CPNM Lecture 4 - C Control Structures

Mridul Sankar Barik

Jadavpur University

2024
C Control Statements

1. Three categories
▶ Selection statements - allow a program to select a particular
execution path, ex: if, switch
▶ Iteration statements - support iterations, ex: while, do,
for
▶ Jump statements - cause an unconditional jump to some
other place in the program, ex: break, continue, goto
if Statement I
▶ Allows a program to choose between two alternatives by
testing the value of an expression
if ( expression ) statement
▶ A nonzero value of the expression is treated as true
▶ Compound Statements: a group of statements within braces
if ( expression ) { statements }
▶ The else clause
if ( expression ) { statements } else {
statements }
▶ Example

if (i > j )
max = i;
else
max = j;
if Statement II

▶ Nested if

if (i > j) {
if (i > k)
max = i;
else
max = k;
}
else{
if(j > k)
max = j;
else
max = k;
}

▶ Braces can be added even when they’re not necessary

if Statement III

▶ Cascaded if statement: used to test a series of conditions,

stopping as soon as one of them is true.

if (n < 0)
printf("n is less than 0\n");
else
if (n == 0)
printf("n is equal to 0\n") ;
else
printf("n is greater than 0\n");
Iteration Statements I
▶ C’s iteration statements allows us to set up loops
▶ A loop is a statement whose job is to repeatedly execute some
other statement (the loop body)
▶ Every loop has a controlling expression. Each time the loop
body is executed (an iteration of the loop), the controlling
expression is evaluated; if the expression is true - has a value
that’s not zero - the loop continues to execute
▶ C provides three iteration statements: while, do, for
▶ The while statement is used for loops whose controlling
expression is tested before the loop body is executed
▶ The do statement is used if the expression is tested after the
loop body is executed
▶ The for statement is convenient for loops that increment or
decrement a counting variable
The while Statement I

▶ while (expression ) statement

▶ Controlling expression is evaluated first. If its value is non
zero (true), the loop body is executed and the expression is
tested again
▶ Example: Print “Hello” 5 times

i = 1;
while(i <= 5){ /* Controlling expression */
printf("Hello\n"); /* Loop body */
i++;
}

▶ The controlling expression is false when a while loop

terminates
The while Statement II
▶ Infinite loops: A while statement won’t terminate if the
controlling expression always has a nonzero value

while(1){
printf("Hello\n");
...
}
The while Statement III
▶ Example: Printing a table of squares

#include <stdio.h>
int main (void){
int i, n;
printf ("This program prints a table of squares: \n");
printf ("Enter number of entries in table: ");
scanf ("%d", &n);
i = 1;
while (i <= n){
printf("%lOd%10d\n", i , i*i);
i++;
}
return 0;
}
The while Statement IV

▶ Example: Summing a series of numbers

#include <stdio.h>

int main (void){

int n, sum = 0;
printf("This program sums a series of integers. \n");
printf("Enter integers (0 to terminate): ");
scanf("%d", &n);
while (n != 0) {
sum = sum + n;
scanf("%d", &n);
}
printf("The sum is: %d\n", sum);
return 0;
}
The do Statement I
▶ Essentially it is just a while statement whose controlling
expression is tested after each execution of the loop body
▶ do { statements } while(expression);
The do Statement II

▶ Example: Calculating the number of digits in an integer

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void){
int digits=0, n;
printf("Enter a nonnegative integer: ");
scanf("%d", &n);
do {
n = n / 10;
digits++;
} while (n > 0);
printf("The number has %d digit(s) \n", digits);
return 0;
}
The do Statement III

▶ If we replace the do loop by a similar while loop:

while(n>0){
n = n / 10;
digits++;
}

If n is 0 initially, this loop won’t execute at all, and the

program would print The number has 0 digit(s)
The for Statement I

▶ Format: for (expr1 ; expr2 ; expr3) statement

▶ Closely related to while statement

expr1;
while(expr2){
statement;
expr3;
}

▶ Best choice for loops that ”count up” (increment a variable)

or ”count down” (decrement a variable)
▶ Omitting Expressions in a for Statement
The for Statement II

i = 10;
for (;i > 0; i--){
printf("Hello\n");
}

for (i = 10; ; i--){

printf("Hello\n");
}

for (i = 10; i > 0; ){

printf("Hello\n");
}
The for Statement III

▶ We can use a comma expression as the first or third

expression in the for statement - expr1, expr2

for ( i = 0, j = 10; i != j ; i++, j--){

printf("Hello\n");
}
Declarations within for Loop

int i=0, j=10; When we unfold the loop it becomes:

for(int i=0, j=10; i!=j; i++,j--){
int i=0, j=10; int i=0, j=10;
printf("Hello "); {
printf("i=%d, j=%d\n", i, j); int i=0, j=10;
} label1: if(i!=j)
printf("i=%d, j=%d\n", i, j); {
int i=0, j=10;
printf("Hello ");
Output: printf("i=%d, j=%d\n", i, j);
}
Hello i=0 j=10 else goto label2;
Hello i=0 j=10 i++; j--;
Hello i=0 j=10 goto label1;
Hello i=0 j=10 }
Hello i=0 j=10 label2: printf("i=%d, j=%d\n", i, j);
i=0 j=10
Exiting from a Loop I

