C ProgrammingNotes

C Programming
Introduction
C programming is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative computer programming language
developed in 1972 by Dennis M. Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories to develop the UNIX
operating system. C is the most widely used computer language. It keeps fluctuating at number
one scale of popularity along with Java programming language, which is also equally popular and
most widely used among modern software programmers.

Facts about C
➢ C was invented to write an operating system called UNIX.
➢ C is a successor of B language which was introduced around the early 1970s.
➢ The language was formalized in 1988 by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI).
➢ The UNIX OS was totally written in C.
➢ Today C is the most widely used and popular System Programming Language.
➢ Most of the state-of-the-art software have been implemented using C.

Applications of C Programming
C was initially used for system development work, particularly the programs that make-up the
operating system. C was adopted as a system development language because it produces code that
runs nearly as fast as the code written in assembly language. Some examples of the use of C are -
➢ Operating Systems
➢ Language Compilers
➢ Assemblers
➢ Text Editors
➢ Print Spoolers
➢ Network Drivers
➢ Modern Programs
➢ Databases
➢ Language Interpreters
➢ Utilities

C Programs
A C program can vary from 3 lines to millions of lines and it should be written into one or more
text files with extension ".c"; for example, hello.c.

C - Program Structure
Before we study the basic building blocks of the C programming language, let us look at a bare
minimum C program structure so that we can take it as a reference in the upcoming chapters.

A C program basically consists of the following parts −

➢ Preprocessor Commands
➢ Functions
➢ Variables
➢ Statements & Expressions
➢ Comments

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Let us look at a simple code that would print the words "Hello World" −
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
/* my first program in C */
printf("Hello, World! \n");
return 0;
}

Let us take a look at the various parts of the above program −

➢ The first line of the program #include <stdio.h> is a preprocessor command, which tells a
C compiler to include stdio.h file before going to actual compilation.
➢ The next line int main() is the main function where the program execution begins.
➢ The next line /*...*/ will be ignored by the compiler and it has been put to add additional
comments in the program. So such lines are called comments in the program.
➢ The next line printf(...) is another function available in C which causes the message "Hello,
World!" to be displayed on the screen.
➢ The next line return 0; terminates the main() function and returns the value 0.

C - Basic Syntax
You have seen the basic structure of a C program, so it will be easy to understand other basic
building blocks of the C programming language.

❖ Tokens in C
A C program consists of various tokens and a token is either a keyword, an identifier, a constant,
a string literal, or a symbol. For example, the following C statement consists of five tokens −
printf("Hello, World! \n");
The individual tokens are −
printf
(
"Hello, World! \n";
)

Semicolons ;
In a C program, the semicolon is a statement terminator. That is, each individual statement must
be ended with a semicolon. It indicates the end of one logical entity.
Given below are two different statements −
printf("Hello, World! \n");
return 0;

Comments
Comments are like helping text in your C program and they are ignored by the compiler. They
start with /* and terminate with the characters */ as shown below −
/* my first program in C */
You cannot have comments within comments and they do not occur within a string or character
literals.

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Identifiers
A C identifier is a name used to identify a variable, function, or any other user-defined item. An
identifier starts with a letter A to Z, a to z, or an underscore '_' followed by zero or more letters,
underscores, and digits (0 to 9).
C does not allow punctuation characters such as @, $, and % within identifiers. C is a case-
sensitive programming language. Thus, Manpower and manpower are two different identifiers in
C. Here are some examples of acceptable identifiers −
mohd zara abc move_name a_123
myname50 _temp j a23b9 retVal

Keywords
The following list shows the reserved words in C. These reserved words may not be used as
constants or variables or any other identifier names.
auto else long switch

break enum register typedef

case extern return union

char float short unsigned

const for signed void

continue goto sizeof volatile

default if static while

do int struct _Packed

double

Whitespace in C
A line containing only whitespace, possibly with a comment, is known as a blank line, and a C
compiler totally ignores it.
Whitespace is the term used in C to describe blanks, tabs, newline characters and comments.
Whitespace separates one part of a statement from another and enables the compiler to identify
where one element in a statement, such as int, ends and the next element begins. Therefore, in the
following statement − int age;

C - Data Types
Data types in c refer to an extensive system used for declaring variables or functions of different
types. The type of a variable determines how much space it occupies in storage and how the bit
pattern stored is interpreted.

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The types in C can be classified as follows –

Sl.No. Types & Description

1 Basic Types: They are arithmetic types and are further classified into:
(a) integer types and (b) floating-point types.

2 Enumerated types: They are again arithmetic types and they are used to define variables
that can only assign certain discrete integer values throughout the program.

3 The type void: The type specifier void indicates that no value is available.

4 Derived types: They include (a) Pointer types, (b) Array types, (c) Structure types, (d) Union
types and (e) Function types.

