Random Number

Generation
Rand function

 The rand function

- is defined in the "stdlib.h" header file
- generates an integer between 0 and RAND_MAX
RAND_MAX: a symbolic constant defined in the <stdlib.h> header

 Example
i = rand();

- i will have a random value between 0 and RAND_MAX

- CHECK: How can we make i to have a random value between 1 and 6?
Hint: Use the remainder operator.
Rolling a Six-Sided Die

i = rand() % 100;

 Generating a random number in the range of [0, 100).

- One typical example with the rand function
- This technique with the remainder operator is called scaling.
The number 100 is called the scaling factor.

 Simulating a dice
- Use the scaling factor of 6.
- Shift the range of numbers produced by adding 1.

face = rand() % 6 + 1;
Rolling a Six-Sided Die

 A simple program that prints out 20 numbers in the range of [1, 6].
- We can see a warning without the stdlib header.
- Different scaling factors and shifts will be tested.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main() {
for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++)
printf("%d ", 1 + rand() % 6);
printf("\n");

return 0;
}
Randomizing the Random Number Generator

 Repeatability of rand function

- You can observe that the execution results are always the same in the previous demo.
The same sequence of random numbers
Calling rand repeatedly produces a sequence of numbers that appears to be random.
(Pseudorandom numbers)

- When debugging a program, this repeatability is essential for proving that corrections to
a program work properly.
With different sequences of random numbers, every execution will have a different result which
make it very hard to correct errors.

 Randomizing the sequences

- Can be accomplished with the standard library function srand.
srand in stdlib.h

 srand takes a seed.

- Seed: an unsigned integer argument
- A sequence of random numbers are generated based on the value of the seed.
- With the same seed values, the random sequences will be the same.
Without calling srand, a default value will be used.

 srand(time(NULL));
- To randomize without entering a seed each time
- This make the program to use the current time, which will be differed on every execution.
- The function time is defined in time.h.
Rolling a Six-Sided Die 2

 A simple program that prints out 20 numbers in the range of [1, 6].
- Random sequence on each execution.
- We can set a specific seed for srand function for debugging purposes.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <time.h>

int main() {
srand(time(NULL));
for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++)
printf("%d ", 1 + rand() % 6);
printf("\n");
return 0;
}
getchar and puts
Characters

 Characters can be stored in any integer data type because they’re usually represented as
one-byte integers in the computer.
- Although they are normally stored in variables of type char, ...

 Thus, we can treat a character as either an integer or a character, depending on its use.

 When assigning a character literal to an integer variable, 'promotion' happens regarding the
data type.
- From 1 byte to 4 bytes

int c = 'a'; // OK!!!

printf("%c\n", c); // Ok for this case because we know the value of c
// Some concerns about loosing data still exists.
return 0; a
Characters

printf("The character (%c) has the value %d.\n", 'a', 'a');

The character (a) has the value 97.

 The integer 97 is the character’s numerical representation in the computer.

 Many computers today use the ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
character set in which 97 represents the lowercase letter 'a'.
getchar

 The getchar function (from <stdio.h>) reads one character from the keyboard and returns as
an int the character that the user entered.
- Syntax: int getchar ( void );
- getchar() return the character read as an unsigned char cast to an int or EOF on end of file or error.
- Considering the promotion issue, it is recommended to assign the returned values of this function to
an integer type variable.

int c; // or, 'char c;' to use the char data type.

c = getchar(); // When you use 'char', implicit type casting happens.
printf("%c\n", c);
Characters

 A simple example for characters

- Variations on data types will be shown.

#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int c = 'a';
printf("%c\n", c);

c = getchar();
printf("The character (%c) has the value %d.\n", c, c);
return 0;
}
Reading Character Input

#include <stdio.h>
 This program counts the number of 'a' from
the user input.
- The parenthesized assignment (c = getchar())
int main()
{
executes first.
int c;
int num_of_a = 0;
- In the program, the value of the assignment c =
while( (c = getchar()) != EOF ) { getchar() is compared with the value of EOF
if(c == 'a') { (a symbol whose acronym stands for “end of file”).
num_of_a++;
} - We use EOF (which normally has the value -1) as the
} sentinel value.
printf("The number of 'a' is %d.\n",
num_of_a);

return 0;
}
Reading Character Input

#include <stdio.h>
 This program counts the number of 'a' from
the user input.
- End-of-file (EOF): A system-dependent keystroke
int main()
{
combination to mean "end of file"—i.e., “I have no
int c;
more data to enter.”
int num_of_a = 0;

while( (c = getchar()) != EOF ) { - If the value entered by the user is equal to EOF, the
if(c == 'a') { while loop terminates.
num_of_a++;
} - The variable c is declared as int because EOF has an
} integer value (normally -1).
printf("The number of 'a' is %d.\n",
num_of_a);

return 0;
}
Entering the EOF Indicator

Entering the EOF Indicator

 On Linux/UNIX/Mac OS X systems, the EOF indicator is entered by typing

<Ctrl> d

- This notation <Ctrl> d means to press the Enter key then simultaneously press both Ctrl and d.

 On other systems, such as Microsoft Windows, the EOF indicator can be entered by typing
<Ctrl> z

 You may also need to press Enter on Windows.

Reading Character Input

 This program counts the number of 'a' from the user input.
- What happens when we use 'char' data type for the variable c? Is it OK?
- Check the difference when we use '\n' Instead of EOF. (Ex: Counting the number of '\n'.)

