C - Flow Control Statements

A program is usually not limited to a linear sequence of instructions. During its process it
may bifurcate, repeat code or take decisions. For that purpose, C provides control structures
that serve to specify what has to be done by our program, when and under which
circumstances.
With the introduction of control structures we are going to have to introduce a new
concept: the compound-statement or block. A block is a group of statements which are
separated by semicolons (;) like all C statements, but grouped together in a block enclosed
in braces: { }:

{ statement1; statement2; statement3; }

Most of the control structures that we will see in this section require a generic statement as
part of its syntax. A statement can be either a simple statement (a simple instruction ending
with a semicolon) or a compound statement (several instructions grouped in a block), like
the one just described. In the case that we want the statement to be a simple statement, we
do not need to enclose it in braces ({}). But in the case that we want the statement to be a
compound statement it must be enclosed between braces ({}), forming a block.

C provides two styles of flow control:

 Branching
 Looping

Branching is deciding what actions to take and looping is deciding how many times to take a
certain action.

Branching:
Branching is so called because the program chooses to follow one branch or another.

The if statement

This is the most simple form of the branching statements. It takes an expression in parenthesis
and an statement or block of statements. if the expression is true then the statement or block of
statements gets executed otherwise these statements are skipped.

NOTE: Expression will be assumed to be true if its evaluated values is non-zero.

if statements take the following form:

if (expression)
statement;

or

if (expression)
{
Block of statements;
}

or

if (expression)
{
Block of statements;
}
else
{
Block of statements;
}

or

if (expression)
{
Block of statements;
}
else if(expression)
{
Block of statements;
}
else
{
Block of statements;
}

Example: Try following example to understand if statement. You can put the following code
into a test.c file and then compile it and then run it.

#include <stdio.h>

int main()

int cows = 6;
 if (cows > 1) {

printf("We have cows\n");

if (cows > 10)

printf("loads of them!\n");

else {

printf("Executing else part...!\n");

if (cows == 5 )

printf("We have 5 cows\n");

else if(cows == 6 )

printf("We have 6 cows\n");

return 0;

}
 A while loop in C

A while loop statement in C programming language repeatedly executes a target statement as

long as a given condition is true.

Syntax:
The syntax of a while loop in C programming language is:

while(condition)
{
statement(s);
}

Here, statement(s) may be a single statement or a block of statements. The condition may be
any expression, and true is any nonzero value. The loop iterates while the condition is true.

When the condition becomes false, program control passes to the line immediately following the
loop.

Flow Diagram:

Here, key point of the while loop is that the loop might not ever run. When the condition is tested
and the result is false, the loop body will be skipped and the first statement after the while loop
will be executed.
Example:
#include <stdio.h>

int main ()
{
/* local variable definition */
int a = 10;

/* while loop execution */

while( a < 20 )
{
printf("value of a: %d\n", a);
a++;
}

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 15
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19

for loop in C
A for loop is a repetition control structure that allows you to efficiently write a loop that needs to
execute a specific number of times.

Syntax:
The syntax of a for loop in C programming language is:

for ( init; condition; increment )

{
statement(s);
}

Here is the flow of control in a for loop:

 1. The init step is executed first, and only once. This step allows you to declare and
initialize any loop control variables. You are not required to put a statement here, as long
as a semicolon appears.
2. Next, the condition is evaluated. If it is true, the body of the loop is executed. If it is
false, the body of the loop does not execute and flow of control jumps to the next
statement just after the for loop.
3. After the body of the for loop executes, the flow of control jumps back up to the
increment statement. This statement allows you to update any loop control variables.
This statement can be left blank, as long as a semicolon appears after the condition.
4. The condition is now evaluated again. If it is true, the loop executes and the process
repeats itself (body of loop, then increment step, and then again condition). After the
condition becomes false, the for loop terminates.

Flow Diagram:
Example:
#include <stdio.h>

int main ()
{
/* for loop execution */
for( int a = 10; a < 20; a = a + 1 )
{
printf("value of a: %d\n", a);
}

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 15
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19

do...while loop in C
Unlike for and while loops, which test the loop condition at the top of the loop, the do...while
loop in C programming language checks its condition at the bottom of the loop.

A do...while loop is similar to a while loop, except that a do...while loop is guaranteed to execute
at least one time.

Syntax:
The syntax of a do...while loop in C programming language is:

do
{
statement(s);

}while( condition );

Notice that the conditional expression appears at the end of the loop, so the statement(s) in the
loop execute once before the condition is tested.
If the condition is true, the flow of control jumps back up to do, and the statement(s) in the loop
execute again. This process repeats until the given condition becomes false

Flow Diagram:

Example:
#include <stdio.h>

int main ()
{
/* local variable definition */
int a = 10;

/* do loop execution */
do
{
printf("value of a: %d\n", a);
a = a + 1;
}while( a < 20 );

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result:

value of a: 10
value of a: 11
value of a: 12
value of a: 13
value of a: 14
value of a: 15
value of a: 16
value of a: 17
value of a: 18
value of a: 19