________.

3.4 The type char

A single character can be defined as a character(char) type data.
Characters are usually stored in 8 bits (one byte) of internal storage. The
qualifier signed or unsigned may be explicitly applied to char. While
unsigned chars have values between 0 and 255, signed chars have
values from -128 to 127.
A character constant is formed by enclosing the character within a pair of
single quote marks. So ‘b’, ‘.’ and ‘5’ are all valid examples of character
constants. Note that a character constant, which is a single character
enclosed in single quotes is different from a character string, which is any
number of characters enclosed in double quotes.
The format characters %c can be used in a printf statement to display the
value of a char variable at the terminal.
Program 3.5: The following program illustrates how to use char data
type.
#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
char c=’A’;
int a=65;
printf(“%c\n”, c);
printf(“%d\n”, c);
printf(“%c\n”,a);
}
Output
A
65
A

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Note that with the format characters %d, the ASCII number of the character
is displayed. With the format character %c, the character corresponding to
the given ASCII number is displayed.
Self Assessment Questions
9. What is the format character to display the value of a char variable?
10. The output of the following C statement:
printf(“%c”, 70); is ___________.

3.5 Keywords
Keywords are the reserved words of a programming language. All the
keywords have fixed meanings and these meanings cannot be changed.
Keywords serve as basic building blocks for program statements. The list of
all keywords in ANSI C are listed in the Table 3.3.
Table 3.3: ANSI C Keywords

auto double int struct

break else long switch
case enum register typedef
char extern return union
const float short unsigned
continue for signed void
default goto sizeof volatile
do if static while

All keywords must be written in lowercase. Some compilers may use

additional keywords that must be identified from the C manual.
Self Assessment Questions
11. All keywords must be written in ____________.
12. default is not a valid keyword in C. (True/False)

3.6 Character Input and Output

The most basic way of reading input is by calling the function getchar().
getchar() reads one character from the “standard input,'' which is usually
the user's keyboard. getchar() returns (rather obviously) the character it
reads, or, if there are no more characters available, the special value EOF
(“end of file''). This value will be assigned within the stdio.h file. Typically,

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EOF will be assigned the value -1, but this may vary from one compiler to
another.
The syntax of the getchar() function is written as
character variable= getchar()
where character variable refers to some previously declared character
variable.
Example:
char c;
…
c=getchar();
The first statement declares that c is a character-type variable. The second
statement causes a single character to be entered from the keyboard and
then assign to c.
A companion function is putchar(), which writes one character to the
“standard output.'' (The standard output is usually the user's screen).
The syntax of the putchar() function is written as
putchar(character variable)
where character variable refers to some previously declared character
variable.
Example:
char c;
…
putchar(c);
The first statement declares that c is a character-type variable. The second
statement causes the current value of c to be transmitted to the user monitor
where it will be displayed.
Using these two functions, we can write a very basic program to copy the
input, a character at a time, to the output:

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Program 3.6: Program to copy the input, a character at a time, to the

output
#include <stdio.h>
/* copy input to output */
main()
{
int c;
c = getchar();
while(c != EOF)
{
putchar(c);
c = getchar();
}
return 0;
}
Execute the above program and observe the result.
It reads one character, and if it is not the EOF code, enters a while loop,
printing one character and reading another, as long as the character read is
not EOF. A char variable could hold integers corresponding to character set
values, and that an int could hold integers of more arbitrary values (from -
32768 to + 32767). Since most character sets contain a few hundred
characters (nowhere near 32767), an int variable can in general comfortably
hold all char values, and then some. Therefore, there's nothing wrong with
declaring c as an int. But in fact, it's important to do so, because getchar()
can return every character value, plus that special, non-character value EOF,
indicating that there are no more characters. Type char is only guaranteed
to be able to hold all the character values; it is not guaranteed to be able to
hold EOF value without possibly mixing it up with some actual character
value. Therefore, you should always remember to use an int for anything
you assign getchar()'s return value to.
When you run the character copying program, and it begins copying its input
(you’re typing) to its output (your screen), you may find yourself wondering
how to stop it. It stops when it receives end-of-file (EOF), but how do you
send EOF? The answer depends on what kind of computer you're using. On

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Unix and Unix-related systems, it's almost always control-D. On MS-DOS

machines, it's control-Z followed by the RETURN key.
(Note, too, that the character you type to generate an end-of-file condition
from the keyboard is not the same as the special EOF value returned by
getchar(). The EOF value returned by getchar() is a code indicating that
the input system has detected an end-of-file condition, whether it's reading
the keyboard or a file or a magnetic tape or a network connection or
anything else. In a disk file, at least, there is not likely to be any character in
the file corresponding to EOF; as far as your program is concerned, EOF
indicates the absence of any more characters to read.)
Another excellent thing to know when doing any kind of programming is how
to terminate a runaway program. If a program is running forever waiting for
input, you can usually stop it by sending it an end-of-file, as above, but if it's
running forever not waiting for something, you'll have to take more drastic
measures. Under Unix, control-C (or, occasionally, the DELETE key) will
terminate the current program, almost no matter what. Under MS-DOS,
control-C or control-BREAK will sometimes terminate the current program.
Self Assessment Questions
13. getchar() function is an output function.(True/False)
14. In order to stop reading the input character, you can use a value called
__________________.