Integer Types

The following table provides the details of standard integer types with their storage sizes and value
ranges −
Type Storage size Value range

char 1 byte -128 to 127 or 0 to 255

unsigned char 1 byte 0 to 255

signed char 1 byte -128 to 127

int 2 or 4 bytes -32,768 to 32,767 or -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

unsigned int 2 or 4 bytes 0 to 65,535 or 0 to 4,294,967,295

short 2 bytes -32,768 to 32,767

unsigned short 2 bytes 0 to 65,535

long 8 bytes or (4bytes for -9223372036854775808 to 9223372036854775807

32 bit OS)

unsigned long 8 bytes 0 to 18446744073709551615

Floating-Point Types

The following table provide the details of standard floating-point types with storage sizes and value
ranges and their precision –

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Type Storage size Value range Precision

float 4 byte 1.2E-38 to 3.4E+38 6 decimal places

double 8 byte 2.3E-308 to 1.7E+308 15 decimal places

long double 10 byte 3.4E-4932 to 1.1E+4932 19 decimal places

The void Type

The void type specifies that no value is available. It is used in three kinds of situations –

Sl.No. Types & Description

1 Function returns as void: There are various functions in C which do not return any value
or you can say they return void. A function with no return value has the return type as void.
For example, void exit (int status);

2 Function arguments as void: There are various functions in C which do not accept any
parameter. A function with no parameter can accept a void. For example, int rand(void);

3 Pointers to void: A pointer of type void * represents the address of an object, but not its
type. For example, a memory allocation function void *malloc (size_t size); returns a pointer
to void which can be casted to any data type.

C - Variables
A variable is nothing but a name given to a storage area that our programs can manipulate. Each
variable in C has a specific type, which determines the size and layout of the variable's memory;
the range of values that can be stored within that memory; and the set of operations that can be
applied to the variable.
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.

The following basic variable types –

Sl.No. Type & Description

1 Char: Typically a single octet(one byte). It is an integer type.

2 Int: The most natural size of integer for the machine.

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3 Float: A single-precision floating point value.

4 Double: A double-precision floating point value.

5 Void: Represents the absence of type.

C programming language also allows to define various other types of variables, which we will
cover in subsequent chapters like Enumeration, Pointer, Array, Structure, Union, etc. For this
chapter, let us study only basic variable types.

Variable Definition in C
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;
The line int i, j, k; declares and defines the variables i, j, and k; which instruct the compiler to
create variables named i, j and k of type int.
Variables can be initialized (assigned an initial value) in their declaration. The initializer consists
of an equal sign followed by a constant expression as follows −
type variable_name = value;
Some examples are −
extern int d = 3, f = 5; // declaration of d and f.
int d = 3, f = 5; // definition and initializing d and f.
byte z = 22; // definition and initializes z.
char x = 'x'; // the variable x has the value 'x'.

For definition without an initializer: variables with static storage duration are implicitly initialized
with NULL (all bytes have the value 0); the initial value of all other variables are undefined.

Lvalues and Rvalues in C

There are two kinds of expressions in C −

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➢ lvalue − Expressions that refer to a memory location are called "lvalue" expressions. An lvalue
may appear as either the left-hand or right-hand side of an assignment.
➢ rvalue − The term rvalue refers to a data value that is stored at some address in memory. An
rvalue is an expression that cannot have a value assigned to it which means an rvalue may
appear on the right-hand side but not on the left-hand side of an assignment.

Variables are lvalues and so they may appear on the left-hand side of an assignment. Numeric
literals are rvalues and so they may not be assigned and cannot appear on the left-hand side. Take
a look at the following valid and invalid statements −
int g = 20; // valid statement
10 = 20; // invalid statement; would generate compile-time error

Constants
Constants refer to fixed values that the program may not alter during its execution. These fixed
values are also called literals.
Constants can be of any of the basic data types like an integer constant, a floating constant, a
character constant, or a string literal. There are enumeration constants as well.
Constants are treated just like regular variables except that their values cannot be modified after
their definition.

❖ Integer Literals
An integer literal can be a decimal, octal, or hexadecimal constant. A prefix specifies the base or
radix: 0x or 0X for hexadecimal, 0 for octal, and nothing for decimal.
An integer literal can also have a suffix that is a combination of U and L, for unsigned and long,
respectively. The suffix can be uppercase or lowercase and can be in any order.

Here are some examples of integer literals −

212 /* Legal */
215u /* Legal */
0xFeeL /* Legal */
078 /* Illegal: 8 is not an octal digit */
032UU /* Illegal: cannot repeat a suffix */

Following are other examples of various types of integer literals −

85 /* decimal */
0213 /* octal */
0x4b /* hexadecimal */
30 /* int */
30u /* unsigned int */
30l /* long */
30ul /* unsigned long */

❖ Floating-point Literals
A floating-point literal has an integer part, a decimal point, a fractional part, and an exponent part.
You can represent floating point literals either in decimal form or exponential form.

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While representing decimal form, you must include the decimal point, the exponent, or both; and
while representing exponential form, you must include the integer part, the fractional part, or both.
The signed exponent is introduced by e or E.

Here are some examples of floating-point literals −

3.14159 /* Legal */
314159E-5L /* Legal */
510E /* Illegal: incomplete exponent */
210f /* Illegal: no decimal or exponent */
.e55 /* Illegal: missing integer or fraction */

❖ Character Constants
Character literals are enclosed in single quotes, e.g., 'x' can be stored in a simple variable
of char type.
A character literal can be a plain character (e.g., 'x'), an escape sequence (e.g., '\t'), or a universal
character (e.g., '\u02C0').
There are certain characters in C that represent special meaning when preceded by a backslash for
example, newline (\n) or tab (\t). Following is the example to show a few escape sequence
characters −
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("Hello\tWorld\n\n");
return 0;
}

❖ String Literals
String literals or constants are enclosed in double quotes "". A string contains characters that are
similar to character literals: plain characters, escape sequences, and universal characters.
You can break a long line into multiple lines using string literals and separating them using white
spaces.
Here are some examples of string literals. All the three forms are identical strings.
"hello, dear"
"hello, \dear"
"hello, " "d" "ear"

Defining Constants
There are two simple ways in C to define constants −
➢ Using #define preprocessor.
➢ Using const keyword.

