2131 – SCHEME 2021

PROBLEM SOLVING AND PROGRAMMING IN

C
 MODULE – I
Algorithms

The word Algorithm means “a process or set of rules to be followed in

calculations or other problem-solving operations”. Therefore, Algorithm refers
to a set of rules/instructions that step-by-step define how a work is to be
executed upon in order to get the expected results.

Characteristics of an Algorithm
  Clear and Unambiguous: Algorithm should be clear and unambiguous. Each of its
steps should be clear in all aspects and must lead to only one meaning.
 Well-Defined Inputs: If an algorithm says to take inputs, it should be well-defined
inputs.
 Well-Defined Outputs: The algorithm must clearly define what output will be
yielded and it should be well-defined as well.
 Finite-ness: The algorithm must be finite, i.e., it should not end up in an infinite loop
or similar.
 Feasible: The algorithm must be simple, generic and practical, such that it can be
executed upon with the available resources. It must not contain some future
technology, or anything.
 Language Independent: The Algorithm designed must be language-independent, i.e.,
it must be just plain instructions that can be implemented in any language.

Advantages of Algorithms:

 It is easy to understand.
 Algorithm is a step-wise representation of a solution to a given problem.
 In Algorithm the problem is broken down into smaller pieces or steps hence, it is
easier for the programmer to convert it into an actual program.

How to Design an Algorithm?

In order to write an algorithm, following things are needed as a pre-requisite:

1. The problem that is to be solved by this algorithm.

2. The constraints of the problem that must be considered while solving the problem.
3. The input to be taken to solve the problem.
4. The output to be expected when the problem the is solved.
5. The solution to this problem, in the given constraints.
Then the algorithm is written with the help of above parameters such that it solves the
problem.
Flowcharts

Flowchart is a graphical representation of an algorithm. Programmers often use it as a

program-planning tool to solve a problem. It makes use of symbols which are connected
among them to indicate the flow of information and processing.
Basic Symbols used in Flowchart Designs

Terminal: The oval symbol indicates Start, Stop and Halt in a program’s logic flow.

Input/Output: A parallelogram denotes any function of input/output type. Program

instructions that take input from input devices and display output on output devices
are indicated with parallelogram in a flowchart.

Processing: A box represents arithmetic instructions. All arithmetic processes such as

adding, subtracting, multiplication and division are indicated by action or process
symbol.

Decision Diamond symbol represents a decision point. Decision based operations such
as yes/no question or true/false are indicated by diamond in flowchart.

Connectors: Whenever flowchart becomes complex or it spreads over more than one
page, it is useful to use connectors to avoid any confusions. It is represented by a
circle.
 Flow lines: Flow lines indicate the exact sequence in which instructions are executed.
Arrows represent the direction of flow of control and relationship among different
symbols of flowchart.

Advantages of Flowchart:

 Flowcharts are better way of communicating the logic of system.

 Flowcharts act as a guide for blueprint during program designed.
 Flowcharts helps in debugging process.
 With the help of flowcharts programs can be easily analysed.
 It provides better documentation.
 Flowcharts serve as a good proper documentation.

Problems:

1. Write an Algorithm and Draw Flowchart for print a message.

2. Read 2 Numbers.
3. Add 2 Numbers.
4. Compare 2 Numbers.
5. Largest value from 3 Numbers.
6. Arithmetic Operations of 2 Numbers.
7. Odd or Even.
8. Sum of first N Numbers.
9. Sum of N Numbers.
10. Largest Value from N Numbers.

Program Development Cycles

Programming is the process of creating a set of instructions that tell a computer how to
perform a task. Programming can be done using a variety of computer "languages," such as
C,C++,JAVA etc.
Syntax refers to the spelling and grammar of a programming language. Computers are
inflexible machines that understand what you type only if you type it in the exact form that the
computer expects. The expected form is called the syntax.
Program development is the process of creating application programs. Program
development life cycle (PDLC) The process containing the five phases of program
development: analysing, designing, coding, debugging and testing, and implementing and
maintaining application software.
The following are six steps in the Program Development Life Cycle:

1. Analyze the problem. The computer user must figure out the problem, then decide how to
resolve the problem.

2. Design the program. A flow chart is important to use during this step of the PDLC. This is
a visual diagram of the flow containing the program.

