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C Programming

Ken Thompson created the B language in 1969 from Martin Richard's BCPL Dennis Ritchie of Bell Laboratories later converted B into C by retaining most of B's syntax in 1972 and wrote the first compiler. The basic unit of code in C is written as a C function, that can in turn be used as building blocks to write more C functions.

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100% found this document useful (1 vote)

209 views

C Programming

Uploaded by

Chiradip Basu

Available Formats

Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

You are on page 1/ 374

C Programming

Page 1

Introduction

C Programming

Page 2

Session 1

C Programming

Page 3

Objectives
In this session, you will learn to:
Describe the evolution of the C programming language
Describe C as a second-generation as well as a thirdgeneration language
State the data types in C
Write simple C functions for input and output
Write C functions that employ conditional constructs
Write C functions that employ iterative constructs

C Programming

Page 4

Evolution ???
Ken Thompson created the
B language in 1969 from
Martin Richard's BCPL

Martin Richard

Dennis Ritchie of Bell

Laboratories later
converted B into C by
retaining most of B's
syntax in 1972 and wrote
the first compiler.
Ken Thompson & Dennis Ritchie

C Programming

Page 5

A very Small history

Originally used to develop UNIX and modern operating systems
Standardized using ANSI standards in 1989, updated in 1999
Modern C compilers adhere to ANSI C standards and provide
additional features

C Programming

Page 6

Nature of the C Language

From its evolution, it was natural for C to exhibit the
powerful low-level features of second generation languages
like pointers, bit manipulation etc.
It also supports conditional constructs, loop constructs, a
rich list of operators, and a variety of data types that is so
typical of any third generation language.
The combined features of second and third generation
language make C a very powerful and a flexible language.
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C Programming

Page 7

Nature of the C Language

These features of C make it possible to use the language
for systems programming like development of compilers,
interpreters, operating systems, graphics and general
utilities.
It is also ideal for a host of applications in the commercial
environment.
Much of the Unix operating system has been written in the
C language.

C Programming

Page 8

Block Structured Nature of C

The basic unit of code in C is written as a C function, that
can in turn be used as building blocks to write more C
functions, thus facilitating modular programming.
C provides all features of structured programming such as
writing programs as functions, functions returning values,
functions defining its own local variables etc.
C language offers only a handful of functions that form the
core of the language; rest of the functions, available as part
of the language libraries, are developed using the core
functions, thus expanding the scope of the language.
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C Programming

Page 9

Block Structured Nature of C

This promotes functionally cohesive code and therefore,
facilitates reusability.
Thus standalone functions can be written as part of a
library that can be deployed in other applications.

C Programming

Page 10

The C Language: Features

Pointers: In addition to referencing a memory location
through a variable name, the C language allows reference to
a memory location by its internal address, or byte number
called a pointer.
Memory Allocation: Generally, in most programming
languages, memory is assigned to a variable name at the
time of definition. C allows dynamic allocation of memory;
i.e., a C program can request the operating system to release
memory for the use of the program at the time of execution.
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C Programming

Page 11

The C Language: Features

Recursion: In C, a function can call itself. Such functions
are called recursive functions.
Bit Manipulation: C allows manipulation of data in its
lowest form of storage; i.e., it is possible to manipulate the
bits within a byte using bit shift operators (right bit shift,
left bit shift operators), and the bitwise or |, bitwise
exclusive or ^, and the bitwise and & operator.

C Programming

Page 12

The C Language: Features

Keywords: There are only 32 keywords, i.e., reserved
words that cannot be used as a variable declaration. The
C99 has introduced five additional keywords.
(inline, restrict, _Bool, _Complex and _Imaginary).
Library Functions: C is accompanied by a number of
library functions to carry out various commonly used
operations. These functions are not part of the language,
but are supplied as a part of C compiler. Features which
tend to be computer-dependent are generally written as
library functions.

C Programming

Page 13

The Hello World Program

/* Comment statements */
Preprocessor directives
main()
{
Program statements;
}

/* The Hello World program */

# include <stdio.h>
main()
{
printf(Hello World\n);
}

C Programming

Page 14

Factored Code: An Example

/* Comment statements */
Preprocessor directives
Function prototypes;
global variable declarations;
main()
{
local variable declarations;
Program statements;
}
[Additional functions .]

/* A sample C program */
# include <stdio.h>
int sum();
int a=10, b=20;
main()
{
int c;
c = sum();
printf(%d+%d = %d \n,a,b,c);
}
int sum()
{
return(a+b);
}

C Programming

Page 15

The C Language Data Types

In C, all variables must be declared before they are used,
usually at the beginning of a function, before any
executable statements.
A declaration announces the properties of variables; it
consists of a type name, and a list of variables.
The type of a variable actually determines the type of
operations that can be performed on a variable of that type.

C Programming

Page 16

Fundamental Data Types

Fundamental data types are data types implemented at the
lowest level, i.e., those which are used for actual data
representation in memory.
The fundamental data types are:
char for characters and strings
int for integers
float for numbers with decimals

Since the fundamental data types are implemented at the

machine level, their storage requirement is machinedependent.
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C Programming

Page 17

Fundamental Data Types

The type int means that the variables listed are integers. The
range of both int and float depends on the machine you are
using; 16-bits ints, which lie between -32768 and +32767, are
common, as are 32-bit ints.
Floating point variables on the other hand, are those that have a
decimal part. A float number is typically a 32-bit quantity, with at
least six significant digits, and magnitude between about 10-38
and 1038.
Character variables, on the other hand, occupy a single byte of
storage.
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C Programming

Page 18

Variations on Fundamental Data Types

C provides several other data types besides intand
float, including:
short:short integer
long:long integer
double:double-precision floating point
The size of these objects is also machine-dependent.

C Programming

Page 19

Defining Data
The general format for defining a variable of a data type is
[data type] [variable name]
All data is normally defined at the beginning of a function.
The definition:
char var;
defines a memory location of size one byte, of character type,
referred to as var.

C Programming

Page 20

Defining Data
Data Definition

Data
Type

Memory
Defined

Size

Value
Assigned

char x, y

char

1 byte

4 bytes

int a;
int m=22;

int

float num

float

num

4 bytes

float num1= 9.67

float

num1

4 bytes

9.67

C Programming

Page 21

Defining Data
The definition:
char var; defines a variable location called var, which is
one byte in size, and can therefore hold only one character.
To define a memory location that can store characters in
contiguous locations as in a name, and addressable by one
variable name, you would need to use the following
definition:
char name[10];
The above definition defines a memory location called
name containing 10 contiguous bytes for storing up to 9
valid characters.
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C Programming

Page 22

The Standard C Environment

The C environment assumes the keyboard to be the
standard input device referred to as stdin
The VDU is assumed to be the standard output device
referred to as stdout
The VDU also serves as the standard error device, and is
referred to as stderr

C Programming

Page 23

Input/Output Functions
C supports Input/Output operations through functions
written in C, and that are part of the standard C library
along with other functions.
These input/output functions may be incorporated into any
program by a programmer.
Any input or output operation happens as a stream of
characters. The standard I/O functions are available for
character-based I/O, or for string-based I/O.

C Programming

Page 24

Buffered I/O
The standard I/O functions are buffered, i.e., each device
has an associated buffer through which any input or output
operation takes place.
After an input operation from the standard input device has
occurred, care must be taken to clear the standard input
buffer. Otherwise, the previous contents of the buffer may
interfere with subsequent input.
After an output operation, the buffer need not be cleared
since subsequent output data will flush the previous buffer
contents.
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C Programming

Page 25

Character-Based I/O
The function getch( ) is used to accept a character from
standard input. By default, it accepts characters from the
keyboard, and returns the character input from the
keyboard.
The function putch( ) displays the character input on to
standard output. It takes one argument, namely, the
character to be output.
The function fflush( ) clears the buffer associated with the
particular device.
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C Programming

Page 26

Character-Based I/O: An Example

#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{
char ch;
ch = getch( );
fflush(stdin);
putch(ch)
}

C Programming

Page 27

Character-Based I/O
The function getchar( ) by default accepts a character from
the keyboard. Hence, it does not need any parameters.
The function putchar( ) is used to display the character on
to standard output. It takes the character to be output as an
argument.

C Programming

Page 28

Character-Based I/O: An Example

#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{
char ch;
ch = getchar( );
fflush(stdin);
putchar(ch)
}

C Programming

Page 29

String-Based I/O
The function gets( ) accepts as a parameter, a string
variable, or a string literal (enclosed in double quotes)
from the keyboard.
The function puts( ) accepts a string variable, or a string
literal to be displayed to standard output.
After displaying the output, the puts( ) function causes the
cursor to be positioned at the beginning of the next line.

C Programming

Page 30

String-Based I/O
#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{
char str[11];
puts(Enter a string of maximum 10 characters);
gets(str);
fflush(stdin);
puts(str);
}

C Programming

Page 31

Conditional Constructs
The C language provides different conditional constructs
for evaluating a condition in a program.
The relational operators required for evaluating the
conditions are similar to those in other third-generation
languages, though the symbols are different.

C Programming

Page 32

Conditional Constructs
Relational Operators:
Operator

Meaning

Equal to

Not equal to

Less than

Greater than

Less than or equal to

Greater than or equal to

C Programming

Page 33

The if-else Construct

The following function checks whether the character

entered by the user is a star (*) character.
#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{
char ch;
ch = getchar( );
fflush(stdin);
if (ch = = *)
puts (You have entered the star character);
else
puts (You have not entered the star character);
}

start

ch =

Input ch

is ch = *

Print *

Not a *

stop

C Programming

Page 34

The if-else Construct

The earlier function can also be alternately written as:

#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{
char ch;
ch = getchar( );
fflush(stdin);
if (ch ! = *)
puts (You have not entered the star character);
else
puts (You have entered the star character);
}

C Programming

Page 35

Cascading if-else Construct

The cascading if-else construct is also known as the
multiple if-else construct.
On the first condition evaluating to false, the else part of
the first condition consists of another if statement that is
evaluated for a condition.
If this condition evaluates to false, the else part of this if
condition consists of another if statement that is evaluated
for a condition, and so on.