❖ The #define Preprocessor

Given below is the form to use #define preprocessor to define a constant −
#define identifier value
The following example explains it in detail −
#include <stdio.h>
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#define LENGTH 10
#define WIDTH 5
#define NEWLINE '\n'
int main() {
int area;
area = LENGTH * WIDTH;
printf("value of area : %d", area);
printf("%c", NEWLINE);
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result − value of area :
50

❖ The const Keyword

You can use const prefix to declare constants with a specific type as follows −
const type variable = value;
The following example explains it in detail −
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
const int LENGTH = 10;
const int WIDTH = 5;
const char NEWLINE = '\n';
int area;
area = LENGTH * WIDTH;
printf("value of area : %d", area);
printf("%c", NEWLINE);
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result − value of area :
50

C - Storage Classes
A storage class defines the scope (visibility) and life-time of variables and/or functions within a C
Program. They precede the type that they modify. We have four different storage classes in a C
program −
➢ auto
➢ register
➢ static
➢ extern

❖ The auto Storage Class

The auto storage class is the default storage class for all local variables.
{
int mount;
auto int month;

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}
The example above defines two variables with in the same storage class. 'auto' can only be used
within functions, i.e., local variables.

❖ The register Storage Class

The register storage class is used to define local variables that should be stored in a register instead
of RAM. This means that the variable has a maximum size equal to the register size (usually one
word) and can't have the unary '&' operator applied to it (as it does not have a memory location).
{
register int miles;
}
The register should only be used for variables that require quick access such as counters. It should
also be noted that defining 'register' does not mean that the variable will be stored in a register. It
means that it MIGHT be stored in a register depending on hardware and implementation
restrictions.

❖ The static Storage Class

The static storage class instructs the compiler to keep a local variable in existence during the life-
time of the program instead of creating and destroying it each time it comes into and goes out of
scope. Therefore, making local variables static allows them to maintain their values between
function calls.
The static modifier may also be applied to global variables. When this is done, it causes that
variable's scope to be restricted to the file in which it is declared.
In C programming, when static is used on a global variable, it causes only one copy of that member
to be shared by all the objects of its class.

#include <stdio.h>
/* function declaration */
void func(void);
static int count = 5; /* global variable */
main() {
while(count--) {
func();
}
return 0;
}

/* function definition */
void func( void ) {
static int i = 5; /* local static variable */
i++;
printf("i is %d and count is %d\n", i, count);
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
i is 6 and count is 4

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i is 7 and count is 3
i is 8 and count is 2
i is 9 and count is 1
i is 10 and count is 0

❖ The extern Storage Class

The extern storage class is used to give a reference of a global variable that is visible to ALL the
program files. When you use 'extern', the variable cannot be initialized however, it points the
variable name at a storage location that has been previously defined.
When you have multiple files and you define a global variable or function, which will also be used
in other files, then extern will be used in another file to provide the reference of defined variable
or function. Just for understanding, extern is used to declare a global variable or function in another
file.
The extern modifier is most commonly used when there are two or more files sharing the same
global variables or functions as explained below.
First File: main.c
#include <stdio.h>
int count ;
extern void write_extern();
main() {
count = 5;
write_extern();
}

Second File: support.c

#include <stdio.h>
extern int count;
void write_extern(void) {
printf("count is %d\n", count);
}
Here, extern is being used to declare count in the second file, where as it has its definition in the
first file, main.c. Now, compile these two files as follows −
$gcc main.c support.c
It will produce the executable program a.out. When this program is executed, it produces the
following result −
count is 5

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

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➢ Misc 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 –

Show Examples
Operator Description Example

+ 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 division. B%A=0

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

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

❖ Relational Operators

The following table shows all the relational operators supported by C. Assume variable A holds
10 and variable B holds 20 then −

Show Examples

Operator Description Example

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

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

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

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

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

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

Show Examples
Operator Description Example

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

|| Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non-zero, (A || B) is true.

then the condition becomes true.

! Called Logical NOT Operator. It is used to reverse the logical state !(A && B) is true.
of its operand. If a condition is true, then Logical NOT operator will
make it false.

❖ 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 A = 60 and B = 13 in binary format, they will be as follows −

A = 0011 1100
B = 0000 1101
-----------------
A&B = 0000 1100
A|B = 0011 1101
A^B = 0011 0001
~A = 1100 0011

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The following table lists the bitwise operators supported by C. Assume variable 'A' holds 60 and
variable 'B' holds 13, then –

Show Examples
Operator Description Example

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

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

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

~ Binary One's Complement Operator is unary and has the (~A ) = ~(60), i.e,. -0111101
effect of 'flipping' bits.

<< Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is

moved left by the number of bits specified by the right A << 2 = 240 i.e., 1111 0000
operand.

>> Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is

moved right by the number of bits specified by the right A >> 2 = 15 i.e., 0000 1111
operand.

❖ Assignment Operators
The following table lists the assignment operators supported by the C language –

Show Examples
Operator Description Example

= Simple assignment operator. Assigns values from C = A + B will assign the value of A
right side operands to left side operand + B to C

+= Add AND assignment operator. It adds the right

operand to the left operand and assign the result to C += A is equivalent to C = C + A
the left operand.