3. Code the program. This is using the language of programming to write the lines of code.
The code is called the source code.

4. Debug the program. The bugs are important to find because this is known as errors in a
program.
5. Formalize the solution. One must run the program to make sure there are no syntax and
logic errors. ie testing the program.

6. Document and maintain the program. This step is the final step of gathering everything
together. Internal documentation is involved in this step because it explains the reasoning one
might have made a change in the program or how to write a program.

Programming Languages:

Programming Languages are mainly classified into 2.

High Level Language

Low Level Language

High-level language

 It can be easily interpreted as well as compiled in comparison to low-level

language. • It can be considered as a programmer-friendly language.
 It is easy to understand.
 It is easy to debug.
 It is simple in terms of maintenance.
 It requires a compiler/interpreter to be translated into machine
code. • It can be run on different platforms.
 It can be ported from one location to another.
 It is less memory efficient, i.e it consumes more memory in comparison to
low-level languages.
 Examples of high-level languages include C, C++, Java, Python.
Low-level language

 It is also known as machine level language.

 It can be understood easily by the machine.
 It is considered as a machine-friendly language.
 It is difficult to understand.
 It is difficult to debug.
 Its maintenance is also complex.
 It is not portable.
 It depends on the machine; hence it can't be run on different
platforms. • It requires an assembler that would translate
instructions.

Translators :

A translator is a programming language processor that modifies a computer program

from one language to another. It takes a program written in the source program and modifies it
into a machine program.

There are various types of a translators.

Compiler − A compiler is a program that translates a high-level language (for example, C,

C++, and Java) into a low-level language (object program or machine program).

Assembler − An assembler is a translator which translates an assembly language program into

an equivalent machine language program of the computer.

Interpreter − An interpreter is a program that executes the programming code directly rather
than only translating it into another format. It translates and executes programming language
statements one by one.

Compiling and Executing a Program :

Step 1 : Open an EDITOR tool. Eg:- Type “nano pgm.c” in UBUNTUTerminal.
Step 2 : Type the C Program
Step 3 : Save the Program. Eg :- Press Control Key + O Key

Step 4 : Exit from NANO EDITOR. Eg :- Press Control Key + X Key

Step 5 : Compile the Program. Eg :- CC or GCC pgm.c

Step 6 : Execute or Run the Program. Eg :- . /a.out

Example
nano sample.c

#include<stdio.h>

main()

printf(“WELCOME”);

Save – CONTROL+O

Exit – CONTROL+X

Compile – GCC sample.c

Execute - ./a.out

C Program Structure

A C program involves the following sections:

o Documentations (Documentation Section)

o Preprocessor Statements (Link Section)
o Global Declarations (Definition Section)
o The main() function
 Local Declarations
 Program Statements & Expressions
o User Defined Functions

/* Writes the words "Hello, World!" on the screen */

#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
printf("Hello, World!\n");

}
 /* Comments */ Comments are a way of explaining what makes a program. The
compiler ignores comments and used by others to understand the
code.

#include<stdio.h> stdio is standard for input/output, this allows us to use some

commands which includes a file called stdio.h.

main() main() is the main function where program execution begins.

Every C program must contain only one main function.

Braces Two curly brackets "{...}" are used to group all statements.