C Programming

Page 36

Cascading if-else Construct

/* Function to determine for input of numbers 0 through 9 */
#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{

char chr;

chr = getchar( );

if (chr = = 0)

puts(You entered the number 0);

else if (chr = = 1)

puts(You entered the number 1);

else if (chr = = 2)

puts(You entered the number 2);

C Programming

Page 37

Cascading if-else Construct

else if (chr = = 3)
puts(You entered the number 3);
else if (chr = = 4)
puts(You entered the number 4);
else if (chr = = 5)
puts(You entered the number 5);
else if (chr = = 6)
puts(You entered the number 6);
else if (chr = = 7)
puts(You entered the number 7);
else if (chr = = 8)
puts(You entered the number 8);
else if (chr = = 9)
puts(You entered the number 9);
Else
puts(You did not enter a number);
}

C Programming

yes
no

yes

Page 38

Nested if Construct
A nested if statement is
encountered if the
statement to be executed
after a condition evaluates
to true is another if
statement.
Both the outer if statement
and the inner if statement
have to evaluate to true for
the statement following the
inner if condition to be
executed.
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C Programming

ye
s

Page 39

Nested if Construct: Example

The following program determines whether the character entered is an
uppercase or a lowercase alphabet.
#include< stdio.h>
main( )
{
char ch;
ch = getchar( );
fflush(stdin);
if (ch >= A)

if (ch <= Z)

puts (Its an Uppercase alphabet);

else if (ch >= a)

if (inp <= z)

C Programming

Page 40

Nested if Construct: Example

puts (Its a lowercase alphabet);

else

puts (Input character > z);

else

puts (Input character greater than Z but less than a);

else

puts (Input character less than A);

}

C Programming

Page 41

Using Braces to Improve Readability

#include< stdio.h>
main( )
{
char ch;
ch = getchar( );
fflush(stdin);
if (ch >= A)
{
if (ch <= Z)
puts (Its an Uppercase alphabet);
else if (ch >= a)
{
if (inp <= z)
puts (Its a lowercase alphabet);
else
puts (Input character > z);
}

C Programming

Page 42

Using Braces to Improve Readability

else
puts (Input character greater than Z but less than a);
}
else
puts (Input character less than A);
}

C Programming

Page 43

The switch-case Conditional Construct

The switch-case conditional construct is a more structured
way of testing for multiple conditions rather than resorting
to a cascading, or a multiple if statement.
A switch-case statement makes for better readability, and
hence makes code better understandable.
The switch-case statement is used in situations where
based on the value of a variable, certain actions need to be
taken.

C Programming

Page 44

The switch-case Conditional Construct

switch ( ) specifies the variable name which has to be
compared with the specified cases. The variable may be an
integer or a character variable.
The case statements specify values which may be integer
or character constants. They also specify the action to be
taken if the value specified in the case statement matches
with the value of the switch variable.
After the action for a particular case value is specified, the
break statement is used to bring control out of the switch
block of statements, and to the statement immediately
following the switch block.

C Programming

Page 45

The switch-case Conditional Construct

If the break statement is not specified after the statements
associated with each case statement, then all the statements
associated with the other case statements will be executed.
This will be in addition to the statements associated with
the case statement whose value evaluated to the value of
the variable specified in the switch statement.
This is because when one of the case statements is
evaluated as true, the action statements are executed until a
break statement sends control out of the switch block of
statements, or the switch block comes to an end.
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C Programming

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The switch-case Conditional Construct

The default statement is optional, and is used for handling
situations where none of the case statements are evaluated
as true.
The case and default statements can occur in any order.
main( )
{

char chr;

chr = getchar( );

fflush (stdin);

C Programming

Page 47

The switch-case Conditional Construct

switch ( chr)
{
case 0
case 1
case 2
case 3
case 4
case 5
case 6

: puts( you entered 0);

break;
: puts( you entered 1);
break;
: puts( you entered 2);
break;
: puts( you entered 3);
break;
: puts( you entered 4);
break;
: puts( you entered 5);
break;
: puts( you entered 6);
break;

C Programming

Page 48

The switch-case Conditional Construct

case 7
case 8
case 9
default
}
}

: puts( you entered 7);

break;
: puts( you entered 8);
break;
: puts( you entered 9);
break;
: puts (You did not enter a number);

C Programming

Page 49

Iterative Constructs - The while Loop

In a while loop, the loop condition is
written at the top followed by the body
of the loop.
Therefore, the loop condition is
evaluated first, and if it is true, the loop
body is executed.

Evaluate Condition
true

Execute body of loop

After the execution of the loop body, the

condition in the while statement is
evaluated again. This repeats until the
condition becomes false.
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C Programming

false

Page 50

Iterative Constructs - The while Loop

#include <stdio.h>
/* function to accept a string and display it 10 times
main( )
{
int counter=0;
char message[10];
gets( message);
fflush( stdin);
while (counter <= 9)
{
puts( message);
counter = counter + 1;
gets( message);
fflush (stdin)
}
}

C Programming

Page 51

Iterative Constructs The dowhile loop

In this loop construct, the body of the loop
comes first followed by the loop condition at
the end.
Execute body of loop

Therefore, when this loop construct is used, the

body of the loop is guaranteed to execute at
least once.
The loop is entered into straightaway, and after
the first execution of the loop body, the loop
condition is evaluated.

Evaluate Condition
true

Subsequent executions of the loop body would

be subject to the loop condition evaluating to
true.

C Programming

Page 52

false

Iterative Constructs The dowhile loop

/* This is an example of a do-while loop */

main()
{
int i;
i = 0;
do {
printf("The value of i is now %d\n",i);
i = i + 1;
} while (i < 5);
}

C Programming

Page 53

Iterative Constructs The for loop

The for loop construct is by far the most powerful and
compact of all the loop constructs provided by C.
This loop keeps all loop control statements on top of the
loop, thus making it visible to the programmer.
The for loop works well where the number of iterations of
the loop is known before the loop is entered into.

C Programming

Page 54

Iterative Constructs The for loop

The header of the loop consists of three parts separated by
semicolons:
The first part is executed before the loop is entered. This is usually
the initialization of the loop variable.
The second is a test. The loop is terminated when this test returns a
false.
The third part is a statement to be run every time the loop body is
completed. This is usually an increment of the loop counter.

C Programming

Page 55

Iterative Constructs The for loop

#include <stdio.h>
/* this function displays a message 10 times */
main( )
{
int i;
for( i = 0; i <= 9; i = i + 1)
{
puts( message);
}
}

C Programming

Page 56

Control of Loop Execution

A loop construct, whether while, or do-while, or a for loop
continues to iteratively execute until the loop condition
evaluates to false.
But there may be situations where it may be necessary to
exit from a loop even before the loop condition is
reevaluated after an iteration.
The break statement is used to exit early from all loop
constructs (while, do-while, and for).

C Programming

Page 57

Control of Loop Execution

The continue statement used in a loop causes all
subsequent instructions in the loop body (coming after the
continue statement) to be skipped.
Control passes back to the top of the loop where the loop
condition is evaluated again.
In case of a continue statement in a for loop construct,
control passes to the reinitialization part of the loop, after
which the loop condition is evaluated again.

C Programming

Page 58

Summary
In this session, you learnt to:
Describe the evolution of the C programming language
Describe C as a second-generation as well as a thirdgeneration language
State the data types in C
Write simple C functions for input and output
Write C functions that employ conditional constructs
Write C functions that employ iterative constructs

C Programming

Page 59

C Programming

Page 60

SESSION 2

C Programming

Page 61

Objectives
In this session, you will learn to:
Write compound conditions employing the logical
operators
Write functions that perform formatted input/output
Declare, initialize, manipulate, and address onedimensional arrays

C Programming

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Writing Compound Conditions Using Logical

Operators

Operator

Notation

NOT

AND

C Programming

Page 63

The Logical AND Operator

The result of a logical AND operation is true if both
operands are true.
It has the general form:
expression1 && expression2
Which evaluates to 1 (true) if both expression1 and
expression2 are 1 (true); otherwise evaluates to false even
if one of them evaluates to 0 (false).
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C Programming

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The Logical AND Operator

Some examples of valid AND expressions are:
a && b;
(a < b) && (c < d)

C Programming

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The Logical OR Operator

The result of a logical OR operation is false only if both
the operands are false.
It has the general form:
expression1 || expresssion2
which evaluates to 1 (true) if either or both expressions
are 1, otherwise evaluates to 0 (false).

C Programming

Page 66

The Logical OR Operator

Some examples of valid OR expressions:
a || b
(a < b) || (c < d)
Some examples of invalid OR expressions:
a || /* one operand missing */
a | | b /* space not allowed */

C Programming

Page 67

The Logical NOT Operator

C also includes the operator ! that negates the value of a
logical expression: i.e., it causes an expression that is
originally true to become false, and vice-versa.

This operator is referred to as the logical negation, or

complement or logical NOT.

It has the general form:

!expression
which evaluates to 1 (true) if the expression is 0, otherwise
evaluates to 0 (false)
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C Programming

Page 68

The Logical NOT Operator

For example, the expression !(k == 4) is true if the value of
k is not equal to 4, and false otherwise.
Some examples of valid ! expressions:
!a
!(x + 7)
Some examples of invalid ! expressions:
a! /* out of order */
a != b /* != is the not equal */
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C Programming

Page 69

Logical Expressions

Values of Logical Expressions

a && b

a || b

C Programming

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Formatted I/O

C provides standard functions for performing formatted

input and output. These functions accept as parameters a
format string and a list of variables.
The format string consists of a specification for each of the
variables in terms of its data type, called the conversion
character, and width of input or output.

C Programming

Page 71

Formatted Output
The function printf( ) is used for formatted output to
standard output based on a format string.
The format string, along with the data to be output, are the
parameters to the printf( ) function.
The syntax of the printf( ) function is:
printf( format string, var1,var2..)
Format string is a string containing the format
specification introduced by the character %, and ended by
a conversion character.
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C Programming

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Formatted Output

An example:
printf(%c\n, var);
The conversion characters and their meanings are:

Conversion character

Meaning

The data is converted to decimal

The data is treated as a character

The data is a string and characters from

the string are printed until a null
character is reached, or until the
specified number of characters has been
exhausted

The data is output as float or double

with a default precision of 6

C Programming

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Formatted Output

Between the % character and the conversion character, there may be:

A minus sign

Implying left adjustment of data

A digit

Implying the minimum in which the data is to be output. If the

data has larger number of characters than the specified width, the
width occupied by the output is larger. If the data consists of
fewer characters than the specified width, it is padded to the
right (if minus sign is specified), or to the left (if no minus sign
is specified). If the digit is prefixed with a zero, the padding is
done with zeroes instead of blanks

A period

Separates the width from the next digit.