-= Subtract AND assignment operator. It subtracts the

right operand from the left operand and assigns the C -= A is equivalent to C = C - A
result to the left operand.

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*= Multiply AND assignment operator. It multiplies

the right operand with the left operand and assigns C *= A is equivalent to C = C * A
the result to the left operand.

/= Divide AND assignment operator. It divides the left

operand with the right operand and assigns the C /= A is equivalent to C = C / A
result to the left operand.

%= Modulus AND assignment operator. It takes

modulus using two operands and assigns the result C %= A is equivalent to C = C % A
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 assignment operator. C ^= 2 is same as C = C ^ 2

|= Bitwise inclusive OR and assignment operator. C |= 2 is same as C = C | 2

❖ Misc Operators ↦ sizeof & ternary

Besides the operators discussed above, there are a few other important operators
including sizeof and ? : supported by the C Language.

Show Examples
Operator Description Example

sizeof() Returns the size of a variable. sizeof(a), where a is integer, will return 4.

& Returns the address of a variable. &a; returns the actual address of the variable.

* Pointer to a variable. *a;

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

Operators Precedence in C
Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression and decides how an
expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence than others; for example, the
multiplication operator has a higher precedence than the addition operator.

For example, x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has a higher precedence
than +, so it first gets multiplied with 3*2 and then adds into 7.

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Here, operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table, those with the lowest
appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher precedence operators will be evaluated first.

Show Examples
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

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

Comma , Left to right

C - Decision Making
Decision making structures require that the programmer specifies one or more conditions to be
evaluated or tested by the program, along with a statement or statements to be executed if the
condition is determined to be true, and optionally, other statements to be executed if the condition
is determined to be false.
Show below is the general form of a typical decision making structure found in most of the
programming languages −

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C programming language assumes any non-zero and non-null values as true, and if it is
either zero or null, then it is assumed as false value.
C programming language provides the following types of decision making statements.
Sl.No. Statement & Description

1 if statement
An if statement consists of a boolean expression followed by one or more statements.

2 if...else statement
An if statement can be followed by an optional else statement, which executes when the
Boolean expression is false.

3 nested if statements
You can use one if or else if statement inside another if or else if statement(s).

4 switch statement
A switch statement allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list of values.

5 nested switch statements

You can use one switch statement inside another switch statement(s).

The ? : Operator
We have covered conditional operator ? : in the previous chapter which can be used to
replace if...else statements. It has the following general form −
Exp1 ? Exp2 : Exp3;
Where Exp1, Exp2, and Exp3 are expressions. Notice the use and placement of the colon.
The value of a ? expression is determined like this −
➢ Exp1 is evaluated. If it is true, then Exp2 is evaluated and becomes the value of the entire
? expression.
➢ If Exp1 is false, then Exp3 is evaluated and its value becomes the value of the expression.

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C - Loops
You may encounter situations, when a block of code needs to be executed several number of times.
In general, statements are executed sequentially: The first statement in a function is executed first,
followed by the second, and so on.
Programming languages provide various control structures that allow for more complicated
execution paths.
A loop statement allows us to execute a statement or group of statements multiple times. Given
below is the general form of a loop statement in most of the programming languages −

C programming language provides the following types of loops to handle looping requirements.
Sl.No. Loop Type & Description

1 while loop
Repeats a statement or group of statements while a given condition is true. It tests the
condition before executing the loop body.

2 for loop
Executes a sequence of statements multiple times and abbreviates the code that manages the
loop variable.

3 do...while loop
It is more like a while statement, except that it tests the condition at the end of the loop body.

4 nested loops
You can use one or more loops inside any other while, for, or do..while loop.

Loop Control Statements

Loop control statements change execution from its normal sequence. When execution leaves a
scope, all automatic objects that were created in that scope are destroyed.
C supports the following control statements.

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Sr.No. Control Statement & Description

1 break statement
Terminates the loop or switch statement and transfers execution to the statement
immediately following the loop or switch.

2 continue statement
Causes the loop to skip the remainder of its body and immediately retest its condition prior
to reiterating.

3 goto statement
Transfers control to the labeled statement.

The Infinite Loop

A loop becomes an infinite loop if a condition never becomes false. The for loop is traditionally
used for this purpose. Since none of the three expressions that form the 'for' loop are required, you
can make an endless loop by leaving the conditional expression empty.
#include <stdio.h>
int main () {
for( ; ; ) {
printf("This loop will run forever.\n");
}
return 0;
}

When the conditional expression is absent, it is assumed to be true. You may have an initialization
and increment expression, but C programmers more commonly use the for(;;) construct to signify
an infinite loop.

C - Functions
A function is a group of statements that together perform a task. Every C program has at least one
function, which is main(), and all the most trivial programs can define additional functions.
You can divide up your code into separate functions. How you divide up your code among different
functions is up to you, but logically the division is such that each function performs a specific task.
A function declaration tells the compiler about a function's name, return type, and parameters. A
function definition provides the actual body of the function.
The C standard library provides numerous built-in functions that your program can call. For
example, strcat() to concatenate two strings, memcpy() to copy one memory location to another
location, and many more functions.
A function can also be referred as a method or a sub-routine or a procedure, etc.