The Documentation section usually contains the collection of comment lines giving the
name of the program, author's or programmer's name and few other details. The second part is
the link-section which instructs the compiler to connect to the various functions from the
system library. The Definition section describes all the symbolic-constants. The global
declaration section is used to define those variables that are used globally within the entire
program and is used in more than one function. This section also declares all the user-defined
functions. Then comes the main(). All C programs must have a main() which contains two
parts:
 Declaration part
 Execution part
The declaration part is used to declare all variables that will be used within the program.
There needs to be at least one statement in the executable part, and these two parts are
declared within the opening and closing curly braces of the main(). The execution of the
program begins at the opening brace '{' and ends with the closing brace '}'. Also, it has to be
noted that all the statements of these two parts need to be terminated with a semi-colon. The
sub-program section deals with all user-defined functions that are called from the main().
These user-defined functions are declared and usually defined after the main() function.
C Identifiers

C identifiers represent the name in the C program, for example, variables. An identifier
can be composed of letters such as uppercase, lowercase letters, underscore, digits, but the
starting letter should be either an alphabet or an underscore.

Rules for constructing C identifiers

 The first character of an identifier should be either an alphabet or an
underscore, and then it can be followed by any of the character, digit, or
underscore.
 It should not begin with any numerical digit.
 In identifiers, both uppercase and lowercase letters are distinct. Therefore, we
can say that identifiers are case sensitive.
 Commas or blank spaces cannot be specified within an identifier.
 Keywords cannot be represented as an identifier.
 The length of the identifiers should not be more than 31 characters.
 Identifiers should be written in such a way that it is meaningful, short, and easy
to read.

C Keywords

Keywords are predefined, reserved words used in programming that have special
meanings to the compiler. Keywords are part of the syntax and they cannot be used as an
identifier.

As C is a case sensitive language, all keywords must be written in lowercase. Here is a

list of all keywords allowed in ANSI C.
C Keywords
auto double int struct

break else long switch

case enum register typedef

char extern return union

continue for signed void

do if static while

default goto sizeof volatile

const float short unsigned

Data Types in C

Each variable in C has an associated data type.

Following are the examples of some very common data types used in C:
o char: The most basic data type in C. It stores a single character and requires
a single byte of memory in almost all compilers.
o int: As the name suggests, an int variable is used to store an integer.
o float: It is used to store decimal numbers (numbers with floating point value)
with single precision.
o double: It is used to store decimal numbers (numbers with floating point
value) with double precision.

Memory Format Specifier

(bytes) Range
Data Type

short int 2 -32,768to32,767 %hd

unsigned short int 2 0 to 65,535 %hu

unsignedint 4 0to4,294,967,295 %u

int 4 -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 %d

long int 4 -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 %ld

unsigned long int 4 0 to 4,294,967,295 %lu

long long int 8 -(2^63)to(2^63)-1 %lld

unsigned long long int 8 0 to18,446,744,073,709,551,615 %llu

signed char 1 -128 to 127 %c

unsigned char 1 0 to 255 %c

float 4 %f

double 8 %lf

long double 16 %Lf

Constants

Constant is a value that cannot be changed during program execution; it is fixed.

In C language, a number or character or string of characters is called a constant. And it can be
any data type. Constants are also called as literals.
There are two types of constants −
Primary constants − Integer, float, and character are called as Primary constants.
Secondary constants − Array, structures, pointers, Enum, etc., called as secondary
constants. Example for Primary constants
#include<stdio.h>
int main(){
const int height=20;
const int base=40;
float area;
area=0.5 * height*base;
printf("The area of triangle :%f", area);
return 0;
}

Output
The area of triangle :400.000000

Example for secondary constants

include<stdio.h>
void main(){
int a;
int *p;
a=10;
p=&a;
printf("a=%d\n",a);//10//
printf("p=%d\n",p);//address value of p//
*p=12;
printf("a=%d\n",a);//12//
printf("p=%d\n",p);//address value of p//
}
Output
a=10
p=6422036
a=12
p=6422036

C - Variables

A variable is nothing but a name given to a storage area that our programs can
manipulate. The name of a variable can be composed of letters, digits, and the underscore
character. It must begin with either a letter or an underscore. Upper and lowercase letters are
distinct because C is case-sensitive.