A digit

Specifying the precision, or the maximum number of characters

to be output

To signify that the data item is a long integer, and not an integer.

C Programming

Page 74

Formatted Output
Format String

Data

Output

%2d

| 4|

%2d

224

|224|

%03d

|008|

%-2d

|4 |

%5s

Sherlock Holmes

| Sherlock Holmes|

%15s

Sherlock Holmes

| Sherlock Holmes |

%-15s

Sherlock Holmes

| Sherlock Holmes |

22.44

|22.440000|

C Programming

Page 75

Data Conversion Using Format String

A variable of a data type can be output as another data type
using the conversion character.

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
int number = 97;
printf(Value of num is %d\n, number);
printf(The Character equivalent of %d is %c\n, number, number);
}

C Programming

Page 76

Formatted Input
The function scanf( ) is used for formatted input, and
provides many of the conversion facilities of printf( ).
The syntax of the function scanf( ) is:
scanf( format string, var1, var2.)
The scanf( ) function reads and converts characters from
standard input according to the format string, and stores
the input in memory locations specified by the other
arguments.

C Programming

Page 77

Formatted Input
#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
char name[10];
int age;
char gender;
scanf (%s%c%d, name, &gender, &age);
fflush(stdin);
printf( % s %c %d, name, gender, age);

C Programming

Page 78

String Input Using scanf( )

Remember that while accepting strings using scanf( ), a
space is considered as a string terminator. Hence, scanf( )
cannot be used to accept strings with embedded spaces.

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
char string[40];
printf(Enter a string of maximum 39 characters);
scanf(%s, string);
fflush(stdin);
printf(%s, string);
}

C Programming

Page 79

One-Dimensional Arrays
An array can be defined as a collection of elements of
identically typed data items that are stored contiguously in
memory.
Each array element shares the same name as the array
name, but distinguishes itself from other elements in the
array using a subscript, or an index.
The subscript or the index of each array element is
determined based on the number of offset positions it

C Programming

Page 80

Array Representation
The declaration int a[10]; defines an array a of size 10, as a block of 10
contiguous elements in memory.

a[0]

a[1]

a[2]

a[3] a[4]

a[5] a[6]

C Programming

a[7] a[8]

a[9]

Page 81

Character Arrays
To define a character array for storing a string of n characters, we
would need to define a character array of size n+1 characters.
This is because all character arrays are terminated by a NULL
character (\0).
To define a character array called name for storing a ten-character
name, we will define the array as:
Char name[11];
where name[0] through name[9] will contain the characters
comprising the name, and name[10] will store the NULL character.

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Representation of a Character Array

name

name[0]

name[1]

name[2]

name[3]

name[4]

name[5]

name[6]

name[7]

C Programming

i
name[8]

name[9]

name[10]

Page 83

Array Initialization
Since an array is a set of elements located at contiguous
memory locations, its initialization involves moving
element by element, or one data at a time into the array.
An array is initialized by specifying each element in an
initialization list separated by commas.
The size of the array, in this case, may or may not be
specified. The number of elements stored in the array
determines its size.

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Array Initialization Syntax

A character array needs a string terminator, the NULL
character (\0) as the last character, whereas integer and
float arrays do not need a terminator.

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
char array1[ ] = {A, R, R, A, Y, \0};
char array2[ ] = {ARRAY};
char dayofweek[ ] = {M, T, W, T, F, S, S, \0};
float values[ ] = {100.56, 200.33, 220.44, 400.22, 0};
}

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Array Processing

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
char array1[ ] = {A, R, R, A, Y, \0};
char array2[ ] = {ARRAY};
char dayofweek[ ] = {M, T, W, T, F, S, S, \0};
float values[ ] = {100.56, 200.33, 220.44, 400.22, 0};
int i = 0;
printf( String 1 is %s\n, array1);
printf( String 2 is %s\n, array2);
for( i = 0; dayofweek[i] != \0; i = i +1)
printf ( The Day %d in a week is %c\n, i + 1, dayofweek[i];
for( i = 0; values[i] != 0; i = i +1)
printf ( The amount %d in a week is %f\n, i + 1, values[i];
}

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Array Initialization Using a for loop

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
int i, num[50];
for (i = 0; i < 50; i = i + 1)
{
num[i] = 0;
num[i] = i + 1;
}
}

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Array Manipulation Using Subscripts

#include<stdio.h>
/* displays each element of the array on a new line */
main( )
{

char array[11];

printf( enter a string of maximum 10 characters\n);

gets(array);

fflush(stdin);

for (i = 0; array[i] != \0, i = i +1)

printf(Element #%d is %c\n, i +1, array[i];

}

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Array Manipulation Using Subscripts

/* this function finds the length of a character string */

#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{
int i = 0;
char string[11];
printf(Enter a string of maximum ten characters\n);
gets(string);
fflush( stdin);
for(i =0; string[i] != \0; i = i + 1)
;
printf(The length of the string is %d \n, i);
}

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Page 89

Array Manipulation Using Subscripts

/* this function converts a string to upper case */

main( )
{
char string[51];
int i = 0;
printf(Enter a string of maximum 50 characters\n);
gets(string);
fflush(stdin);
while (string[i] != \0)
{
if(string[i] >= a && string[i] <= z)
{
string[i] = string[i] 32;
i = i + 1;
}
printf(The converted string is %s\n, string)
}

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Array Manipulation Using Subscripts

/* function to extract a substring from a main string starting at a specified position, and
containing a specified number of characters */
main( )
{
int i, start_pos, no_of_chars;
char string[101], substring[101];
printf(Enter a string of upto 100 characters\n);
gets(string);
fflush( stdin);
printf(Enter start position, and no. of characters to extract\n);
scanf(%d,%d, &start_pos, &no_of_chars);
fflush(stdin);
start_pos = start_pos -1;
for (i = 0; i < no_of_chars; i = i + 1, start_pos = start_pos + 1)
{
substring[i] = string[sp];
}
substring[i] = \0;
printf(The substring is %s\n, substring);
}

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Array Manipulation Using Subscripts

/* the following function accepts numbers as long as 0 is not entered as an array element, and displays
the sum of the numbers in the array along with the array elements */
main( )
{
int total, int_array[20], i = -1;
do
{
i = i + 1;
printf(Enter number %d (0 to terminate)\n);
scanf(%d, &int_array[i]);
}while (int_array[i] != 0);
i = 0;
while (int_array != 0)
{
printf(Element number %d is %d\n, i + 1, int_array[i]);
total = total + int_array[i];
}
printf(The sum of the numbers in the array is %d \n, total);
}

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Array Addressing
In the declaration:
char string[11];
the name of the array refers to the starting address of the
area that gets allocated for storing the elements of the array.
Thus, string contains the address of string[0].
In the aforesaid declaration, string refers to the starting
position of the array, and the subscript refers to the offset
position from the starting position.
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Array Addressing
string
100

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

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Array Addressing
In the previous declaration, string represents the starting
point of the array, and the subscript refers to the offest
position from the starting point.
To arrive at the address of the particular element, the
compiler applies the following simple formula:
starting address of the array + ( offset position * size of data
type)
Address of element 4 = 100 + ( 3 * 1) = 100 +3 = 103

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Summary

In this session, you learnt to:

Write compound conditions employing the logical operators
Write functions that perform formatted input/output
Declare, initialize, manipulate, and address one-dimensional
arrays

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C Programming

Page 97

Session 3

C Programming

Page 98

Objectives
In this session, you will learn to:
Apply the unary, binary, ternary, compound assignment
operators, increment/decrement operators
Use character arithmetic and understand the rules of
conversion between different data types
Declare, initialize, manipulate and print from a twodimensional array

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Unary Operators
Unary operators, as the name suggests, works on one operand
or variable.
The ++ and the -- operators are examples of unary operators.
When these operators prefix an operand, they are referred to as
prefix operators, and when they are suffixed to an operand,
they are referred to as postfix operators.
Prefix and postfix operators, when used in an expression, can
have totally different results, and hence it is necessary to know
their workings.
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Unary Operators
Incrementing and decrementing by 1 is such a ubiquitous
operation that C offers the prefix and postfix implementations
of the ++ and the -- operators.
The expression i = i + 1; can also be written as i++.
When used as a standalone statement, writing i++, or ++i does
not make any difference at all.
It is only when they are used as part of an expression that the
prefix and the postfix operators can have totally different
results.
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Unary Operators
Consider the following two statements:
total = i++;
total = ++i;

The first statement total = i++; is equivalent to:

total = i;
i++;
This is equivalent to assigning to total the current value of
i, and then incrementing i.

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Unary Operators

The second statement total = ++i; is equivalent to:

i = i + 1;
total = i;
This is equivalent to first incrementing the value of i, and
then assigning the incremented value of i to total.

The same principle holds true when working with the

unary -- operators.

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Binary Operators
Binary operators as the name suggests, works on two
operands.
The binary operators in C (as in other programming
languages) are:

The add ( + ) operator

The subtract ( - ) operator.
The multiply (* ) operator
The divide ( / ) operator
The modulo ( % ) operator

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Binary Operators

Examples of binary operators:

int x, y, z;
x = 27;
y = x % 5; /* y set to 2 */
z = x / 5 /* z set to 5 and not 5.4 */

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Page 105

Type Conversions
When an operator has operands of different types, they are
converted to a common type according to a small number
of rules.
In general, the only automatic conversions are those that
convert a ``narrower' operand into a ``wider'' one without
losing information, such as converting an integer into
floating point

C Programming

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Type Conversions
Expressions that might lose information, like assigning a longer
integer type to a shorter, or a floating-point type to an integer, may
draw a warning, but they are not illegal.
A char is just a small integer, so chars may be freely used in
arithmetic expressions. This permits considerable flexibility in
certain kinds of character transformations.
Implicit arithmetic conversions work much as expected. In general,
if an operator like + or * that takes two operands (a binary
operator) has operands of different types, the lower'' type is
promoted to the ``higher'' type before the operation proceeds.

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Type Conversion
The following informal set of rules will suffice:
If either operand is long double, convert the other to long double.
Otherwise, if either operand is double, convert the other to
double.
Otherwise, if either operand is float, convert the other to float.
Otherwise, convert char and short to int.
Then, if either operand is long, convert the other to long.
Conversions take place across assignments; the value of the
right side is converted to the type of the left, which is the type
of the result.
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Type Conversions

Consider the following assignments:

int i;
char c;
i = c;

In the aforesaid assignment, the data type on the right (char) is converted
to the data type on the left (int) which is the type of the result.
If x is float and i is int, then x = i and i = x both cause conversions; float
to int causes truncation of any fractional part. When a double is
converted to float, whether the value is rounded or truncated is
implementation dependent.