Defining a Function
The general form of a function definition in C programming language is as follows −
return_type function_name( parameter list ) {
Prof. K. Adisesha 19
C ProgrammingNotes

body of the function

}
A function definition in C programming consists of a function header and a function body.
Here are all the parts of a function −
❖ Return Type − A function may return a value. The return_type is the data type of the value
the function returns. Some functions perform the desired operations without returning a value.
In this case, the return_type is the keyword void.
❖ Function Name − This is the actual name of the function. The function name and the
parameter list together constitute the function signature.
❖ Parameters − A parameter is like a placeholder. When a function is invoked, you pass a value
to the parameter. This value is referred to as actual parameter or argument. The parameter list
refers to the type, order, and number of the parameters of a function. Parameters are optional;
that is, a function may contain no parameters.
❖ Function Body − The function body contains a collection of statements that define what the
function does.
Example
Given below is the source code for a function called max(). This function takes two parameters
num1 and num2 and returns the maximum value between the two −
/* function returning the max between two numbers */
int max(int num1, int num2) {
/* local variable declaration */
int result;
if (num1 > num2)
result = num1;
else
result = num2;

return result;
}

Function Declarations
A function declaration tells the compiler about a function name and how to call the function. The
actual body of the function can be defined separately.
A function declaration has the following parts −
return_type function_name( parameter list );
For the above defined function max(), the function declaration is as follows −
int max(int num1, int num2);
Parameter names are not important in function declaration only their type is required, so the
following is also a valid declaration −
int max(int, int);

Prof. K. Adisesha 20
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Function declaration is required when you define a function in one source file and you call that
function in another file. In such case, you should declare the function at the top of the file calling
the function.
Calling a Function
While creating a C function, you give a definition of what the function has to do. To use a function,
you will have to call that function to perform the defined task.
When a program calls a function, the program control is transferred to the called function. A called
function performs a defined task and when its return statement is executed or when its function-
ending closing brace is reached, it returns the program control back to the main program.
To call a function, you simply need to pass the required parameters along with the function name,
and if the function returns a value, then you can store the returned value. For example −

#include <stdio.h>
/* function declaration */
int max(int num1, int num2);
int main () {
/* local variable definition */
int a = 100;
int b = 200;
int ret;

/* calling a function to get max value */

ret = max(a, b);
printf( "Max value is : %d\n", ret );
return 0;
}

/* function returning the max between two numbers */

int max(int num1, int num2) {

/* local variable declaration */

int result;
if (num1 > num2)
result = num1;
else
result = num2;
return result;
}

We have kept max() along with main() and compiled the source code. While running the final
executable, it would produce the following result −
Max value is : 200

Function Arguments

Prof. K. Adisesha 21
C ProgrammingNotes

If a function is to use arguments, it must declare variables that accept the values of the arguments.
These variables are called the formal parameters of the function.
Formal parameters behave like other local variables inside the function and are created upon entry
into the function and destroyed upon exit.
While calling a function, there are two ways in which arguments can be passed to a function −
Sl.No. Call Type & Description

1 Call by value
This method copies the actual value of an argument into the formal parameter of the function.
In this case, changes made to the parameter inside the function have no effect on the
argument.

2 Call by reference
This method copies the address of an argument into the formal parameter. Inside the function,
the address is used to access the actual argument used in the call. This means that changes
made to the parameter affect the argument.

By default, C uses call by value to pass arguments. In general, it means the code within a function
cannot alter the arguments used to call the function.

C - Scope Rules
A scope in any programming is a region of the program where a defined variable can have its
existence and beyond that variable it cannot be accessed. There are three places where variables
can be declared in C programming language −
➢ Inside a function or a block which is called local variables.
➢ Outside of all functions which is called global variables.
In the definition of function parameters which are called formal parameters.
Let us understand what are local and global variables, and formal parameters.

❖ Local Variables
Variables that are declared inside a function or block are called local variables. They can be used
only by statements that are inside that function or block of code. Local variables are not known to
functions outside their own. The following example shows how local variables are used. Here all
the variables a, b, and c are local to main() function.
#include <stdio.h>
int main () {
/* local variable declaration */
int a, b;
int c;
/* actual initialization */
a = 10;
b = 20;
c = a + b;
printf ("value of a = %d, b = %d and c = %d\n", a, b, c);
Prof. K. Adisesha 22
C ProgrammingNotes

return 0;
}

❖ Global Variables
Global variables are defined outside a function, usually on top of the program. Global variables
hold their values throughout the lifetime of your program and they can be accessed inside any of
the functions defined for the program.

A global variable can be accessed by any function. That is, a global variable is available for use
throughout your entire program after its declaration. The following program show how global
variables are used in a program.
#include <stdio.h>
/* global variable declaration */
int g;
int main () {
/* local variable declaration */
int a, b;
/* actual initialization */
a = 10;
b = 20;
g = a + b;
printf ("value of a = %d, b = %d and g = %d\n", a, b, g);
return 0;
}

A program can have same name for local and global variables but the value of local variable inside
a function will take preference. Here is an example −
#include <stdio.h>
/* global variable declaration */
int g = 20;
int main () {
/* local variable declaration */
int g = 10;
printf ("value of g = %d\n", g);
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −value of g = 10

❖ Formal Parameters
Formal parameters, are treated as local variables with-in a function and they take precedence over
global variables. Following is an example −
#include <stdio.h>
/* global variable declaration */
int a = 20;
int main () {