3.7 Formatted Input and Output

Input data can be entered into the computer from a standard input device by
means of the standard C library function scanf(). This function can be used
to enter any combination of numerical values, single character and strings.
The function returns the number of data items that have been entered
successfully.
The syntax of scanf function is as follows:
scanf(control string, arg1, arg2, …argn)
where control string refers to a string containing certain required formatting
information, and arg1, arg2,…, argn are arguments that represent the
individual input data items. The arguments represent pointers that indicate
addresses of the data items within the computer’s memory.

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The control string consists of control characters, whitespace characters, and

non-whitespace characters. The control characters are preceded by a %
sign, and are listed in Table 3.4.
Table 3.4: Control characters and its explanations

Control Character Explanation

%c a single character
%d a decimal integer
%i an integer
%e, %f, %g a floating-point number
%o an octal number
%s a string
%x a hexadecimal number
%p a pointer
%n an integer equal to the number of characters read so far
%u an unsigned integer
%[] a set of characters
%% a percent sign

scanf() reads the input, matching the characters from format. When a
control character is read, it puts the value in the next variable. Whitespaces
(tabs, spaces, etc) are skipped. Non-whitespace characters are matched to
the input, then discarded. If a number comes between the % sign and the
control character, then only that many characters will be entered into the
variable. If scanf() encounters a set of characters, denoted by the %[]
control character, then any characters found within the brackets are read
into the variable. The return value of scanf() is the number of variables that
were successfully assigned values, or EOF if there is an error.

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Program 3.7: Program to use scanf() to read integers, floats,

characters and strings from the user.
#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
int i;
float f;
char c;
char str[10];
scanf(“%d %f %c %s”, &i, &f, &c, str);
printf(“%d %f %c %s”, i, f, c, str);
}
Execute this program and observe the result.
Note that for a scanf() function, the addresses of the variable are used as
the arguments for an int, float and a char type variable. But this is not true
for a string variable because a string name itself refers to the address of a
string variable.
A s-control character is used to enter strings to string variables. A string that
includes whitespace characters can not be entered. There are ways to work
with strings that include whitespace characters. One way is to use the
getchar() function within a loop. Another way is to use gets() function which
will be discussed later.
It is also possible to use the scanf() function to enter such strings. To do so,
the s-control character must be replaced by a sequence of characters
enclosed in square brackets, designated as […]. Whitespace characters
may be included within the brackets, thus accommodating strings that
contain such characters.
Example:
#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
char str[80];
…
scanf(“%[ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRST]”, str);
…
}
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This example illustrates the use of the scanf() function to enter a string
consisting of uppercase letters and blank spaces. Please note that if you
want to allow lowercase letters to be entered, all the lowercase letters
(i.e. from a-z) must be included in the list of control string.
Formatted Output
Output data can be written from the computer onto a standard output device
using the library function printf(). This function can be used to output any
combination of numerical values, single characters and strings. It is similar
to the input function scanf(), except that its purpose is to display data rather
than enter into the computer.
The syntax of the printf function can be written as follows:
printf(control string, arg1, arg2, …, argn)
where control string refers to a string that contains formatting information,
and arg1, arg2, …, argn are arguments that represent the individual output
data items. The arguments can be written as constants, single variable or
array names, or more complex expressions.
Examples:
printf("Hello, world!\n");
printf("i is %d\n", i);
printf(“%d”, 10);
printf(“%d”, i+j);
The first statement simply displays the string given as argument to the
printf() function. In the second statement, printf() function replaces the two
characters %d with the value of the variable i. In the third statement the
argument to be printed is a constant and in the fourth, the argument is an
expression.
There are quite a number of format specifiers for printf(). Some of them are
listed in Table 3.5.

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Table 3.5: Format specifiers for printf().