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Page 109

Explicit Type Conversion

Finally, explicit type conversions can be forced (``coerced'')
in any expression, with a unary operator called a cast.
In the construction (type name) expression, the expression is
converted to the named type by the conversion rules above.
The precise meaning of a cast is as if the expression were
assigned to a variable of the specified type, which is then
used in place of the whole construction.

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Explicit Type Conversion

Consider the following example:

int i, j;
double d;
d = i / j; /* double assigned the result of the division of two
integers */

The problem with the above assignment is that the fractional

portion of the above division is lost, and d is effectively
assigned the integer quotient of the two integers i and j.

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Explicit Type Conversion

To resolve this, the variable i can be type cast into a double
as in: d = (double)i / j;
int i is converted to a double using the explicit cast
operator. Since one of the operands is a double, the other
operand (j) is also converted to a double, and the result is a
double.
The result is assigned to a double with no side effects. The
cast operator can be done only on the right-hand side of an
assignment.
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Ternary Operators

if (a > b)
z = a;
else
z = b;

The aforesaid statements evaluate z to the maximum of a

and b. The conditional expression, written with the ternary
operator ``?:'', provides an alternate way to write this, and
similar constructions. In the expression
expr1 ? expr2 : expr3

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Ternary Operators
If it is non-zero (true), then the expression expr2 is
evaluated, and that is the value of the conditional
expression.
Otherwise expr3 is evaluated, and that is the value. Only
one of expr2 and expr3 is evaluated.
Thus to set z to the maximum of a and b,
z = (a > b) ? a : b; /* assign z the maximum of a and b */

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Compound Assignment Operators

Compound assignment statements help in simplifying, and
writing simple code.
So far, we have been writing statements such as:
sum = sum + num
The same could be simplified as sum += num;
The same applies to the other binary operators.

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Compound Assignment Operators

Sum = sum num; can be written as sum -= num;
x = x * y; can be written as x *= y;
x = x / y; can be written as x /= y;
Compound assignment operators can be very useful if the
identifiers used for the operands is very long.

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Page 116

Two-Dimensional Arrays
While a one-dimensional array can be visualized in onedimension as either a row of elements, or a column of
elements, a two-dimensional array needs to be visualized
along two dimensions, i.e., along rows and columns.
To be precise, a two-dimensional array can be represented
as an array of m rows by n columns.
A general way of representing or visualizing a twodimensional array is in the form of a two-dimensional grid.
But, in memory, even a two-dimensional array is arranged
contiguously as an array of elements.
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Two-dimensional Arrays
col 0

col 1

col 2

row 0

row 1

row 2

r0,c0

r0,c1

r0,c2

r1,c0

r1,c1

C Programming

r1,c0

r2,c0

r2,c1

r2,c2

Page 118

Two-Dimensional Arrays
The Scenario: Consider a situation where you want to
record the region-wise, product-wise figures of sales. The
regions are A, B and C. The products are X, Y and Z
Sales data for the region-wise, product-wise breakup
should be shown as follows:

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Two-Dimensional Arrays
Prod X

Prod Y

Prod Z

reg A

reg B

reg C

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Page 120

Declaring a Two-Dimensional Array

Declaring a two-dimensional array involves two indices, or two
subscripts. There will be an extra set of [ ] to indicate the second
subscript, or the second index.
To declare a two-dimensional array for accommodating sales data
for three regions and three products, we would come out with an
array declaration as in:
int rp_array[3][3];
/* this array would have nine elements starting at rp_array[0][0],
rp_array[1][1].and going on till rp_array[2,2] */
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Initializing Two-Dimensional Arrays

int rp_array[3][3] = {0,0, 0,

0, 0, 0,

0, 0, 0

};
To improve the legibility of the initialization, it can be
written as: int rp_array[3][3] = { {0,0, 0},

{0, 0, 0},

{0, 0, 0}

};
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Initializing Two-Dimensional Arrays Using the for

Loop
/* r_counter is for referring to the rth region */
/* p_counter is for referring to the pth product */
for (r_counter = 0; r_counter < 3; r_counter ++)
{

for (p_counter = 0; p_counter < 3; p_counter ++)

rp_array[r_counter][p_counter] = 0;

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Input to Two-Dimensional Arrays

for (r_counter = 0; r_counter < 3; r_counter ++)
{

for (p_counter = 0; p_counter < 3; p_counter ++)

printf( \nEnter sales data for Region %d and Product %d,

r_counter + 1, p_counter + 1)

scanf(%d, &rp_array[r_counter][p_counter]);

fflush( stdin);

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Page 124

Processing Two-Dimensional Arrays

/* Program for converting these sales figures into percentages of total sales. */
main( )
{
int r_counter, p_counter, rp_array[3][3], total_sales = 0;
float rp_array_perc[3][3];
/* initialization of rp_array using the for loop */
for (r_counter = 0; r_counter < 3; r_counter ++)
{
for (p_counter = 0; p_counter < 3; p_counter ++)
{
rp_array[r_counter][p_counter] = 0;
}
}

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Processing Two-Dimensional Arrays

/* input sales into rp_array using the for loop */
for (r_counter = 0; r_counter < 3; r_counter ++)
{

for (p_counter = 0; p_counter < 3; p_counter ++)

printf( \nEnter sales data for Region %d and Product %d,

r_counter + 1, p_counter + 1)

scanf(%d, &rp_array[r_counter][p_counter]);

fflush( stdin);

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Processing Two-Dimensional Arrays

/* Determine total sales using the for loop */
for (r_counter = 0; r_counter < 3; r_counter ++)
{

for (p_counter = 0; p_counter < 3; p_counter ++)

total_sales += rp_array[r_counter][p_counter];

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Processing Two-Dimensional Arrays

/* Determine percentage of individual sales data against total sales */
for (r_counter = 0; r_counter < 3; r_counter ++)
{

for (p_counter = 0; p_counter < 3; p_counter ++)

rp_array_perc[r_counter][p_counter] = (( float) 100 *

rp_array[r_counter][p_counter] ) / total_sales ;

}
} /* end of main( ) */

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The Preprocessor Phase

The measure of the flexibility of any program is the ease
with which changes can be implemented.
The preceding exercises involving two-dimensional arrays
is inflexible because the number of regions and products is
hard coded into the program, causing the size of the
array to be also hard coded.
If changes in terms of the number of regions and products
were to be incorporated with the least amount of code
maintenance, the best solution would be the use of macros
referred to in C as #define.
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The Preprocessor Phase

The #define constitutes the preprocessor phase, wherein the value/s specified as
part of the macro or #define is substituted into the code prior to compilation. This is
also known as macro substitution.
#include <stdio.h>
#define RG 3
#define PR 3
main( )
{
int r_counter, p_counter, rp_array[RG][PR], total_sales = 0;
float rp_array_perc[RG][PR];
/* initialization of rp_array using the for loop */
for (r_counter = 0; r_counter < RG; r_counter ++)
{
for (p_counter = 0; p_counter < PR; p_counter ++)
{
rp_array[r_counter][p_counter] = 0;
}
}

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Two-Dimensional Character Arrays

If you were to store an array of 11 names, with each name
containing up to a maximum of 30 characters, you would
declare it as a two-dimensional character array such as:
char name[11][31];
Here, name[0] through name[9] would store character
strings representing names of 30 characters each.
The first index represents the number of names, and the
second index represents the maximum size of each name.

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Initializing Two-Dimensional Character Arrays

char team_india [11][31] = { Akash Chopra,

Virendra Sehwag,

Rahul Dravid

Sachin Tendulkar,

V.V.S. Laxman,

Yuvraj Singh,

Ajit Agarkar,

Parthiv Patel,

Anil Kumble,

L. Balaji,

Irfan Pathan

};

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Printing Two-Dimensional Character Arrays

main( )
{
char team_india [11][31] = { Akash Chopra,

Virendra Sehwag,

Rahul Dravid

Sachin Tendulkar,

V.V.S. Laxman,

Yuvraj Singh,

Ajit Agarkar,

Parthiv Patel,

Anil Kumble,

L. Balaji,

Irfan Pathan

};

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Page 133

Printing Two-Dimensional Character Arrays

int i;
for( i = 0; i < 11; i ++)
{

printf(%s, team_india[i]);
}
Particular elements can also be printed from a two dimensional array
by using the second subscript.
Printf(%c, team_india[10][6] would print the character P from the
string Pathan

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C Programming

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Session 4

C Programming

Page 136

Pointers

C Programming

Page 137

Objectives
At the end of this session, you should be able to:
Declare, initialize, and manipulate pointers
Use pointers for manipulating one-dimensional and twodimensional arrays
Distinguish between arrays and pointers
Use pointer arithmetic

C Programming

Page 138

Pointer Definition
When a variable is declared (such as int i = 22) in a
program, space is reserved in memory for the variable i.
To be precise, each variable is assigned a particular
memory location referenced by its address.
In our case, the integer i would be stored at a specific
memory location having the address, say, 1000 (addresses
are typically hexadecimal values).
The declaration of i can be conceptualized as follows:
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C Programming

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Pointer Definition

i
22
1000

variable name

i is a named location in memory that can hold

an integer and having the address 1000

value
address

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Pointer Definition
In C, it is possible to manipulate a variable either by its
name, or by its address. The address of a variable can be
stored in another variable (called a pointer variable), and
access can be had to the variable through this pointer
variable.
A pointer can therefore be defined as a variable that
holds the address of another variable.
If you want to define a pointer to hold the address of an
integer variable, then you must define the pointer as a
pointer to an integer.
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Pointer Declaration & Initialization

It is in this sense that a pointer is referred to as a derived
data type, as the type of the pointer is based on the type
of the data type it is pointing to.
For the earlier declaration of the integer variable i, its
pointer can be declared as follows:
int i, *pointer_to_an_integer;
i = 22;
pointer_to_an_integer = &i; /* initializing the integer
pointer variable (pointer_to_an_integer) with the address of
the integer variable i. */
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Pointer Declaration & Initialization

The * operator precedes a pointer operand. In the preceding
declaration, int *pointer_to_an_integer; the * operator preceding the
variable name marks it out as a pointer declaration, and the data type
of the pointer variable begins the pointer declaration.
It is obvious from the preceding code snippet that the & operator is
used to return the address of a variable. The returned address is stored
into a pointer variable of the appropriate type.