▶ The break statement: it can be used to jump out of a

while, do, or for loop.
▶ Example: To check whether a number n is prime

for (d = 2; d < n; d++){

if (n % d == 0)
break;
}
if (d < n)
printf("%d is divisible by %d\n", n, d);
else
printf("%d is prime\n", n);

▶ A break statement transfers control out of the innermost

enclosing while, do, for, or switch statement
Exiting from a Loop II
▶ The continue statement: break transfers control just past
the end of a loop, while continue transfers control to a point
just before the end of the loop body
▶ Use of continue statement is limited to loops
▶ Example: Find sum of 10 non zero numbers to be read from
the user

n = 0;
sum = 0:
while (n < 10) {
scanf("%d", &i);
if (i == 0 )
continue;
sum += i:
n++;
/* continue jumps here */
}
The goto Statement
▶ goto statement allows jumping to any statement in a
function, provided that the statement has a label
▶ A label is just an identifier placed at the beginning of a
statement:
identifier: statement
goto identifier;
▶ Example:

for (d = 2; d < n; d++){

if (n % d == 0)
goto done:
}
done: if (d < n)
printf("%d is divisible by %d\n", n, d);
else
printf("%d is prime\n", n);
The null Statement

▶ A statement can be null - devoid of symbols except for the

semicolon at the end
▶ Suppose we need to put a label at the end of a compound
statement. A label can’t stand alone: it must always be
followed by a statement. Putting a null statement after the
label solves the problem.

{
...
goto end_of_stmt;
...
end_of_stmt: ;
}
The switch Statement I
▶ Used when we need to compare an expression against a series
of values to see which one it currently matches
▶ Format

switch ( expression ) {
case constant-expression : statements
...
case constant-expression : statements
default: statements
}

▶ A constant expression is much like an ordinary expression

except that it can’t contain variables or function calls
▶ The constant expression in a case label must evaluate to an
integer (characters are also acceptable).
▶ No braces are required around the statements
The switch Statement II
▶ The last statement in each group is normally break
▶ Duplicate case labels aren’t allowed. The order of the cases
doesn’t matter.
▶ A float expression cannot be tested using a switch
▶ Example

switch(grade){
case 4: printf("Excellent"); break;
case 3: printf("Good"); break;
case 2: printf("Average"); break;
case 1: printf("poor"); break;
case 0: printf("Failing"); break;
default: printf("Illegal grade"); break;
}

▶ There’s no way to write a case label that specifies a range of

values.
The switch Statement III

▶ A switch statement isn’t required to have a default case

▶ A switch statement is often easier to read than a cascaded if
statement
▶ switch statements are often faster than if statements
▶ switch-case is often implemented using a jump table with
the case values as index into the table
The Switch Statement - Example I
/* Prints a date in legal form */
#include <stdio.h>
int main (void){
int month, day, year;

printf("Enter date (mm/dd/yy): ");

scanf("%d / %d / %d", &month, &day, &year);
printf ("Dated this %d", day);

switch(day){
case 1: case 21: case 31:
printf ("st"); break;
case 2: case 22:
printf("nd"); break;
case 3: case 23:
printf("rd"); break;
default: printf("th"); break;
}
printf(" day of ");
The Switch Statement - Example II

switch(month){
case 1: printf ("January"); break;
case 2: printf("February"); break;
case 3: printf("March"); break;
case 4: printf("April"); break;
case 5: printf("May"); break;
case 6: printf("June"); break;
case 7: printf("July"); break;
case 8: printf("August"); break;
case 9: printf("September"); break;
case 10: printf("October"); break;
case 11: printf("November"); break;
case 12: printf("December"); break;
}
printf(", 20%.2d.\n", year);
return 0;
}
Case Ranges - C Language Extension
▶ GNU C provides several language features not found in ISO standard C
▶ It supports, as a language extension, case ranges
▶ The -pedantic option directs GCC to print a warning message if any of these
features is used; Be careful: write spaces around the ...

main(){
int data[10] = { 5, 4, 10, 25, 60, 47, 23, 80, 14, 11}, i;
for(i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
switch (data[i]) {
case 1 ... 10:
printf("%d in range 1 to 10\n", data[i]);
break;
case 11 ... 20:
printf("%d in range 11 to 20\n", data[i]);
break;
case 21 ... 30:
printf("%d in range 21 to 30\n", data[i]);
break;
case 31 ... 40:
printf("%d in range 31 to 40\n", data[i]);
break;
default:
printf("%d Exceeds the range\n", data[i]);
break;
}
}
}