C Functions

1. Objective ..............................................................2
2. Function Definition ..............................................2
3. Function Prototypes .............................................5
4. Calling Functions .................................................5
5. Questions/Practice ...............................................9

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 1. Objective
 What is C function?
 Types of C functions
 How to invoke functions?
 Local variables in C functions.
 Parameter passing in C
 Functions the do not return any values.

2. Function Definition
 The length of your program can be reduced.
 It becomes easy
 Functions can be called several times within your
program.
 There are two types of functions in C:

Functions

Library Use-defined
Functions Functions

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  All variables declared inside a function are local
variables and are not accessible outside the function.
 Syntax:
return-value-type function-name( parameter-list )
{
declarations and statements
}

Where
o function-name: any valid identifier
o Return-value-type:
 data type of the result (default int)
 void – indicates that the function returns
nothing
o Parameter-list:
 Also called formal parameters.
 A list of variable, comma separated list,
declares parameters:
 A type must be listed explicitly for each
parameter unless, the parameter is of type int
o Declarations and statements: function body
(block)
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  Variables can be declared inside blocks (can
be nested)
 You cannot create functions within inside
other functions.
o Returning control
 If nothing returned
 return;
 or, until reaches right brace
 If something returned
 return expression;

 Example:
int findMax(int a,int b){

if (a <b)
return (b);
else return (a);
}

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 3. Function Prototypes
 Function prototype is also called function signature
defines the header of a function declaration:
return-value-type function-name( parameter-list );

 A prototype functions is only used when its

implementation comes after the main function.

 Example:

int findMax(int a,int b);

4. Calling Functions
 Used when invoking functions
 If the function returns a value:
o Given the following function:
return-value-type function-name( parameter-list )
{
declarations and statements
}

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 The call of this function is:

var = function-name(list-values);

Where var is of type: return-value-type

List-values are also called actual

parameters.

o If the function does not return any value:

void function-name( parameter-list )
{
declarations and statements
}

The call of this function is:

function-name(list-values);

o Example:
printf()

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  Once a function is completely executed, control
is passed back to the calling environment when
the closing brace of the body is encountered.

 Values are passed to functions using one of the

following modes:
o Call by value
 Copy of argument passed to function
 Changes in function do not effect original
 Use when function does not need to
modify argument
 In case you do not want to change the
content of the original variables.

o Call by reference
 To pass original values
 It changes the original variables

 We will now focus on Call by Value and we will

revisit Call by Reference later.

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  Example:

//gcc 5.4.0

#include <stdio.h>
int findMax(int a,int b){

if (a <b)
return (b);
else return (a);
}

int main(void)
{
int x =5;
int y = 10;
printf ("Max of %d and %d is %d\n", x, y, findMax(x,y));

x = 100; y = -1;
printf ("Max of %d and %d is %d\n", x, y, findMax(x,y));

return 0;
}

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 5. Questions/Practice

 Add the elements of an array:

//gcc 5.4.0
#include <stdio.h>
int sumaray(int myparam[], int limit){
int i;
int sum=0;
for(i=0; i < limit; ++i)
sum += myparam[i];
return (sum);
}

void main(void)
{
int myarr1[5] = {1,2,3,4,5};
int myarr2[8] = {1,2,3,4,5,6};

printf ("sum=%d\n", sumaray(myarr1, 5));

printf ("sum=%d\n", sumaray(myarr2, 8));
}

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  A square pyramid is defined as follows:

Where a is the length of the base and h is the

height of the pyramid
The volume of a square pyramid is:

2
1
𝑉=𝑎 ∗ ℎ
3

Write a program that calculates V. First write a

function to calculate the area of square and call
this function in another function that calculate
the volume. This function should be called from
main function.

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  A Right square prism is defined as follows:

Where a is the length of the base and h is the

height of the prism.

The volume of a square prism is:

𝑉 = 𝑎2 ∗ ℎ

Use the square function you wrote in the

previous problem to write a function that
calculates V and call this function from main
function.

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  A cylindrical tank is defined as follows:

The volume of cylindrical tank is:

𝑉 = 𝜋𝑟 2 ∗ ℎ

Write a C program that calculate the volume of a

cylindrical tank. You program should include
two functions:
 One for the area of a circle that will be
called for the volume function.
 A function for calculating the volume.
This function should be called from the
main function.

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  A cone is defined as follows:

The volume of cone is:

2
ℎ
𝑉 = 𝜋𝑟 ∗
3
o Write a C program that calculate the volume
of a cone. You program should include two
functions:
 One for the area of a circle that will be
called for the volume function.
 A function for calculating the volume.
This function should be called from the
main function.
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