It is critical, as a good C programmer, to initialize a

pointer as soon as it is declared.
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Pointer Declaration & Initialization

the integer pointer variable (pointer_to_an_integer) being
initialized with the address of the integer variable i.

pointer_to_an_integer
1000

variable name

variable value

1000

C Programming

variable address

Page 144

Dereferencing a Pointer
Returning the value pointed to by a pointer is known as
pointer dereferencing. To deference the contents of a
pointer, the * operator is used.

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
int x, y, *pointer;
x = 22;
pointer = &x;
y = *pointer; /* obtain whatever pointer is pointing to */
}

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Pointers - Variations on a theme

pointer = &x; /* make pointer point to x */
y = *ptr + 1; /* return the value of the variable pointed to by
pointer, add 1 to it, and store the result in y */
*ptr = 0; /* set the value of the variable pointed to by
pointer to 0. In this case, the variable x is set to 0 through its
pointer */

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Page 146

Pointers - Variations on a Theme

Consider the following code snippet:

Int x, y, *pointer1, *pointer2;
pointer1 = &x /* return the address of x into pointer1 */
pointer2 = pointer1; /* assign the address in pointer1 to
pointer2. Hence, both the pointer variables, pointer1 and
pointer2, point to the variable x. */
i

variable name

pointer1

variable value

1000

variable address

pointer2
1000

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Page 147

Pointers - Variations on a Theme

Consider the following code snippet:

int x, y, *p1, *p2;
x = 22;
y = 44;
p1 = &x; /* p1 points to x */
p2 = &y /* p2 points to y */
*p1 = *p2 /* make whatever p1 was pointing to (variable x
and hence the value 22) equivalent to whatever p2 is
pointing to. */

Hence, both x and y will now have the value 44.

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Pointers - Variations on a Theme

Before *p1 = *p2
p1

1000

y
44

2000

After p1 = p2

pointer1
1000

pointer2

1000

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Page 149

Printing Using Pointers

Consider the following code snippet:

#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{
int x, *p;
x = 26;
p = &x;
printf(The value of x is %d\n, x);
printf(The value of x is %d\n, *p);
}

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Page 150

One-dimensional Character Arrays Using Pointers

In the declaration:
char string[11];
the name of the array refers to the starting address of
the area that gets allocated for storing the elements of
the array.
Thus, string contains the address of string[0].
Since a pointer is a variable that contains the address of
another variable, it is evident that string is a pointer.
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One-dimensional Character Arrays Using Pointers

What is string pointing to? Seemingly, it points to a string,
but actually, string is pointing to a character at string[0].
Recall that a string is just a sequence of characters
terminated by a null character (\0).
When the string name is passed down as a parameter to a
printf( ) function, it starts printing from the starting address
of the string till it encounters a null character (\0), which
happens to be the string terminator.

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Difference Between Pointers and Arrays

There are subtle differences between pointers and arrays.
Consider the following declaration:
char string[10], *p;
Both string and p are pointers to char.

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Difference Between Pointers and Arrays

However, string[10] has 10 bytes of contiguous
storage allocated for it.
Thus, during execution, string is effectively a
pointer with a constant address, namely, the
address &string[0];
And this address cannot be changed during the
life of the program
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Difference Between Pointers and Arrays

However, p is a pointer variable that can point to one string
at one point of time during the running of the program, and
can also point to another string at another point of time
during the running of the same program.
p is a variable, and a variable by its very definition can
hold different values at different points of time during one
run of the program.
Therefore, we can conclude that a string is a pointer
constant, whereas an explicit character pointer
declaration is a character pointer variable.
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One-dimensional Character Arrays Using Pointers

The one-dimensional character array declared earlier (char
string[11]) can be alternately declared as:
char *string; /* string is now a explicit pointer variable that can point
to a character */
char *string = Hello;
printf(%s, string);

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Two-dimensional Character Arrays Using Pointers

Since a pointer to a character can be a pointer to a string, it
follows that a two-dimensional character array can be
declared as an array of character pointers.
Recall the declaration of the two dimensional character
array that you used earlier to store 11 names, each of
which could be a maximum of 30 characters. It was written
as: char team_india [11][30];

C Programming

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Two-dimensional Character Arrays Using Pointers

This could be alternately declared as:
char *team_india[11];
team_india is now an array of 11 character pointers, each
of which in turn can point to a string. A pointer to a
character can be a pointer to a string as well.
The flexibility with a declaration of an array of character
pointers is that each of the character pointers may point to
an array of unequal length, as against the declaration of a
two-dimensional character array in which each string is of
a fixed size.
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Pointer Arithmetic
The most common arithmetic operation using pointers is
incrementing by 1. Consider the following statement:
char *p = Sherlock H;
printf(%s\n, p);
The initialization of the character pointer with the string
Sherlock H can be visualized as shown in the following
slide.

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Pointer Arithmetic
p
100

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

C Programming

108

109

110

Page 160

Pointer Arithmetic
Now, let us increment the pointer p by 1, as in:
p++;
p initially pointed to the base address of the string
Sherlock H, i.e., 100.
After incrementing the pointer p by 1, it points to the next
element in the string or the character array, i.e., character
h after S.
p now contains the address of the element h, i.e., 101
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Pointer Arithmetic
p
101

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

C Programming

108

109

110

Page 162

Pointer Arithmetic
But will the statement p++; always make p point to the
next memory location.
The answer is an emphatic No.
This depends upon the data type that p is pointing to.

Consider the following piece of code:

#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{

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Pointer Arithmetic

int int_array[3] = {4, 8, 22}; /* int_array is a constant pointer */

int * p;
p = int_array;
printf (%d, p);
p++;
printf(%d, p);
}
The value of p afer being initialized

with the address of int_array

p
100
100
4

104
8

108
12

C Programming

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Pointer Arithmetic

The value of p after pointer arithmetic

performed on p, i.e., p++
p
104
100
4

104
8

108
12

C Programming

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Pointer Arithmetic
The key point to note is that when pointers are
incremented by 1, the size of the data type to which it is
pointing to (4 bytes in our case, since an integer needs 4
bytes of storage) is taken into account.
To summarize, the operation p++; will result in the
following computation:
New address of p = old address of p + size of data type

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Pointer Arithmetic
Consider the following declaration of a two-dimensional
integer array:
int p[3][5] = {

{ 2, 4, 6, 8, 10},

{ 3, 6, 9, 12, 15},

{ 5, 10, 15, 20, 25}

};
The aforesaid declaration declares an array of three integer
pointers, each pointing to the first element of an array of 5
integers. This can be visualized as follows:
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C Programming

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Pointer Arithmetic
p
100
100

104

108

200
200

300

400

204

208

212

216

300

304

308

312

316

400

404

408

412

416

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Pointer Arithmetic
Here, p points to the first element of the array of pointers.
*p equals p[0], i.e., it returns the address 200. This address
points to the element at offset [0,0], i.e., element 2.
Therefore, *(*p) returns the value 2.
Since p is a pointer to another pointer, incrementing p by 1
makes it point to the next element in the array of pointers,
i.e., it now points to the element containing the address
300.
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Pointer Arithmetic
Hence, *(p + 1) returns the address 300.
Therefore, * (*(p + 1)) returns the value at this address,
i.e., the element with the value 3. In other words, the
element at the offset [1,0].
The following table gives various pointer expressions, and
their values:

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Pointer Arithmetic
Pointer
Expression

Resulting
Address

Variable

Value

*(*p)

200

p[0][0]

*(*p+1)

204

p[0][1]

*(*(p + 1))

300

p[1][0]

*(*(p+1)+1)

304

p[1][1]

*(*(p+1)+1)+1

304

p[1][1] + 1

6+1=7

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String Handling Functions Using Pointers

/* The following function determines the length of a string */

#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{
char *message = Virtue Alone Ennobles;
char *p;
int count;
for (p = message, count = 0, p != \0, p++)
count++;
printf(The length of the string is %d\n, count);
}

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String Handling Functions Using Pointers

/* The following functions compares two strings */

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
char *message1 = This is a test;
char *message2 = This is not a test;
char *p1, *p2;
for(p1=message1, p2=message2; (*p1 = = *p2) && (*p1 != \0) &&
(*p2 != \0); p1++, p2++)
if ((*p1 = = \0) && (*p2 = = \0))
printf(The two strings are identical\n);
else
printf(The two strings are not identical\n);
}

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Summary
In this session, you learnt to:
Declare, initialize, and manipulate pointers
Use pointers for manipulating one-dimensional and twodimensional arrays
Distinguish between arrays and pointers
Use pointer arithmetic

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C Programming

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Session 5

C Programming

Page 176

Objectives
In this session, you will learn to:
Write programs that invoke functions through a:
Call by value
Call by reference

Define function prototypes

Describe the function call mechanism
Pass arguments to main( ) in the form of command-line
arguments
Use the Auto, Static, and Extern storage qualifiers
Use string handling functions, conversion functions, and
functions for formatting strings in memory
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Advantages of Function
Functions facilitate the factoring of code. Every C program
consists of one main( ) function typically invoking other
functions, each having a well-defined functionality.
Functions therefore facilitate:
Reusability
Procedural abstraction

By procedural abstraction, we mean that once a function is

written, it serves as a black box. All that a programmer
would have to know to invoke a function would be to
know its name, and the parameters that it expects.
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Function Parameters
Function parameters are defined as part of a function
header, and are specified inside the parentheses of the
function.
The reason that functions are designed to accept
parameters is that you can embody generic code inside the
function.
All that would be required by the function would be the
values that it would need to apply the generic code on the
values received by it through its parameters.
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Function Parameters
Consider the following printf( ) statement:
printf(%d, i);
This is actually a call to the printf( ) function with two
pieces of information passed to it, namely, the format
string that controls the output of the data, and the variable
that is to be output.
The format string, and the variable name can be called the
parameters to the function printf( ) in our example.