A variable definition tells the compiler where and how much storage to create for the
variable. A variable definition specifies a data type and contains a list of one or more
variables of that type as follows −
type variable_list;
Here, type must be a valid C data type including char, w_char, int, float, double, bool,
or any user-defined object; and variable_list may consist of one or more identifier names
separated by commas. Some valid declarations are shown here −
int i, j, k;
char c, ch;
float f, salary;
double d;

Variable Declaration in C
A variable declaration provides assurance to the compiler that there exists a variable
with the given type and name so that the compiler can proceed for further compilation
without requiring the complete detail about the variable.
#include <stdio.h>

int main () {

/* variable declaration: */
int a, b;
int c;
float f;

/* actual initialization */
a = 10;
b = 20;

c = a + b;
printf("value of c : %d \n", c);

f = 70.0/3.0;
printf("value of f : %f \n", f);

return 0;
}

Output

value of c : 30
value of f : 23.333334

C Operators
An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical
functions. C language is rich in built-in operators and provides the following types of
operators

 Arithmetic Operators
 Relational Operators
 Logical Operators
 Bitwise Operators
 Assignment Operators
 Conditional Operators
 Increment or Decrement Operators

Arithmetic Operators
The following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by the C language. Assume
variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then –
 Operat Description Example
or

+ Adds two operands. A + B = 30

− Subtracts second operand from the first. A − B = -10

* Multiplies both operands. A * B = 200

/ Divides numerator by de-numerator. B/A=2

% Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer B%A=0

division.

++ Increment operator increases the integer value by A++ = 11

one.

-- Decrement operator decreases the integer value by A-- = 9

one.

Relational Operators
The following table shows all the relational operators supported by C. Assume variable A
holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −
Operat Description Exampl
or e

== Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If yes, then (A
the condition becomes true. == B)
is not
true.

!= Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If the values (A !=
are not equal, then the condition becomes true. B)
is true.
 > Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of right (A >
operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. B)
is not
true.

< Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right (A <
operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. B)
is true.

>= Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the (A
value of right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. >= B)
is not
true.

<= Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the (A
value of right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. <= B)
is
true.

Logical Operators
Following table shows all the logical operators supported by C language. Assume variable A
holds 1 and variable B holds 0, then –

Operat Description Exampl

or e

&& Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non-zero, then (A
the condition becomes true. &&
B) is
false.
|| Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non- (A ||
zero, then the condition becomes true. B) is
true.

! Called Logical NOT Operator. It is used to reverse the logical state of !(A
its operand. If a condition is true, then Logical NOT operator will &&
make it false. B) is
true.
Bitwise Operators
Bitwise operator works on bits and perform bit-by-bit operation. The truth tables for &, |, and
^ is as follows −

p q p&q p|q p^q

0 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 1 1

1 1 1 1 0

1 0 0 1 1

Assume variable 'A' holds 60 and variable 'B' holds 13, then −
Operato Description Example
r

& Binary AND Operator copies a bit to the (A & B) = 12, i.e., 0000 1100
result if it exists in both operands.

| Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in (A | B) = 61, i.e., 0011 1101

either operand.

^ Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is (A ^ B) = 49, i.e., 0011 0001
set in one operand but not both.

~ Binary One's Complement Operator is unary (~A ) = ~(60), i.e,. -0111101

and has the effect of 'flipping' bits.
 << Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands A << 2 = 240 i.e., 1111 0000
value is moved left by the number of bits
specified by the right operand.

>> Binary Right Shift Operator. The left A >> 2 = 15 i.e., 0000 1111
operands value is moved right by the
number of bits specified by the right
operand.

Assignment Operators
The following table lists the assignment operators supported by the C language −
Operator Description Example

= Simple assignment operator. Assigns C = A + B will assign the value of A + B to C

values from right side operands to left
side operand

+= Add AND assignment operator. It adds C += A is equivalent to C = C + A

the right operand to the left operand and
assign the result to the left operand.

-= Subtract AND assignment operator. It C -= A is equivalent to C = C – A

subtracts the right operand from the
left operand and assigns the result to
the left operand.

*= Multiply AND assignment operator. It C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A

multiplies the right operand with the left
operand and assigns the result to the
left operand.

