Expressions

CSE 4373: Computer Programming and Applications

Ajwad Abrar
Junior Lecturer, CSE
What is an expression

E = mc2
● An expression is a combination of variables and operators that

compute a value.

● E is a variable that stores the result of the expression.

● m and c are both variables that may store any value. They are places

within operators.

2
Operators

3
Operators in C
● Operators are special symbols that tell the computer to perform special
mathematical, logical or conditional operations.
● Some well known operators are: +, -, *, /

Operators in C

● Arithmetic operators
● Relational operators
We will learn about these in other lectures
● Logical operators
● Assignment operators
● Increment & decrement operators

4
Arithmetic operators

5
Arithmetic operators
As the name suggests, these operators are used for mathematical operations in
between variables.
Unary operators
● + or -
● Used to denote negative and positive numbers
Binary operators
● + (addition)
● - (subtraction)
● * (Multiplication)
● / (Division)
● % (Remainder)
6
Arithmetic operators
average = sum / count;

Operand Operator Operand

We can chain multiple operators together to perform complex calculations

average = (value_1 + values_2 + value_3) / count;

E = m * (c * c);

7
Arithmetic operators
What will be stored in rating
int rating, power = 10; // Declared 2 variables
rating = -power;

Finally, what is the output of this line

printf(“%d”, rating + power);

8
Pop Quiz

9
Arithmetic operators
● 10 + 10.5f = ?

● 10 % 3 = ?

● 1 / 2 = ?

● 1.0f / 2.0f = ?

10
Arithmetic operators
● 10 + 10.5f = 10.5 → This is a float

● 10 % 3 = 1 → Remainder operation. Output in an int

● 1 / 2 = 0 → The output should have been 0.5 but as both are int, output
gets truncated to 0

● 1.0f / 2.0f = 0.5 → This is the expected output. As both are float

11
Arithmetic operators
● What about this?

10.2f % 3.5f = ?

This will throw a compile error.

Specifically for the remainder (%) operator, both operands must be integer

12
Operator precedence

13
Operator precedence ● Unary +, -
B → Brackets (...) ● *, /, %
● Binary +, -
O → Orders x2 + y2
D → Division /
● i+j*k → i+(j*k)
M → Multiplication * ● -i*-j → (-i)*(-j)
● -i+j/k → (-i)+(j/k)
A → Addition +
Unary operator has the highest
S → Subtraction -
precedence.
14
Operator precedence
What happens when there are operators with equal precedence?

● 5-7-12 → (5-7)-12
Left associative
● 10/2*5 → (10/2)*2

● -+i → -(+i) Right associative

Messing up precedence will produce unexpected results

15
Pop Quiz

16
Operator precedence
● a + b * c / -d = ?

● 5 + 2 / 2 - 1 = ?

● -+-+-+i + +-j = ?

● -+x + y - x * y = ?

17
Assignment operators

18
Assignment Operators
Assignment operators assign some value to variables.

int i = 3, j;

j = 2 * i;

● Several assignments can be chained together

i = j = k = 0;

i = (j = (k = 0));

● Assignment is right associative

19
Assignment Operators
Be careful about type conversion in chained assignment

int i;

float f;

f = i = 33.5f;

Here, i = 33 and f = 33.0f

20
Compound assignment

21
Compound assignment
Compound assignments use old value of a variable to compute new value

int x = 5;

x += 2; // x is now 7

This is the same as computing x = x + 2;

Thus a compound assignment is doing two things at once, calculation and

assignment

22
Compound assignment

● += First add then assign

● -= First subtract then assign
● *= First multiply then assign
● /= First divide then assign
● %= First find remainder then assign

a *= m+n is not the same as a = a*m+n

It is equal to, a = a*(m+n)
23
Increment & decrement operators

24
Increment & decrement operators

The most common usage of the compound operators are to

increment or decrement a variable
i += 1; // incrementing (adding 1)
i -= 1; //decrementing (subtracting 1)
This operation is so common that C provides a special increment (++)
and decrement (--) operator
i++; // incrementing (adding 1)
i--; //decrementing (subtracting 1)
25
Increment & decrement operators

These operators can be used as a prefix (++i) or a postfix (i++) and

they have different meanings

● ++i → increment i immediately

● i++ → use the old value of i for now, but increment i later

26
Pop Quiz

27
Increment & decrement operators

What will be the output of this?

int i = 1;
printf("i = %d\n", --i);
printf("i = %d\n", i);
i = 1;
printf("i = %d\n", i--);
printf("i = %d\n", i);
28
Increment & decrement operators

What will be the output of this?

int i = 1;
printf("i = %d\n", --i); // prints "i = 0"
printf("i = %d\n", i); // prints "i = 0"
i = 1;
printf("i = %d\n", i--); // prints "i = 1"
printf("i = %d\n", i); // prints "i = 0"
29
Updated precedence table

30
Reading Tasks
● C Programming - A Modern Approach | Chapter 4

31
Thank You

32