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Function Parameters
Function parameters are therefore a mechanism wherein
values can be passed down to a function for necessary
processing, and the processed value returned back from the
function, as the case may be.
It is important to remember that not all function need be
defined to accept parameters, though most functions do.
This brings us now to the important concept of a
function returning a value, and also the return type of a
function.
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Invoking Functions
In C, functions that have parameters are invoked in one of
two ways:
Call by value
Call by reference

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Call by Value
void swap(int,int );
main()
{ int a=10, b=20;
swap(a, b);
printf( %d %d \n,a,b);
}
void swap (int x, int y)
{ int temp = x;
x= y;
y=temp;
}

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Call by Value
In the preceding example, the function main( ) declared and initialized
two integers a and b, and then invoked the function swap( ) by
passing a and b as arguments to the function swap( ).
The function swap( ) receives the arguments a and b into its
parameters x and y. In fact, the function swap( ) receives a copy of
the values of a and b into its parameters.
The parameters of a function are local to that function, and hence, any
changes made by the called function to its parameters affect only the
copy received by the called function, and do not affect the value of the
variables in the called function. This is the call by value mechanism.

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Call by Reference
Call by reference means that the called function should be
able to refer to the variables of the calling function directly,
and not create its own copy of the values in different
variables.
This would be possible only if the addresses of the
variables of the calling function are passed down as
parameters to the called function.
In a call by reference, therefore, the called function directly
makes changes to the variables of the calling function.

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Call by Reference
Consider the same swap( ) that we discussed earlier now rewritten using
a call by reference.
void swap( int *, int *);
main()
{ int a=10, b=20;
swap(&a, &b);
printf( %d %d \n,a,b);
}
void swap (int *x, int *y)
{ int temp=*x;
*x=*y;
*y=temp;
}

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Passing Arrays to Functions

Arrays are inherently passed to functions through a call by
reference.
For example, if an integer array named int_array of 10
elements is to be passed to a function called fn( ), then it
would be passed as:
fn( int_array);
Recall that int_array is actually the address of the first
element of the array, i.e., &int_array[0]. Therefore, this
would be a call by reference.
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Passing Arrays to Functions

The parameter of the called function fn( ) would can be
defined in one of three ways:
fn( int num_list[ ]); or
fn(int num_list[10]); or
fn(int *num_list)

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Returning a Value From a Function

Just as data can be passed to a function through the
functions parameters at the time of call, the function can
return a value back to the caller of the function.
In C, functions can return a value through the return
statement. Consider the following example:
#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{

int i,j, value;

scanf(%d %d, &i, &j);

fflush(stdin);

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Returning Value From a Function

value = add(i, j);
printf( the total is %d\n, value);
}
add( int a, int b)
{

return (a + b);
}
In the aforesaid example, the function add( ) sends back the value of
the expression (a + b) to the function main( ). The value returned to
main( ) from add( ) is stored in the variable value which appears on the
left hand side of the statement in which the function add( ) is called.

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Returning a Value From a Function

The return statement not only returns a value back to the
calling function, it also returns control back to the calling
function.
A function can return only one value, though it can return
one of several values based on the evaluation of certain
conditions.

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Function Prototype
C assumes that a function returns a default value of int if
the function does not specify a return type.
In case a function has to return a value that is not an
integer, then the function itself has to be defined of the
specific data type it returns.
Consider the following code:
#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{

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Function Prototype
Functions should be declared before they are used.
Consider the situation where you want to use the pow( )
function, called the power function, one of many functions
in the mathematics library available for use by the
programmer.
A function call such as pow(x, y) returns the value of x
raised to the power y.
To elucidate further, pow(2.0, 3.0) yields the value 8.0
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Function Prototype
The declaration of the function is given by:
double pow( double x, double y);
Function declarations of this type are called function
prototypes.
An equal function prototype is given by:
double pow( double, double);

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Function Prototype
A function prototype tells the compiler the number and
data types of arguments to be passed to the function and
the data type of the value that is to be returned by the
function.
ANSI C has added the concept of function prototypes to
the C language.

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Function Prototype

float add(float a, float b);

float i, j, value;
scanf(%f %f, &i, &j);
fflush(stdin);
value = add(i, j);
printf( the total is %d\n, value);
}

float add(float a, float b)

{

return (a + b);
}

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Function Prototype

#include <stdio.h>
main( )
{
void add( float, float);
float i, j, value;
scanf(%f %f, &i, &j);
fflush(stdin);
add(i, j);
printf( the total is %d\n, value);
}

void add(float a, float b)

{
printf(%f, a + b);
return;
}

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Function Calls
It is important for us to know what happens under the hood when a
function executes.
A logical extension of the aforesaid point is the situation that arises
when a function calls another function.
It is important to know how the CPU manages all this, i.e., knowing
where to look for when a function call is encountered, and having
executed the function, to also know where it has to return to.
In short, we need to know the call mechanism, and the return
mechanism.

C Programming

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Function Calls A Top Level Overview

When a function call is encountered, it involves the
following steps:
1. Each expression in the argument list is evaluated.
2. The value of the expression is converted, if necessary, to
the type of the formal parameter, and that value is assigned
to the corresponding formal parameter at the beginning of
the body of the function.
3. The body of the function is executed.

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Function Calls A Top Level Overview

4. If the return statement includes an expression, then the
value of the expression is converted, if necessary, to the
type specified by the type specifier of the function, and
that value is passed back to the calling function.
5. If no return statement is present, the control is passed
back to the calling function when the end of the body of
the function is reached. No useful value is returned.

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Function Calls & The Runtime Stack

Runtime Environment: Runtime Environment is the
structure of the target computers registers and memory
that serves to manage memory and maintain the
information needed to guide the execution process.
The C language uses a stack-based runtime environment,
which is also referred to as a runtime stack, or a call stack.
Let us begin by understanding the internal memory
organization that comes into the picture whenever a
program needs to be executed.
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Function Calls & The Runtime Stack

Memory
Register Area
Code Area
RAM
Data Area

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Code Area
Entry point for procedure 1
Entry point for procedure 2

Code for
Procedure 1
Code for
Procedure 2
.

Entry point for procedure n

.
Code for
Procedure n

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Data Area
small part of data can be assigned fixed locations before
execution begins
Global and/or static data
Compile-time constants
Large integer values
Floating-point values
Literal strings

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Dynamic Memory
The memory area for the allocation of dynamic data can be
organized in many different ways.
A typical organization divides the dynamic memory into
stack area (LIFO protocol)
heap area

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Memory Organization
code area
global/static area
stack
free
free space
space

heap

C Programming

Page 206

Procedure Activation Record

Procedure activation record
contains memory allocated for
the local data of a procedure or
function when it is called, or
activated.
When activation records are
kept on stack, they are called
stack frames. Details depend on
the architecture of target
machine and properties of the
language.
Copyright

A Procedure Activation
Record or a Stack Frame
arguments
bookkeeping information
(return address)

C Programming

local data
local temporaries
Page 207

Registers
Registers may be used to store temporaries, local variables,
or even global variables.
When a processor has many registers, the entire static area
and whole activation records may be kept in the registers.
Special purpose registers:
Program counter (PC)
Stack pointer (SP)

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Calling Sequence
The calling sequence is the sequence of operations that
must occur when a procedure or function is called.
Allocation of memory for the activation record
The computation and storing the arguments
Storing and setting registers

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Return Sequence
The return sequence is the sequence of operations needed
when a procedure or function returns.
The placing of the return value where it can be
accessed by the caller
Readjustment of registers
Releasing of activation record memory

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Fully Static Runtime Environment

The simplest kind of a runtime environment.
All data are static, remaining in memory for the duration of
the program.
All variables can be accessed directly via fixed addresses

Each procedure has only a single activation record, which

is allocated statically prior to execution.
Such environment can be used to implement a language in
which:
There are no pointers or dynamic allocation,
Procedures cannot be called recursively.
Example: COBOL & FORTRAN
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Stack-based Runtime Environment

In a language in which recursive calls are allowed,
activation records cannot be allocated statically.
Activation records are allocated in a stack-based fashion.
This stack is called the stack of activation records (runtime
stack, call stack).
Each procedure may have several different activation
records at one time.
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Global Procedures
In a language where all procedures are global (the C
language), a stack-based environment requires two things:
1. A pointer to the current activation record to allow access to local
variables.
This pointer is called the frame pointer (fp) and is usually kept in a
register.

2. The position or size of the callers activation record

This information is commonly kept in the current activation record as
a pointer to the previous activation record and referred as the control
link or dynamic link.
Sometimes, the pointer is called the old fp

3. Additionally, there may be a stack pointer (sp)

It always points to the top of the stack

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Tracing Function Calls

int z;
main( )
{
int x;
fn_a( );
.. .
.
.
.
}

return instruction

fn_a( int m )

fn_b( int n )

{
int y;

int b;

fn_b( );

return instruction

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A View of the Runtime Stack

S
t
a
c
k
G
r
o
w
t
h

Global static area

Activation record of main

x
m
y
control link
return address

fp
sp

n
control link
return address
b

Activation record of call to fn_a( )

Activation record of call to fn_b( )

Free Store (Heap)

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Access to Variables
In static environment, parameters and local variables can
be accessed by fixed addresses.
In a stack-based environment, they must be found by offset
from the current frame pointer.
In most languages, the offset for each local variable is still
statically computable by compiler.
The declarations of a procedure are fixed at compile time and the
memory size to be allocated for each declaration is fixed by its
data type.

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Calling Sequence
1. Compute the arguments and store them in their correct
positions in the new activation record (pushing them in
order onto the runtime stack)
2. Store (push) the fp as the control link in the new
activation record.
3. Change the fp so that it points to the beginning of the new
activation record (fp=sp)
4. Store the return address in the new activation record.
5. Jump to the code of the procedure to be called.

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Return Sequence
1.
2.
3.
4.

Copy the fp to the sp

Load the control link into the fp
Jump to the return address
Change the sp to pop the arguments.

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Variable Length-Data

There is a possibility that data may vary, both in the

number of data objects and the size of each object.

Two examples:

The number of arguments in a call may vary from call to call.

The size of an array parameter or a local array variable may vary
from call to call.

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Variable Length Data

The printf( ) function in C, where the number of arguments
is determined from the format string that is passed as the
first argument.
printf(%d%s%c, n, prompt, ch);
printf(Hello, world!);
C compilers push arguments onto the stack in reverse
order.
The first parameter (which tells how many more
parameters are) is always located at the fixed offset from
fp.
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Local Temporaries
Local temporaries are partial results of computations that
must be saved across procedure calls.
Example:
x[i]=(i+j)*(i/k+f(i));
Three partial results need to be saved: the address of x[i], the sum
i+j, and the quotient i/k.