Prof. K. Adisesha 23
C ProgrammingNotes

/* local variable declaration in main function */

int a = 10;
int b = 20;
int c = 0;
printf ("value of a in main() = %d\n", a);
c = sum( a, b);
printf ("value of c in main() = %d\n", c);
return 0;
}

/* function to add two integers */

int sum(int a, int b) {
printf ("value of a in sum() = %d\n", a);
printf ("value of b in sum() = %d\n", b);
return a + b;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
value of a in main() = 10
value of a in sum() = 10
value of b in sum() = 20
value of c in main() = 30

Initializing Local and Global Variables

When a local variable is defined, it is not initialized by the system, you must initialize it yourself.
Global variables are initialized automatically by the system when you define them as follows −
Data Type Initial Default Value

int 0

char '\0'

float 0

double 0

pointer NULL
It is a good programming practice to initialize variables properly, otherwise your program may
produce unexpected results, because uninitialized variables will take some garbage value already
available at their memory location.

C - Arrays
Arrays a kind of data structure that can store a fixed-size sequential collection of elements of the
same type. An array is used to store a collection of data, but it is often more useful to think of an
array as a collection of variables of the same type.

Prof. K. Adisesha 24
C ProgrammingNotes

Instead of declaring individual variables, such as number0, number1, ..., and number99, you
declare one array variable such as numbers and use numbers[0], numbers[1], and ..., numbers[99]
to represent individual variables. A specific element in an array is accessed by an index.
All arrays consist of contiguous memory locations. The lowest address corresponds to the first
element and the highest address to the last element.

Declaring Arrays
To declare an array in C, a programmer specifies the type of the elements and the number of
elements required by an array as follows −
type arrayName [ arraySize ];
This is called a single-dimensional array. The arraySize must be an integer constant greater than
zero and type can be any valid C data type. For example, to declare a 10-element array
called balance of type double, use this statement −
double balance[10];
Here balance is a variable array which is sufficient to hold up to 10 double numbers.
Initializing Arrays
You can initialize an array in C either one by one or using a single statement as follows −
double balance[5] = {1000.0, 2.0, 3.4, 7.0, 50.0};
The number of values between braces { } cannot be larger than the number of elements that we
declare for the array between square brackets [ ].
If you omit the size of the array, an array just big enough to hold the initialization is created.
Therefore, if you write −
double balance[] = {1000.0, 2.0, 3.4, 7.0, 50.0};
You will create exactly the same array as you did in the previous example. Following is an example
to assign a single element of the array −
balance[4] = 50.0;
The above statement assigns the 5th element in the array with a value of 50.0. All arrays have 0 as
the index of their first element which is also called the base index and the last index of an array
will be total size of the array minus 1. Shown below is the pictorial representation of the array we
discussed above −

Prof. K. Adisesha 25
C ProgrammingNotes

Accessing Array Elements

An element is accessed by indexing the array name. This is done by placing the index of the
element within square brackets after the name of the array. For example −
double salary = balance[9];
The above statement will take the 10th element from the array and assign the value to salary
variable. The following example Shows how to use all the three above mentioned concepts viz.
declaration, assignment, and accessing arrays −
#include <stdio.h>
int main () {
int n[ 10 ]; /* n is an array of 10 integers */
int i,j;
/* initialize elements of array n to 0 */
for ( i = 0; i < 10; i++ ) {
n[ i ] = i + 100; /* set element at location i to i + 100 */
}

/* output each array element's value */

for (j = 0; j < 10; j++ ) {
printf("Element[%d] = %d\n", j, n[j] );
}
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Element[0] = 100
Element[1] = 101
Element[2] = 102
Element[3] = 103
Element[4] = 104
Element[5] = 105
Element [6] = 106
Element [7] = 107
Element [8] = 108
Element [9] = 109

Arrays in Detail
Arrays are important to C and should need a lot more attention. The following important concepts
related to array should be clear to a C programmer –

Sr.No. Concept & Description

1 Multi-dimensional arrays
C supports multidimensional arrays. The simplest form of the multidimensional array is
the two-dimensional array.

2 Passing arrays to functions

Prof. K. Adisesha 26
C ProgrammingNotes

You can pass to the function a pointer to an array by specifying the array's name without
an index.

3 Return array from a function

C allows a function to return an array.

4 Pointer to an array
You can generate a pointer to the first element of an array by simply specifying the array
name, without any index.

C - Pointers
Pointers in C are easy and fun to learn. Some C programming tasks are performed more easily
with pointers, and other tasks, such as dynamic memory allocation, cannot be performed without
using pointers. So it becomes necessary to learn pointers to become a perfect C programmer. Let's
start learning them in simple and easy steps.
As you know, every variable is a memory location and every memory location has its address
defined which can be accessed using ampersand (&) operator, which denotes an address in
memory. Consider the following example, which prints the address of the variables defined −

#include <stdio.h>
int main ()
{
int var1;
char var2[10];
printf("Address of var1 variable: %x\n", &var1 );
printf("Address of var2 variable: %x\n", &var2 );
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Address of var1 variable: bff5a400
Address of var2 variable: bff5a3f6

Pointers
A pointer is a variable whose value is the address of another variable, i.e., direct address of the
memory location. Like any variable or constant, you must declare a pointer before using it to store
any variable address. The general form of a pointer variable declaration is −
type *var-name;
Here, type is the pointer's base type; it must be a valid C data type and var-name is the name of the
pointer variable. The asterisk * used to declare a pointer is the same asterisk used for
multiplication. However, in this statement the asterisk is being used to designate a variable as a
pointer. Take a look at some of the valid pointer declarations −
int *ip; /* pointer to an integer */
double *dp; /* pointer to a double */
float *fp; /* pointer to a float */
char *ch /* pointer to a character */

Prof. K. Adisesha 27
C ProgrammingNotes

The actual data type of the value of all pointers, whether integer, float, character, or otherwise, is
the same, a long hexadecimal number that represents a memory address. The only difference
between pointers of different data types is the data type of the variable or constant that the pointer
points to.

