Three Basic Program Structures

1. Sequence
FE1008 Computing Statements are executed line by line in
sequential order.
2. Selection
Chapter 6 Sequence of program execution may be altered
based on some conditions.
Decision Making 3. Repetition
A group of statements is repeated a certain
number of times.

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Relational Operators Relational Operators in C

In programming, we frequently need to check

expressions to see whether they are true or not. > Greater than
If true, the program flow follows one path, and if
>= Greater than or equal to
false, it follows another path.
< Less than
For example:
<= Less than or equal to
Is exam_mark greater than 80?
== Equal to
Is getchar() == '\n' ?
!= Not equal to
Does the integer n lie in the interval
[0,10]?
6-3 6-4
 Example: Example (Continued):
Output:
An expression containing a relational operator
has value 1 (TRUE) or 0 (FALSE). The expression x*x >= 0 has value 1
For real x; x*x >= 0 is always true. ------------------------------------

The C expression x*x >= 0 has a value! On the other hand,

printf("The expression x*x < 0 has
x = -5; value %d", x*x<0);
printf("The expression x*x >= 0 has Output:
value %d", x*x>=0);
The expression x*x < 0 has value 0
6-5 6-6

Note: Note:
Do not confuse == with = (assignment) In C, any non-zero numeric value can also
a==b Checks whether values of a and b are represent TRUE.
equal.
Example:
a=b Value of b is assigned to a. There is change
of data. a = 15;
Suppose a = 1, b = 5 if (a) printf("%d", a);
printf("The value of a==b is %d", a==b); As a is not zero, printf() will be executed.
printf("The value of a=b is %d", a=b);
If a is 0 (which means FALSE), printf() will
not be executed.
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 Note: Remark on the example about isdigit()
Original Form:
Suppose we write the statement as
if (a = 15) printf("%d", a); char ch='1';
if (isdigit(ch) != 0)
Interpretation: printf("%c is a digit.", ch);
else
Value of expression a = 15 is 15. printf("%c is not a digit.", ch);

Condition is TRUE. Simpler Form:

How about if (isdigit(ch))
if (a = 0) printf("%d", a); printf("%c is a digit.", ch);
else
if (a == 0) printf("%d", a); ? printf("%c is not a digit.", ch);
6-9 6-10

Comparing Characters Example

Expression Value
Characters can be compared using relational
operators.
'9' >= '0' 1 (TRUE)
Is 'B' > 'A'? (57) (48)
Is '1' > 'A'? 'B' <= 'A' 0 (FALSE)
Basis for comparison?
'A' <= 'a' 1 (TRUE)
ASCII values
(65) (97)
'a' <= '$' 0 (FALSE)
6-11 6-12
 Logical Operators (&&, ||, !) Examples
AND, OR, NOT
temperature > 90.0 && humidity > 0.9
Symbols && || !
x >= 1 || x < 0
These are needed to form complex conditions.
They increase the decision-making capabilities x >= 1 && x < 0 (possible?)
of our C programs. !(x >= 1 && x < 0) (True or false?)
&& and || are binary operators because they 'A' <= ch && ch <= 'Z'
act on 2 expressions.

! is unary.
6-13 6-14

Truth Values and Truth Table Logical Assignment

The truth value (True or False) of a logical We may even assign logical expressions to
expression is determined by a Truth Table. In variables which will then evaluate to 0 or 1.
the table below, P and Q are relational
expressions. even = (n%2 == 0);
in_range = (n > -10 && n < 5);
P Q P && Q P || Q !P is_letter = ('A' <= ch && ch <= 'Z') ||
F F F F T ('a' <= ch && ch <= 'z');
F T F T T
T F F T F
T T T T F 6-15 6-16
 More about the if statement Program 6.1 (quadratic equation)
if (expression) a*x*x + b*x + c = 0
{ Program 2.4 fails if the user inputs 0 for the
statement_1; coefficient a.
....... We should test for a non-zero value of a given by
statement_n; the user.
} if (a != 0) //can be written as if (a)
{ root1 = (-b + sqrt(…))/(2*a);
As we have seen in Chap 2, if expression is root2 = . . .;
true, the statement block is executed. Otherwise,
}
the block is skipped.
6-17 6-18

The else clause Program 6.2 (quadratic equation)

The if structure is very frequently used with
if (a == 0)
the optional else:
{
printf("You input a = 0.\n");
if (expression) printf("Only one root: %8.3f", -c/b);
{ . . . . . . . }
} else
else { root1 = (-b + sqrt(…))/(2*a);
{ . . . . . . . . . .
} }

6-19 6-20
 Exercises: Nested if statements

These are if statements that contain other if

How do you handle the following situations?
statements.
• a = 0 and b = 0, c not 0 In the quadratic equation problem, what if
• a = b = c = 0 b*b - 4*a*c < 0 ?
A good program must take into account these We’ll use a nested if to deal with this.
possibilities.