They can be stored

1. In the registers
2. As temporaries on the runtime stack prior the call to f.

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Nested Declarations

Nested declarations can be treated in a similar way to temporary expressions, allocating them
on the stack as the block is entered and deleting them on exit.

void p (int x, double y)

{ char a;
int i;
{ double x; // block A
int y;

}
{ double x; // block B
int j;

}
{ char *a; // block C
int k;

}
}

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Passing Arguments to main( )

Arguments are generally passed to a function at the time of
call. And function calls are initiated by main( ).
Since main( ) is the first function to be executed, there is no
question of main( ) being called from any other function.
So, if main( ) is not going to be invoked by any other
function, is it possible to pass arguments to main( ) given
the fact that arguments are generally passed to a function at
the time of invocation.
The answer lies in understanding command-line arguments.
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Command-Line Arguments
The function main( ) can receive arguments from the
command line.
Information can be passed to the function main( ) from the
operating system prompt as command line arguments.
The command line arguments are accepted into special
parameters to main( ), namely, argc and argv. Their
declarations are as follows:
main(int argc, char * argv[ ])

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Command Line Arguments

argc provides a count of the number of command line
arguments.
argv is an array of character pointers of undefined size that
can be thought of as an array of pointers to strings.
The strings are the words that make up the command line
arguments.
Since the element argv[0] contains the command itself, the
value of argc is at least 1.
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Command Line Arguments

Consider a program called uppercase which converts a
string to uppercase. The program expects the string to be
entered at the command prompt.
It should be noted that if the string accepted as a command
line argument has embedded spaces, it should be enclosed
in quotation marks.
Assume the program is run by entering the following
command at the operating system prompt:
Uppercase Sherlock Holmes
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C Programming

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Command-Line Arguments
argv

argc = 3

100
argv[0]

argv[1]

200

n \

o l

u p p

300
S

C Programming

s \0

Page 227

Command Line Arguments

The program uppercase.c can be coded as follows:

#include <stdio.h>
main(int argc, char * argv[ ])
{
int i;
for (i = 0; argv[1][i] != \0; i++)
{
if ((argv[1][i] >= a) && (argv[1][i] <= z))
argv[1][i] = argv[1][i] 32;
}
printf( %s, argv[1]);
}

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Page 228

Storage Qualifiers
The storage qualifier determines the lifetime of the storage
associated with the identified variable.
A variable also has a scope, which is the region of the
program in which it is known.

The storage qualifiers in C are:

auto
static
extern
register
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automatic Variables
automatic variables are local to a block, and are discarded
on exit from the block.
Block implies a function block, a conditional block, or an
iterative block.
Declarations within a block create automatic variables if
no storage class specification is mentioned, or if the auto
specifier is used.
Variable declarations, therefore, are by default, auto.
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automatic Variables

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
char var;
while ((var = getchar( )) != *)
{
if ((var >= A) && (var <= Z))
{
uppercase_count( );
}
}
}
uppercase_count( )
{
auto int counter = 0;
counter ++;
}

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Page 231

Global Variables
Global variable is defined outside all functions.
A typical convention of defining global variables is before
the main( ) function.
A variable declared as global is visible to the function
main( ) as well as to any other functions called from main( ).
A variable defined as global has file scope, that is, it is
visible to all the functions written within the scope of a
program file.
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Global Variables
/* A sample C program */
# include <stdio.h>
int sum( ); /* function prototype */
int a=10, b=20; /* a and b are global variables, visible to main( ) as well as to sum( ) */
main()
{
int c;
c = sum();
printf(%d+%d = %d \n,a,b,c);
}
int sum()
{
return(a+b);
}

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Static Variables
Static variables may be local to a block or external to all
blocks, but in either case retain their values across exit
from, and reentry to functions and blocks.
Within a block, including a block that provides the code
for a function, static variables are declared with the
keyword static.
Let us rewrite the code for the example involving auto
variables to incorporate the declaration of static variables.

C Programming

Page 234

Static Variables

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
char var;
while ((var = getchar( )) != *)
{
if ((var >= A) && (var <= Z))
{
uppercase_count( );
}
}
}
uppercase_count( )
{
static int counter = 0;
counter ++;
}

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Page 235

Static and Global Variables A Comparison

From the preceding example, it seems that static variables
are functionally similar to global variables in that they
retain their value even after exiting from a function in
which it has been defined as static.
But an important difference is that while a global variable
has file scope, and is therefore visible to all functions
defined within that program file, a static variable is visible
only to the function in which it has been defined as static.

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Extern Variables
Variables declared as extern are useful especially when
building libraries of functions.
This means that functions required to run a program can be
saved in separate program files, which can be compiled
separately, and linked up with the file containing the
function main( ) prior to running the program.
In such a case, if the functions use the same global
variables, then their declarations would involve the use of
the extern qualifier
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Extern Variables

Program a.c
int val /* global */
main( )
{
printf(Enter value);
scanf(%d, &val);
compute( ); /* function call
*/
}

Program b.c
compute( )
{
extern int val; /* implies
that val is defined in
another program containing
a function to which the
current function will be
linked to at the time of
compilation */
}

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Extern Variables
From the preceding example, it is clear that though val is
declared global in the function main( ) in program a.c, it
has been declared again within the function compute( ),
which is defined in its own program file, b.c.
However, the qualifier extern has been added to its
declaration.
The extern qualifier in the function compute( ) in b.c
indicates to the compiler (when a.c and b.c are compiled
together) that the variable used in this program file has
been declared in another program file.
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Standard String Handling Functions

strcmp( ) compares two strings (that are passed to it as parameters)

character by character using their ASCII values, and returns any of the
following integer values.
Return Value

Implication

Example

Less than 0

ASCII value of the character of

the first string is less than the
ASCII value of the corresponding
character of the second string

i = strcmp(XYZ, xyz)

Greater than 0

ASCII value of the character of

the first string is less than the
ASCII value of the corresponding
character of the second string

i = strcmp(xyz, XYZ)

Equal to 0

If the strings are identical

i = strcmp(XYZ, XYZ)

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Standard String Handling Functions

strcpy( ) copies the second string to the first string,
both of which are passed to it as arguments.
Example: strcpy( string1, XYZ) will copy the string
XYZ to the string string1.
If string1 were to contain any value, it is overwritten with
the value of the second string.

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Standard String Handling Functions

strcat( ) appends the second string to the first string,
both of which are passed to it as arguments.
Example: assume that the string realname contains the
value Edson Arantes Do Nascimento. If one were to
append the nickname Pele to the string realname, then it
can be done as follows:
strcat(Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, Pele); will give the
string Edson Arantes Do Nascimento Pele

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Standard String Handling Functions

strlen( ) This function returns the length of a string
passed to it as an argument. The string terminator, i.e.,
the null character is not taken into consideration.
Example: i = strlen(Johann Cryuff); will return the value
value 13 into i.

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String to Numeric Conversion Functions

atoi( ) This function accepts a string representation of an integer,
and returns its integer equivalent.
Example: i = atoi(22) will return the integer value 22 into the
integer i.
This function is especially useful in cases where main is designed to
accept numeric values as command line arguments.
It may be recalled that an integer passed as a command line
argument to main( ) is treated as a string, and therefore needs to be
converted to its numeric equivalent.

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String to Numeric Conversion Functions

atof( ) - This function accepts a string representation of

a number, and returns its double equivalent.

For example, if the string str contains the value 1234,

then the following statement:
i = atoi(str); will cause i to have the value 1234.000000
To use the function atof( ) in any function, its prototype
must be declared at the beginning of the function where
it is used:
double atof( )
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Functions for Formatting Data in Memory

sprintf( ) this function writes to a variable in memory
specified as its first argument.
The syntax of the function sprintf( ) is as follows:
sprintf( string, format specification, data)
Example: sprintf( str, %02d-%02d-%02d, 28, 8, 71) will
return the string 28-08-71 into str.

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Functions for Formatting Data in Memory

sscanf( ) this function reads from a variable in memory,
and stores the data in different memory variables specified.
The syntax of the function sscanf( ) is:
Sscanf( string, format specification, variable list);
Example: sscanf(str, %2d%2s%s%d, &day, suffix, mnth, &year)
printf(The day is : %d, suffix is %s, month is %s, year is %d\n, day,
suffix, mnth, year);
If the data in str is 29th July 1971, the output will be:
The day is 29, suffix is th, month is July, year is 1971

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Summary
In this session, you learnt to:
Write programs that invoke functions through a:
Call by value
Call by reference

Define function prototypes

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C Programming

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Session 6

C Programming

Page 250

File Input/Output

C Programming

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Objectives

In this session, you will learn to:

Use pointers of type FILE when performing file I/O
Perform Input/Output with files
Use character-based file input/output functions
Use string-based file input/output functions
Perform random access on files using the functions

fseek( )
ftell( )
rewind( )
feof( )

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Files
A collection of logically related information
Examples:
An employee file with employee names, designation, salary etc.
A product file containing product name, make, batch, price etc.
A census file containing house number, names of the members,
age, sex, employment status, children etc.
Two types:
Sequential file: All records are arranged in a particular order
Random Access file: Files are accessed at random

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File Access
The simplicity of file input/output in C lies in the fact that
it essentially treats a file as a stream of characters, and
accordingly facilitates input/output in streams of characters.
Functions are available for character-based input/output, as
well as string-based input/output from/to files.
In C, there is no concept of a sequential or an indexed file.
This simplicity has the advantage that the programmer can
read and write to a file at any arbitrary position.

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File Access
The examples so far have involved reading from standard
input, and writing to standard output, which is the standard
environment provided by the operating system for all
applications.
You will now look at the process that a program needs to
follow in order to access a file that is not already
connected to the program.
Before a file can be read from, or written into, a file has to
be opened using the library function fopen( )
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File Access
The function fopen( ) takes a file name as an argument,
and interacts with the operating system for accessing the
necessary file, and returns a pointer of type FILE to be
used in subsequent input/output operations on that file.
This pointer, called the file pointer, points to a structure
that contains information about the file, such as the
location of a buffer, the current character position in the
buffer, whether the file is being read or written, and
whether errors, or end of file have occurred.

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File Access
This structure to which the file pointer point to, is of type
FILE, defined in the header file <stdio.h>.
The only declaration needed for a file pointer is exemplified
by:
FILE *fp;
FILE *fopen(char *name, char *mode);
fp = fopen( file name, mode);

Once the function fopen( ) returns a FILE type pointer stored

in a pointer of type FILE, this pointer becomes the medium
through which all subsequent I/O can be performed.