How to Use Pointers?

There are a few important operations, which we will do with the help of pointers very
frequently. (a) We define a pointer variable, (b) assign the address of a variable to a pointer
and (c) finally access the value at the address available in the pointer variable. This is done by
using unary operator * that returns the value of the variable located at the address specified by its
operand. The following example makes use of these operations −
#include <stdio.h>
int main () {
int var = 20; /* actual variable declaration */
int *ip; /* pointer variable declaration */
ip = &var; /* store address of var in pointer variable*/
printf("Address of var variable: %x\n", &var );
/* address stored in pointer variable */
printf("Address stored in ip variable: %x\n", ip );
/* access the value using the pointer */
printf("Value of *ip variable: %d\n", *ip );
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Address of var variable: bffd8b3c
Address stored in ip variable: bffd8b3c
Value of *ip variable: 20

NULL Pointers
It is always a good practice to assign a NULL value to a pointer variable in case you do not have
an exact address to be assigned. This is done at the time of variable declaration. A pointer that is
assigned NULL is called a null pointer.
The NULL pointer is a constant with a value of zero defined in several standard libraries. Consider
the following program −
#include <stdio.h>
int main () {
int *ptr = NULL;
printf("The value of ptr is : %x\n", ptr );
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The value of ptr is 0
In most of the operating systems, programs are not permitted to access memory at address 0
because that memory is reserved by the operating system. However, the memory address 0 has
special significance; it signals that the pointer is not intended to point to an accessible memory

Prof. K. Adisesha 28
C ProgrammingNotes

location. But by convention, if a pointer contains the null (zero) value, it is assumed to point to
nothing.
To check for a null pointer, you can use an 'if' statement as follows −
if(ptr) /* succeeds if p is not null */
if(!ptr) /* succeeds if p is null */
Pointers in Detail
Pointers have many but easy concepts and they are very important to C programming. The
following important pointer concepts should be clear to any C programmer –

Sr.No. Concept & Description

1 Pointer arithmetic: There are four arithmetic operators that can be used in pointers: ++,
--, +, -

2 Array of pointers: You can define arrays to hold a number of pointers.

3 Pointer to pointer: C allows you to have pointer on a pointer and so on.

4 Passing pointers to functions in C: Passing an argument by reference or by address enable

the passed argument to be changed in the calling function by the called function.

5 Return pointer from functions in C: C allows a function to return a pointer to the local
variable, static variable, and dynamically allocated memory as well.

C - Strings
Strings are actually one-dimensional array of characters terminated by a null character '\0'. Thus a
null-terminated string contains the characters that comprise the string followed by a null.
The following declaration and initialization create a string consisting of the word "Hello". To hold
the null character at the end of the array, the size of the character array containing the string is one
more than the number of characters in the word "Hello."

char greeting[6] = {'H', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o', '\0'};

If you follow the rule of array initialization then you can write the above statement as follows −
char greeting[] = "Hello";

Following is the memory presentation of the above defined string in C/C++ −

Prof. K. Adisesha 29
C ProgrammingNotes

Actually, you do not place the null character at the end of a string constant. The C compiler
automatically places the '\0' at the end of the string when it initializes the array. Let us try to print
the above mentioned string −
#include <stdio.h>
int main ()
{
char greeting[6] = {'H', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o', '\0'};
printf("Greeting message: %s\n", greeting );
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Greeting message: Hello

C supports a wide range of functions that manipulate null-terminated strings –

Sr.No. Function & Purpose

1 strcpy(s1, s2);
Copies string s2 into string s1.

2 strcat(s1, s2);
Concatenates string s2 onto the end of string s1.

3 strlen(s1);
Returns the length of string s1.

4 strcmp(s1, s2);
Returns 0 if s1 and s2 are the same; less than 0 if s1<s2; greater than 0 if s1>s2.

5 strchr(s1, ch);
Returns a pointer to the first occurrence of character ch in string s1.

6 strstr(s1, s2);
Returns a pointer to the first occurrence of string s2 in string s1.

The following example uses some of the above-mentioned functions −

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main () {
char str1[12] = "Hello";
char str2[12] = "World";
char str3[12];
int len ;

/* copy str1 into str3 */

strcpy(str3, str1);
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C ProgrammingNotes

printf("strcpy( str3, str1) : %s\n", str3 );

/* concatenates str1 and str2 */

strcat( str1, str2);
printf("strcat( str1, str2): %s\n", str1 );

/* total lenghth of str1 after concatenation */

len = strlen(str1);
printf("strlen(str1) : %d\n", len );

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
strcpy( str3, str1) : Hello
strcat( str1, str2): HelloWorld
strlen(str1) : 10

C - Structures
Arrays allow to define type of variables that can hold several data items of the same kind.
Similarly structure is another user defined data type available in C that allows to combine data
items of different kinds.

