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C Variables
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Variables are containers for storing data values.

In C, there are different types of variables (defined with different keywords), for example:

int - stores integers (whole numbers), without decimals, such as 123 or -123
float - stores floating point numbers, with decimals, such as 19.99 or -19.99
char - stores single characters, such as 'a' or 'B'. Char values are surrounded by single quotes

Declaring (Creating) Variables

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To create a variable, specify the type and assign it a value:

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Syntax

type variableName = value;

Where type is one of C types (such as int ), and variableName is the name of the variable (such as x or myName). The equal
sign is used to assign a value to the variable.

So, to create a variable that should store a number, look at the following example:

Example
Create a variable called myNum of type int and assign the value 15 to it:

int myNum = 15;

You can also declare a variable without assigning the value, and assign the value later:

Example
int myNum;
myNum = 15;
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Note: If you assign a new value to an existing variable, it will overwrite the previous value:
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Example
int myNum = 15; // myNum is 15
myNum = 10; // Now myNum is 10

Output Variables
You learned from the output chapter that you can output values/print text with the printf() function:

Example

printf("Hello World!");

Try it Yourself »

In many other programming languages (like Python, Java, and C++), you would normally use a print function to display the
value of a variable. However, this is not possible in C:

Example
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Try it Yourself »

To output variables in C, you must get familiar with something called "format specifiers".

Format Specifiers
Format specifiers are used together with the printf() function to tell the compiler what type of data the variable is storing. It is
basically a placeholder for the variable value.

A format specifier starts with a percentage sign % , followed by a character.

For example, to output the value of an int variable, you must use the format specifier %d or %i surrounded by double quotes,
inside the printf() function:

Example
int myNum = 15;
printf("%d", myNum); // Outputs 15

Try it Yourself »

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To print other types, use %c for char and %f for float :

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Example
// Create variables
int myNum = 5; // Integer (whole number)
float myFloatNum = 5.99; // Floating point number
char myLetter = 'D'; // Character

// Print variables
printf("%d\n", myNum);
printf("%f\n", myFloatNum);
printf("%c\n", myLetter);

Try it Yourself »

To combine both text and a variable, separate them with a comma inside the printf() function:

Example
int myNum = 5;
printf("My favorite number is: %d", myNum);

Try it Yourself »

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To print different types in a single printf() function, you can use the following:
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Example
int myNum = 5;
char myLetter = 'D';
printf("My number is %d and my letter is %c", myNum, myLetter);

Try it Yourself »

You will learn more about Data Types in the next chapter.

Add Variables Together

To add a variable to another variable, you can use the + operator:

Example
int x = 5;
int y = 6;
int sum = x + y;
printf("%d", sum);
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Try it Yourself »

Declare Multiple Variables

To declare more than one variable of the same type, use a comma-separated list:

Example
int x = 5, y = 6, z = 50;
printf("%d", x + y + z);

Try it Yourself »

You can also assign the same value to multiple variables of the same type:

Example

int x, y, z;
x = y = z = 50;
printf("%d", x + y + z);

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C Variable Names
All C variables must be identified with unique names.

These unique names are called identifiers.

Identifiers can be short names (like x and y) or more descriptive names (age, sum, totalVolume).

Note: It is recommended to use descriptive names in order to create understandable and maintainable code:

Example
// Good
int minutesPerHour = 60;

// OK, but not so easy to understand what m actually is

int m = 60;

The general rules for naming variables are:

Names can contain letters, digits and underscores

Names must begin with a letter or an underscore (_)
Names are case sensitive ( myVar and myvar are different variables)
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Names cannot contain whitespaces or special characters like !, #, %, etc.

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Reserved words (such as int ) cannot be used as names

C Exercises

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Create a variable named myNum and assign the value 50 to it.

= ;

Submit Answer »

Start the Exercise

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