%d Print an int argument in decimal

%ld print a long int argument in decimal
%c print a character
%s print a string
%f print a float or double argument
%e same as %f, but use exponential notation
%g use %e or %f, whichever is better
%o print an int argument in octal (base 8)
%x print an int argument in hexadecimal (base 16)
%% print a single %

It is also possible to specify the width and precision of numbers and strings
as they are inserted ; For example, a notation like %3d means to print an
int in a field at least 3 spaces wide; a notation like %5.2f means to print a
float or double in a field at least 5 spaces wide, with two places to the right
of the decimal.)
To illustrate with a few more examples: the call
printf("%c %d %f %e %s %d%%\n", '3', 4, 3.24, 66000000, "nine", 8);
would print
3 4 3.240000 6.600000e+07 nine 8%
The call
printf("%d %o %x\n", 100, 100, 100);
would print
100 144 64
Successive calls to printf() just build up the output a piece at a time, so the
calls
printf("Hello, ");
printf("world!\n");
would also print Hello, world! (on one line of output).
Earlier we learned that C represents characters internally as small integers
corresponding to the characters' values in the machine's character set
(typically ASCII). This means that there isn't really much difference between
a character and an integer in C; most of the difference is in whether we
choose to interpret an integer as an integer or a character. printf is one
place where we get to make that choice: %d prints an integer value as a
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Programming in C Unit 3

string of digits representing its decimal value, while %c prints the character
corresponding to a character set value. So the lines
char c = 'A';
int i = 97;
printf("c = %c, i = %d\n", c, i);
would print c as the character A and i as the number 97. But if, on the other
hand, we called
printf("c = %d, i = %c\n", c, i);
we'd see the decimal value (printed by %d) of the character 'A', followed by
the character (whatever it is) which happens to have the decimal value 97.

You have to be careful when calling printf(). It has no way of knowing how
many arguments you've passed it or what their types are other than by
looking for the format specifiers in the format string. If there are more format
specifiers (that is, more % signs) than the arguments, or if the arguments
have the wrong types for the format specifiers, printf() can misbehave badly,
often printing nonsense numbers or (even worse) numbers which mislead
you into thinking that some other part of your program is broken.

Because of some automatic conversion rules which we haven't covered yet,

you have a small amount of latitude in the types of the expressions you pass
as arguments to printf(). The argument for %c may be of type char or int,
and the argument for %d may be of type char or int. The string argument
for %s may be a string constant, an array of characters, or a pointer to some
characters. Finally, the arguments corresponding to %e, %f, and %g may be
of types float or double. But other combinations do not work reliably: %d
will not print a long int or a float or a double; %ld will not print an
int; %e, %f, and %g will not print an int.

Self Assessment Questions

15. The __________ string consists of control characters, whitespace
characters, and non-whitespace characters.
16. The control string used to read a hexadecimal character is
_______________.
17. scanf() functions needs address of the data item to be read as the
argument. (True/False)

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18. The output of the following statement is ________________.

printf("%d %o %x\n", 64, 10, 75);
19. To print an int argument in octal, you can use ____________ format
string.
20. The output of the following program segment is ____________.
int a=97;
printf(“%c”, a);

3.8 The gets() and puts() functions

gets() and puts() functions facilitate the transfer of strings between the
computer and the standard input/output devices. Each of these functions
accepts a single argument. The argument must be a data item that
represents a string (an array of characters). The string may include
whitespace characters. In the case of gets(), the string will be entered from
the keyboard, and will terminate with a newline character (i.e. a string will
end when the user presses the RETURN key).
Example: Reading and writing a line of text.
#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
char line[80];
gets(line);
puts(line);
}
This program uses gets() and puts() functions rather than scanf() and
printf(), to transfer the line of text into and out of the computer.

Self Assessment Questions

21. gets() is a formatted input statement. (True/False)
22. The argument for a gets() and puts() functions are ____________
variables.
23. Using gets() function, you cannot include whitespace characters in the
input string. (True/False)

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3.9 Interactive Programming

Creating interactive dialog between the computer and the user is a modern
style of programming. These dialogs usually involve some form of question-
answer interaction, where the computer asks the questions and the user
provides the answer, or vice versa.
In C, such dialogs can be created by alternate use of the scanf() and
printf() functions.
Program 3.8: Program to calculate the simple interest
#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
/* Sample interactive program*/
float principle, rate, time, interest;
printf(“ Please enter the principle amount: “);
scanf(“%f”, &principle);
printf(“ Please enter the rate of interest: “);
scanf(“%f”, &rate);
printf(“ Please enter the period of deposit: “);
scanf(“%f”, &time);
interest=principle*rate*time/100.0;
printf(“Principle=%7.2f\n”, principle);
printf(“Rate of interest=%5.2f\n”,rate);
printf(“Period of deposit=%5.2f\n”, time);
printf(“Interest=%7.2f\n”, interest);
}
Execute the above program and observe the result.