/= Divide AND assignment operator. It C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A

divides the left operand with the right
operand and assigns the result to the left
operand.

%= Modulus AND assignment operator. It C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A

takes modulus using two operands and
assigns the result to the left operand.
 <<= Left shift AND assignment operator. C <<= 2 is same as C = C << 2

>>= Right shift AND assignment operator. C >>= 2 is same as C = C >> 2

&= Bitwise AND assignment operator. C &= 2 is same as C = C & 2

^= Bitwise exclusive OR and C ^= 2 is same as C = C ^ 2

assignment operator.

|= Bitwise inclusive OR and C |= 2 is same as C = C | 2

assignment operator.

Conditional Operator
?: Conditional Expression. If Condition is true ? then value X : otherwise value Y

Operator Precedence and Associativity in C

Operator precedence determines which operator is performed first in an expression with

more than one operators with different precedence.
For example: Solve

10 + 20 * 30
10 + 20 * 30 is calculated as 10 + (20 * 30)

Operators Associativity is used when two operators of same precedence appear in an

expression. Associativity can be either Left to Right or Right to Left.
For example: ‘*’ and ‘/’ have same precedence and their associativity is Left to Right, so
the expression “100 / 10 * 10” is treated as “(100 / 10) * 10”.

For example: Solve

100 + 200 / 10 - 3 * 10
Category Operator Associativity
 Postfix () [] -> . ++ - - Left to right

Unary + - ! ~ ++ - - (type)* & sizeof Right to left

Multiplicative */% Left to right

Additive +- Left to right

Shift << >> Left to right

Relational < <= > >= Left to right

Equality == != Left to right

Bitwise AND & Left to right

Category Operator Associativity

Bitwise XOR ^ Left to right

Bitwise OR | Left to right

Logical AND && Left to right

Logical OR || Left to right

 Conditional ?: Right to left

Assignment = += -= *= /= %=>>= <<= &= ^= |= Right to left

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.

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.
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.

C - Type Casting

Converting one datatype into another is known as type casting or, type-conversion.
You can convert the values from one type to another explicitly using the cast operator as
follows −
(type_name) expression
#include <stdio.h>

main() {

int sum = 17, count = 5;

float mean;

mean = (float) sum / count;

printf("Value of mean : %f\n", mean );
}

The cast operator has precedence over division, so the value of sum is first converted to
type float and finally it gets divided by count yielding a float value.

C - Input and Output

Input, it means to feed some data into a program. An input can be given in the form of a file
or from the command line. C programming provides a set of built-in functions to read the
given input.
Output, it means to display some data on screen, printer, or in any file. C programming
provides a set of built-in functions to output the data on the computer screen.
C language has standard libraries that allow input and output in a program. The stdio.h or
standard input output library in C that has methods for input and output.

scanf()

The scanf() method, in C, reads the value from the console as per the type specified.
Syntax:

scanf(“%X”, &variableOfXType);

where %X is the format specifier in C. It is a way to tell the compiler what type of data is in
a variable and & is the address operator in C, which tells the compiler to change the real value
of this varia ble, stored at this address in the memory.

printf()

The printf() method, in C, prints the value passed as the parameter to it, on the console
screen.
Syntax:

printf(“%X”, variableOfXType);
where %X is the format specifier in C. It is a way to tell the compiler what type of data is in
a variable and & is the address operator in C, which tells the compiler to change the real
value of this varia ble, stored at this address in the memory.

The Syntax for input and output for these are:

• Integer:
Input: scanf("%d", &intVariable);
Output: printf("%d", intVariable);

• Float:
Input: scanf("%f", &floatVariable);
Output: printf("%f", floatVariable);

• Character:
Input: scanf("%c", &charVariable);
Output: printf("%c", charVariable);
Basic Programs

1. Display a message.
2. a=10, b=20 Find a+b;
3. Print 100 five times.
4. a=10, b=4 Find the Quotient and Remainder of a/b.
5. Read a and b then find (a+b)/2.
6. Read a and b then find (a+b)2.
7. Read a and b then perform arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication and division.