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Lecture04 Functions

The document provides an overview of functions in programming, specifically in C, highlighting their purpose, structure, and types. It explains how to define functions, including return types, parameters, and the use of standard library functions for input/output and mathematical operations. Additionally, it distinguishes between parameters and arguments, emphasizing their roles in function calls.

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EG JP
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© © All Rights Reserved
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2 views

Lecture04 Functions

The document provides an overview of functions in programming, specifically in C, highlighting their purpose, structure, and types. It explains how to define functions, including return types, parameters, and the use of standard library functions for input/output and mathematical operations. Additionally, it distinguishes between parameters and arguments, emphasizing their roles in function calls.

Uploaded by

EG JP
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Functions

Objectives
‣ to learn about functions and how to use them to
write programs with separate modules variables

‣ to understand the capabilities of some standard


functions in C

‣ to learn how to pass information to functions using


input arguments

‣ to learn how to return a value from a function

2
Function
‣ also called subroutine, chunk of code, building block of a
program

‣ allow complicated programs to be divided into small


blocks – “divide and conquer”

‣ a named sequence of statements that performs some


useful procedure

‣ is a complete and independent program

‣ can be thought of as a “black box” that has passed one


or more input values and automatically returns a single
output value
3
C Library Functions
‣ promotes code reuse by providing predefined
functions that can be used in your programs

stdio.h

‣ library containing predefined functions that can be


used to perform input and output operations

math.h

‣ standard math library containing predefined functions


that can be used to perform mathematical
computations

4
Some
Mathematical
Library Functions

5
Writing your own Functions
A Function must have:

1. return type

‣ can be any of the standard data types

‣ void if function does not return anything

2. name followed by a pair of ()

‣ names follow rules in writing identifiers

3. 0 or more parameters to be placed inside the pair of ()

‣ A parameter is a local variable. It has a data type and a name. It is a


special kind of variable that refers to data that a subroutine receives on
which to operate

4. pair of curly braces {} which will contain the function body

5. a return value
6
Writing your own Functions

A Function may belong to any of the following types:

1. Functions with no parameter and no return type

2. Functions with parameters and no return type

3. Functions with parameters and return types

7
Writing your own Functions
Functions with no parameter and no return type

void drawSquare()
{
// prints a 3x3 square
printf(“***\n”);
printf(“***\n”);
printf(“***\n”);
}

Note that:

‣ function has no return type – it is VOID.

‣ function has a name - drawSquare

‣ no parameters

‣ drawSquare will display a 3x3 square


8
Writing your own Functions

9
Writing your own Functions
Functions with parameter(s) and no return type

void addition(int a, int b)


{
// compute for the sum of a & b
int sum;
sum = a + b;
printf(“The sum of is %d”, sum);
}

Note that:

‣ function has no return type – it is VOID.

‣ function name is addition

‣ two parameters a and b – both of the type int

‣ addition will display the sum of two integers


10
Writing your own Functions
Functions with parameter(s) and return type

int addition(int a, int b)


{
// compute for the sum of a & b
int sum;
sum = a + b;
return sum;
}

Note that:

‣ function has return type – int

‣ function name is addition

‣ two parameters a and b – both of the type int

‣ addition will return the sum of two integers


11
Writing your own Functions

12
Writing your own Functions

13
Writing your own Functions
Parameter

‣ piece of information you provide in order to call a function

‣ like variables in the sense that they contain values and have
types

Argument

‣ a value that you provide when you call a function

‣ must have the same type as the corresponding parameter

14

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