3.10 Summary
Floating point(or real) numbers are stored in 32 bit (on all 16 bit and 32 bit
machines), with 6 digits of precision. Floating point numbers are defined in
C by the keyword float. When the accuracy provided by a float number is
not sufficient, the type double can be used to define the number.
Characters are usually stored in 8 bits (one byte) of internal storage. Like
integer data type other data types also offer extended data types such as
long double and signed char. C permits mixing of constants and variables

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Programming in C Unit 3

of different types in an expression, but during evaluation it adheres to very

strict rules of type conversion. When one of the operands is real and the
other is integer, the expression is called a mixed-mode arithmetic
expression. There are instances when we want to force a type conversion
in a way that is different from the automatic conversion. That is, by using
type cast operator. All keywords have fixed meanings and these meanings
cannot be changed.
getchar(), putchar(), scanf(), printf(), gets() and puts() are the commonly
used input/output functions in C. These functions are used to transfer of
information between the computer and the standard input/output devices.
getchar() and putchar() are the two functions to read and write single
character. scanf() and printf() are the two formatted input/output functions.
These functions can handle characters, numerical values and strings as well.
gets() and puts() functions are used to handle strings. scanf(), printf(),
gets() and puts() functions are used in interactive programming.

3.11 Terminal Questions

1. Which of the following arithmetic expressions are valid? If valid, give the
value of the expression; otherwise give reason.
a) 7.5 % 3 b) 14 % 3 + 7 %2
c) 21 % (int) 4.5 d) 15.25 + - 5.0
2. Find errors, if any, in the following declaration statements:
Int x;
float letter, DIGIT;
double = p, q
exponent alpha, beta;
m,n,z:INTEGER
short char c;
long int m; count;
long float temp;
3. What would be the value of x after execution of the following
statements?
int x, y = 10;
char z = ‘a’;
x = y + z;

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Programming in C Unit 3

4. The _______ chars have values from -128 to 127.

5. What are the commonly used input/output functions in C? How are they
accessed?
6. Distinguish between getchar() and putchar() functions?
7. When entering a string using scanf() function, how can a single string
which includes whitespace characters be entered?
8. Distinguish between gets() and scanf() functions.
9. A C program contains the following statements:
#include<stdio.h>
int i, j, k;
Write an appropriate scanf() function to enter numerical values for i, j
and k assuming
a) The values for i, j and k will be decimal integers
b) The value for i will be a decimal integer, j an octal integer and k a
hexadecimal integer.
c) The values for i and j will be hexadecimal integers and k will be an
octal integer.

3.12 Answers to Self Assessment Questions

1. False
2. 64
3. True
4. long int
5. 2.2
6. True
7. 0
8. 35
9. %c
10. False
11. Lowercase
12. False
13. False
14. EOF
15. Control
16. %x

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Programming in C Unit 3

17. True
18. 64, 12, 4B
19. %o
20. a
21. False
22. String
23. False

3.13 Answers to Terminal Questions

1. a) invalid, because % can be used only with integers.
b) valid, answer is 3
c) valid, answer is 1
d) valid, answer is 10.25
2. Errors in the following statements
i) Int x;
Can be written as
int x;
ii) double = p, q
Can be written as
double p,q;
iii) exponent alpha, beta;
There is no data type exponent in C.
iv) m,n,z:INTEGER
Can be written as
int m,n,z;
v) short char c;
There is no data type short char in C.
vi) long int m; count;
Can be written as
long int m,count;
vii) long float temp;
There is no data type long float in C
3. 107
4. signed

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Programming in C Unit 3

5. The commonly used input/output functions in C are: getchar(),

putchar(), scanf(), printf(), gets() and puts(). These functions can be
accessed within a program by including the header file stdio.h.
6. getchar() function is used to accept a single character from the
keyboard and putchar() function is used to display single character on
the user’s screen.
7. By using control string %[ ].
8. gets() is not the formatted input function but the scanf() function is a
formatted input function.
9. a) scanf(“%d %d %d”, &i, &j, &k);
b) scanf(“%d %o %x”, &i, &j, &k);
c) scanf(“%x %x %o”, &i, &j, &k);

3.14 Exercises
1. Represent the following numbers using scientific notation:
a) 0.001 b) -1.5
2. Represent the following scientific numbers into decimal notation:
a) 1.0E+2 b) 0.001E-2
3. What is unsigned char? Explain.
4. What is short char? Explain.
5. Distinguish between float and double data types.
6. Write a program to print the factors of a given number.
7. Given the length of a side, write a C program to compute surface area
and volume of a cube.
8. Write a program to reverse a number and find sum of the digits.
9. Write a program to print the multiplication table for any given number.
10. Write a program to check whether a given number is palindrome.

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