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Program 6.3 Exercise

if (a == 0) { . . .} Modify Program 6.3 so that it appears to be

capable of handling complex roots. How?
else
{ if (b*b-4*a*c < 0) A little cheating!
printf("Complex roots.\n") Suppose the complex roots are
else
α + iβ, α - iβ
{
Compute α and β separately, and in the output
root1 = (-b + sqrt() . . .);
insert the + i and - i.
. . .
}
}
6-23 6-24
 if..else if..else if.. An Equivalent Form
Program Fragment 6.4: if (quiz_mark >= 80)
if (quiz_mark >= 80) grade = 'A';
grade = 'A';
else if (quiz_mark >= 70)
else
if (quiz_mark >= 70) grade = 'B';
grade = 'B'; else if (quiz_mark >= 60)
else
grade = 'C';
if (quiz_mark >= 60)
grade = 'C'; else if
else . . . . . .
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Exercise Exercise
• Rewrite the above so that the program tests Suppose we rewrite this program fragment in
for 'F' grade first, then 'D', etc. the form:

• Suppose we rewrite Program Fragment 6.4 if (quiz_mark < 50) grade = 'F';
using separate if statements: if (quiz_mark >= 50) grade = 'D';
if (quiz_mark >= 80) grade = 'A'; if (quiz_mark >= 60) grade = 'C';
. . .
if (quiz_mark >= 70) grade = 'B';
if (quiz_mark >= 60) grade = 'C'; What's the difference?
Is it equivalent to the original if-else-if...
. . . . . .
form?
Are the 2 ways of writing equivalent?
6-27 6-28
 Program 6.5 Program 6.5 (Continued)

Purpose: To construct a menu of choices which

looks like the following: char selection;
printf("Select . . . Ohm’s Law.\n");

Select the form of Ohm’s Law: printf("[A] Voltage [B] …\n");

[A] Voltage [B] Current [C] Resistance printf("Your selection => ")
scanf("%c", &selection);
Your Selection (A, B, C) =>

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Program 6.5 (Continued) The switch statement

Too many if-else statements can be confusing.
if (selection == 'A')
In this case, we may use the switch statement.
printf("V = I*R");
switch (expression)
else if (selection == 'B')
{ case value_1: statement(s)
printf("I = V/R");
case value_2: statement(s)
else if (selection == 'C')
. . . . . .
printf("R = V/I");
case value_n: statement(s)
else
default: statement(s)
printf("Wrong selection");
6-31
} 6-32
 The switch statement (Continued) The break statement
The expression has an integer (including char)
value. If C finds a match, it will still execute the
The computer compares this value against the remaining cases, without checking the case
value following each case label. values unless there is a break statement.
• If there is a match, the statement(s) following Thebreak statement is used to exit from the
the case label will be executed. switch structure.
• If no match at all, the default label (optional)
will be executed.
• If no match and no default label, then exit.

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Program 6.6 Program 6.6a (without a ‘break’)

switch (selection)
switch (selection)
{case 'A': printf("V = I*R");
{case 'A': printf("V = I*R");
break;
break;
case 'B': printf("I = V/R");
case 'B': printf("I = V/R");
case 'C': printf("R = V/I");
break;
break;
case 'C': printf("R = V/I");
break; default: printf("Wrong selection.");
default: printf("Wrong selection. "); }
} If user picks 'B', output is:
I = V/RR = V/I
6-35 6-36
 The Conditional Operator (?:)

This is a ternary operator acting on 3 operands. It

is related to if-else.

expr1 ? expr2 : expr3

which is equivalent to
if (expr1) expr2
else expr3

status = (mark >= 50) ? 'P' : 'F';

expr1 expr2 expr3

6-37