Structures are used to represent a record. Suppose you want to keep track of your books in a library.
You might want to track the following attributes about each book −
Title
Author
Subject
Book ID

Defining a Structure
To define a structure, you must use the struct statement. The struct statement defines a new data
type, with more than one member. The format of the struct statement is as follows −
struct [structure tag] {
member definition;
member definition;
...
member definition;
} [one or more structure variables];

The structure tag is optional and each member definition is a normal variable definition, such as
int i; or float f; or any other valid variable definition. At the end of the structure's definition, before
the final semicolon, you can specify one or more structure variables but it is optional.

Here is the way you would declare the Book structure −

Prof. K. Adisesha 31
C ProgrammingNotes

struct Books {
char title[50];
char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
} book;

Accessing Structure Members

To access any member of a structure, we use the member access operator (.). The member access
operator is coded as a period between the structure variable name and the structure member that
we wish to access. You would use the keyword struct to define variables of structure type. The
following example shows how to use a structure in a program −
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
struct Books {
char title[50];
char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
};

int main( ) {

struct Books Book1; /* Declare Book1 of type Book */

struct Books Book2; /* Declare Book2 of type Book */

/* book 1 specification */
strcpy( Book1.title, "C Programming");
strcpy( Book1.author, "Nuha Ali");
strcpy( Book1.subject, "C Programming Tutorial");
Book1.book_id = 6495407;

/* book 2 specification */
strcpy( Book2.title, "Telecom Billing");
strcpy( Book2.author, "Zara Ali");
strcpy( Book2.subject, "Telecom Billing Tutorial");
Book2.book_id = 6495700;

/* print Book1 info */

printf( "Book 1 title : %s\n", Book1.title);
printf( "Book 1 author : %s\n", Book1.author);
printf( "Book 1 subject : %s\n", Book1.subject);
printf( "Book 1 book_id : %d\n", Book1.book_id);

/* print Book2 info */

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C ProgrammingNotes

printf( "Book 2 title : %s\n", Book2.title);

printf( "Book 2 author : %s\n", Book2.author);
printf( "Book 2 subject : %s\n", Book2.subject);
printf( "Book 2 book_id : %d\n", Book2.book_id);

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Book 1 title : C Programming
Book 1 author : Nuha Ali
Book 1 subject : C Programming Tutorial
Book 1 book_id : 6495407
Book 2 title : Telecom Billing
Book 2 author : Zara Ali
Book 2 subject : Telecom Billing Tutorial
Book 2 book_id : 6495700

C - Unions
A union is a special data type available in C that allows to store different data types in the same
memory location. You can define a union with many members, but only one member can contain
a value at any given time. Unions provide an efficient way of using the same memory location for
multiple-purpose.

Defining a Union
To define a union, you must use the union statement in the same way as you did while defining a
structure. The union statement defines a new data type with more than one member for your
program.
The format of the union statement is as follows −
union [union tag] {
member definition;
member definition;
...
member definition;
} [one or more union variables];

The union tag is optional and each member definition is a normal variable definition, such as int i;
or float f; or any other valid variable definition. At the end of the union's definition, before the
final semicolon, you can specify one or more union variables but it is optional. Here is the way
you would define a union type named Data having three members i, f, and str −
union Data {
int i;
float f;
char str[20];
} data;

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C ProgrammingNotes

Now, a variable of Data type can store an integer, a floating-point number, or a string of characters.
It means a single variable, i.e., same memory location, can be used to store multiple types of data.
You can use any built-in or user defined data types inside a union based on your requirement.
The memory occupied by a union will be large enough to hold the largest member of the union.
For example, in the above example, Data type will occupy 20 bytes of memory space because this
is the maximum space which can be occupied by a character string. The following example
displays the total memory size occupied by the above union −
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
union Data {
int i;
float f;
char str[20];
};

int main( ) {
union Data data;
printf( "Memory size occupied by data : %d\n", sizeof(data));
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Memory size occupied by data : 20

Accessing Union Members

To access any member of a union, we use the member access operator (.). The member access
operator is coded as a period between the union variable name and the union member that we wish
to access. You would use the keyword union to define variables of union type. The following
example shows how to use unions in a program −
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
union Data {
int i;
float f;
char str[20];
};

int main( ) {
union Data data;
data.i = 10;
data.f = 220.5;
strcpy( data.str, "C Programming");
printf( "data.i : %d\n", data.i);
printf( "data.f : %f\n", data.f);
printf( "data.str : %s\n", data.str);
return 0;
}

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C ProgrammingNotes

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
data.i : 1917853763
data.f : 4122360580327794860452759994368.000000
data.str : C Programming
Here, we can see that the values of i and f members of union got corrupted because the final value
assigned to the variable has occupied the memory location and this is the reason that the value
of str member is getting printed very well.
Now let's look into the same example once again where we will use one variable at a time which
is the main purpose of having unions −
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
union Data {
int i;
float f;
char str[20];
};

int main( ) {
union Data data;
data.i = 10;
printf( "data.i : %d\n", data.i);
data.f = 220.5;
printf( "data.f : %f\n", data.f);
strcpy( data.str, "C Programming");
printf( "data.str : %s\n", data.str);
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
data.i : 10
data.f : 220.500000

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