#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int c;
int num_of_a = 0;
while( (c = getchar()) != EOF ) {
if(c == 'a') { num_of_a++; }
}
printf("The number of 'a' is %d.\n", num_of_a);
return 0;
}
puts

 Function puts takes a string as an argument and displays the string followed by
a newline character.
- Syntax: int puts ( const char * str );
- Similar to printf but only for C string

printf("Hi, this statement is using printf\n");

puts("Hi, I'm using puts instead of printf"); // Check that puts is without \n.
printf("%s", "Hello\n");

 C string can be printed out using printf function with a conversion specifier '%s'.
- %s: a conversion specifier for string data
- You can use '%s' with C strings or variables with string data.

 String variables in C are with 'char array' data type.

- Use squared brackets after the variable name to specify the string length.
They are called 'arrays' which will be dealt later.
- The size of the string MUST be greater than the actual string length.

char hello[10] = "Hello"; // A string variable

char name[10] = "Mike";
printf("%s, %s!\n", hello, name); // Printing string variables with %s
printf("%s", "Hello\n"); // Weird, but ok.
Print strings

 A simple program that prints strings.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
printf("Hi, this statement is using printf\n");
puts("Hi, I'm using puts instead of printf"); // Check that puts is without \n.

char hello[10] = "Hello"; // A string variable

char name[10] = "Mike";
printf("%s, %s!\n", hello, name); // Printing strings with %s
printf("%s", "Hello\n"); // Weird, but ok.

return 0;
}
Exercise: ASCII Printer for characters

 Make a program that prints ASCII values for user-entered characters.

- You must print ASCII values only for characters.
- The program terminates when EOF is entered.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int c;

/* Fill in here */

return 0;
}
Exercise: ASCII Printer for characters

 Make a program that prints ASCII values for user-entered characters.

- You must print ASCII values only for characters.
- The program terminates when EOF is entered.
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int c;
while( (c = getchar()) != EOF) {
if((c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z')) {
printf("Character: %c, ASCII value: %d\n", c, c);
}
}
return 0;
}
Conditional Operator
Conditional Operator

 C provides the conditional operator (?:) which is closely related to the if…else statement.

 The conditional operator is C’s only ternary operator—it takes three operands.
- The first operand is a condition.
- The second operand is the value for the entire conditional expression if the condition is true.
- The third operand is the value for the entire conditional expression if the condition is false.

(condition)? (value for the true case):(value for the false case)
Conditional Operator

 For example, the puts statement

puts( grade >= 60 ? "Passed" : "Failed" );

contains as its second argument a conditional expression that evaluates to the

string "Passed" if the condition grade >= 60 is true and to the string "Failed"
if the condition is false.

 The puts statement performs in essentially the same way as the preceding
if...else statement.
Conditional Operator

 The second and third operands in a conditional expression can also be actions to be
executed.

 For example, the conditional expression

grade >= 60 ? puts( "Passed" ) : puts( "Failed" );

is read, "If grade is greater than or equal to 60 then puts("Passed"), otherwise

puts( "Failed" )." This, too, is comparable to the preceding if…else statement.
Conditional Operator

 Conditional operator example

- Check that no comparison operators are used in the condition part.
- We have three or more different ways to show the same result.

#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int num;
scanf("%d", &num);
num%2? printf("Odd\n"):printf("Even\n"); // or, printf(num%2? "Odd\n":"Even\n");
// or, if(num % 2) { printf("Odd\n"); }
else { printf("Even\n"); }

return 0;
}
Formatting Floating-
Point Numbers
Formatting Floating-Point Numbers

 Sometimes we need to format floating-point numbers

printf( "%.2f\n", 3.446 ); // prints 3.45

 The printf conversion specifier %.2f to print the value of a floating-point

number can be used.
- The f specifies that a floating-point value will be printed.
- The .2 is the precision with which the value will be displayed—with 2 digits to the
right of the decimal point.
- When floating-point values are printed with precision, the printed value is rounded to the
indicated number of decimal positions.

 The value in memory is unaltered.

More on Formatting Floating-Point Numbers

printf( "%.2f\n", 3.446 ); // prints 3.45

printf( "%.1f\n", 3.446 ); // prints 3.4
printf( "%21.2f\n", amount); // field width
printf( "%-6d\n", number); // left justification

 The conversion specifier %21.2f is used to print the value of the variable amount.
- The 21 in the conversion specifier denotes the field width in which the value will be printed.
- The 2 specifies the precision (i.e., the number of decimal positions).

 Right or left justification

- Automatic right justification is done with a smaller number of characters than the field width.
- To left justify a value in a field, place a - (minus sign) between the % and the field width.
The minus sign may also be used to left justify integers (such as in %-6d) and character
strings (such as in %-8s).
Exercise: Printing Factorials of odd numbers in Tabular Form

 Factorial of odd numbers

- Print the results as shown below. Factorials are printed out at the seventh position on
each line regardless of the number of i's digits.

- Input: 4 - Input: 12

i !
1 1
i ! 3 6
1 1 5 120
3 6 7 5040
9 362880
11 39916800
Exercise: Printing Factorials of odd numbers in Tabular Form

 Skeleton Code
#include <stdio.h>
printf("%d", i);
int main() { if(i >= 10) {
int input; printf(" ");
scanf("%d",&input); } else {
printf("i !\n"); printf(" ");
}
for(int i = 1; i <= input; i++) { printf("%d\n", temp);
if(i % 2 != 0) { }
int temp = 1; }
for(int j = 1; j <= i; j++) { return 0;
temp *= j; }
}
Exercise: Printing Factorials of odd numbers in Tabular Form

 Solution
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int input;
printf("%-6d%d\n", i, fact);
scanf("%d",&input);
}
printf("i !\n");
}

for(int i = 1; i <= input; i++) {

return 0;
if(i % 2 != 0) {
}
int temp = 1;
for(int j = 1; j <= i; j++) {
temp *= j;
}