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File Access Modes

When opening a file using fopen( ), one also needs to mention the
mode in which the file is to be operated on. C allows a number of
modes in which a file can be opened.
Mode

Access

Explanation

Read only mode

Opening a file in r mode only

allows data to be read from the file

Write only mode

The w mode creates an empty file

for output. If a file by the name
already exists, it is deleted. Data can
only be written to the file, and not
read from it

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File Access Modes

Mode

Access

Explanation

Append mode

Allows data to be appended to the end of the file,

without erasing the existing contents. It is therefore
useful for adding data to existing data files.

Read + Write
mode

This mode allows data to be updated in a file

Write + Read
mode

This mode works similarly to the w mode, except

that it allows data to be read back after it is written.

Read +
Append mode

This mode allows existing data to be read, and new

data to be added to the end of the file.

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Character-based File I/O

In C, character-based input/output from and to files is
facilitated through the functions fgetc( ) and fputc( ).
These functions are simple extensions of the corresponding
functions for input/output from/to the terminal.
The only additional argument for both functions is the
appropriate file pointer, through which these functions
perform input/output from/to these files.

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A File Copy Program

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
FILE *fp1, *fp2;
fp1 = fopen( source.dat, r);
fp2 = fopen( target.dat, w);
char ch;
while ( (ch = fgetc( fp1)) != EOF)
{
fputc (ch, fp2);
}
fclose(fp1);
fclose(fp2);
}

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Variation to Console-Based I/O

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
char ch;
while ( (ch = fgetc( stdin)) != EOF)
{
fputc (ch, stdout);
}
}

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Nuggets on FILE Type Pointers

The important point to note is that in C, devices are also
treated as files. So, the keyboard and the VDU are also
treated as files.
It would be interesting here to know what stdin, stdout,
and stderr actually are.
stdin, stdout, and stderr are pointers of type FILE
defined in stdio.h. stdin is a FILE type pointer to standard
input, stdout is a FILE type pointer to standard output,
and stderr is a FILE type pointer to the standard error
device.
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Nuggets on FILE Type Pointers

In case fopen( ) is unsuccessful in opening a file (file may
not exist, or has become corrupt), it returns a null (zero)
value called NULL.
NULL is defined in the header file stdio.h
The NULL return value of fopen( ) can be used for error
checking as in the following line of code:
if ((fp = fopen(a.dat, r)) = = NULL)
printf(Error Message);

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The exit( ) function

The exit( ) function is generally used in conjunction with
checking the return value of the fopen( ) statement.
If fopen( ) returns a NULL, a corresponding error message
can be printed, and program execution can be terminated
gracefully using the exit( ) function.
if ((fp = fopen(a.dat, r)) = = NULL)
{

printf(Error Message);

exit( );
}

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Line Input/Output With Files

C provides the functions fgets( ) and fputs( ) for performing line
input/output from/to files.
The prototype declaration for fgets( ) is given below:
char* fgets(char *line, int maxline, FILE *fp);
The explanations to the parameters of fgets( ) is:
char* line the string into which data from the file is to be read
int maxline the maximum length of the line in the file from which data
is being read
FILE *fp is the file pointer to the file from which data is being read

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Line Input/Output With Files

fgets( ) reads the next input line (including the newline)
from file fp into the character array line;
At most maxline-1 characters will be read. The resulting
line is terminated with '\0'.
Normally fgets( ) returns line; on end of file, or error it
returns NULL.

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Line Input/Output With Files

For output, the function fputs( ) writes a string (which
need not contain a newline) to a file:
int fputs(char *line, FILE *fp)

It returns EOF if an error occurs, and non-negative

otherwise.

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File Copy Program Using Line I/O

#define MAX 81;

#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
FILE *fp1, *fp2;
fp1 = fopen( source.dat, r);
fp2 = fopen( target.dat, w);
char string[MAX];
while ( (fgets(string, MAX, fp1)) != NULL)
{
fputs (string, fp2);
}
fclose(fp1);
fclose(fp2);
}

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Formatted File Input/Output

C facilitates data to be stored in a file in a format of your
choice. You can read and write data from/to a file in a
formatted manner using fscanf( ) and fprintf( ).
Apart from receiving as the first argument the format
specification (which governs the way data is read/written
to/from a file), these functions also need the file pointer as
a second argument.
fscanf( ) returns the value EOF upon encountering end-offile.
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Formatted File Input/Output

fscanf( ) assumes the field separator to be any white space
character, i.e., a space, a tab, or a newline character.

The statement printf(The test value is %d, i); can be

rewritten using the function fprintf( ) as:
fprintf( stdout, The test value is %d, x);

The statement scanf( %6s%d, string, &i) can be rewritten

using the function fscanf( ) as:
fscanf(stdin, %6s%d, string, &i);

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Random Access
Input from, or output to a file is effective relative to a
position in the file known as the current position in the file.
For example, when a file is opened for input, the current
position in the file from which input takes place is the
beginning of the file.
If, after opening the file, the first input operation results in
ten bytes being read from the file, the current position in
the file from which the next input operation will take place
is from the eleventh byte position.
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Random Access
It is therefore clear that input or output from a file results
in a shift in the current position in the file.
The current position in a file is the next byte position from
where data will be read from in an input operation, or
written to in an output operation.
The current position advances by the number of bytes read
or written.
A current position beyond the last byte in the file indicates
end of file.
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Random Access
For example, when a file is opened for input, the current
position in the file from which input takes place is the
beginning of the file.
If, after opening the file, the first input operation results in
ten bytes being read from the file, the current position in the
file from which the next input operation will take place is
from the eleventh byte position.
This is sequential access, in which a file is opened, and you
start reading bytes from the file sequentially till end of file.
The same argument cab be extended to sequential write.
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Random Access
In sharp contrast to sequential access is random access that
involves reading from any arbitrary position in the file, or
writing to any arbitrary position in the file.
Random access therefore mandates that we must have a
mechanism for positioning the current position in the file
to any arbitrary position in the file for performing input or
output.
To facilitate this, C provides the fseek( ) function, the
prototype of which is as follows:
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The fseek( ) Function

The function fseek( ) is used for repositioning the current position in a file
opened by the function fopen( ).

int rtn = fseek(file pointer, offset, from where)

where,
int rtn is the value returned by the function fseek( ). fseek( ) returns the value
0 if successful, and 1 if unsuccessful.
FILE file-pointer is the pointer to the file
long offset is the number of bytes that the current position will shift on a file
int from-where can have one of three values:
from beginning of file (represented as 0)
from current position (represented as 1)
from end of file (represented as 2)

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The fseek( ) function

Consider the following schematic representation of a file in terms of a
string of 30 bytes. The file contains records and fields that are not
delimited by any special character.
fp = fopen(employee.dat, r)
employee.dat
1

current offset

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The fseek( ) function

Consider the following schematic representation of a file in terms of a
string of 30 bytes. The file contains records and fields that are not
delimited by any special character.
fseek(fp, 10L, 0);
employee.dat
1

current offset

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The fseek( ) function

Consider the following schematic representation of a file in terms of a
string of 30 bytes. The file contains records and fields that are not
delimited by any special character.
fgets(string, 7, fp);
employee.dat
1

current offset

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The fseek( ) function

current offset

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The rewind( ) Function

The function, rewind( ) is used to reposition the current
position in the file (wherever it may be) to the beginning of
the file.
The syntax of the function rewind( ) is:
rewind (file-pointer);
where file-pointer is the FILE type pointer returned by the
function fopen( ).

After invoking rewind( ), the current position in the file is

always the first byte position, i.e., at the beginning of the
file.

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Updating Data in a File

A file that needs to be updated should be opened using
fopen( ) in the r+ mode, i.e., opening a file for read and
write.
The r+ mode is useful for operations on files that need to
be updated.
Consider a file, SALARY.DAT which contains the
following structure:

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Updating Data in a File

Structure of SALARY.DAT
employee number

salary

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Updating Data in a File

/* function to read the salary field (beginning at byte no. 5 and ending at
byte 10) for each record in the file, and increase it by 100 */
#include<stdio.h>
main( )
{
FILE *fp;
char empno[5], salary[7];
double fsalary, atof( );
long int pos = 4L, offset = 4L;
/* open the file SALARY.DAT in read-write mode */
if ((fp = fopen( SALARY.DAT, r+)) = = NULL)
{
printf(Error opening file SALARY.DAT);
exit( );
}

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Updating Data in a File

while(( fseek( fp, offset, 1)) = = 0)
{
fgets(salary, 7, fp);
f_salary = atof(salary) + 100;
sprintf(salary, %6.2f, f_salary); /*convert f_salary to a string */
fseek(fp, pos, 0); /* reposition at start of salary field */
fputs(salary, fp); /* update salary field
pos += 10; /* increment pos to starting byte of salary field for the next
record */
}
printf(The file SALARY.DAT has been updated);
fclose(fp);
}

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The ftell( ) and feof( ) Function

The prototype declaration for the function ftell( ) is:
long ftell(FILE *fp)

ftell returns the current file position for stream, or -1 on

error.
The prototype declaration for the function feof( ) is:
int feof(FILE *fp)

feof returns non-zero if the end of file indicator for stream

is set.
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Summary

In this session you learnt to:

fseek( )
ftell( )
rewind( )
feof( )

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C Programming

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Session 7

C Programming

Page 289

User-Defined Data Types

C Programming

Page 290

Objectives
In this session, you will learn to:
Trace down the genesis of user-defined data types
Declare user-defined data types, namely
Structures
Unions
Enumerations

Use pointers to structures and unions

Declare arrays of structures
Pass structures to functions
Use the typedef declaration for easier and compact coding
Use the functions fread( ) and fwrite( ) to read and write
structures to and from files
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User-Defined Data Types The Genesis

Consider a situation where your application needs to read
records from a file for processing.
The general approach would be to read the various fields
of a record into corresponding memory variables.
Computations can then be performed on these memory
variables, the contents of which can then be updated to the
file.
But, this approach would involve manipulating the current
file offset for the relevant fields that need to be updated.
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User-Defined Data Types The Genesis

Processing would become a lot more simpler if it were
possible to read an entire record into an extended variable
declaration, the structure of which would be the same as
the record in the file.
This extended variable declaration in turn would be a
collection of variables of different data types, each variable
matching the data type of the fields in the record.
The flexibility with such an arrangement is that the
collection of variables making up the extended variable
declaration can be referred to in the program using a single
name.

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Structures The Definition

A structure is a collection of one or more variables,
possibly of different types, grouped together under a single
name for convenient handling.
Structures help to organize complicated data, particularly
in large programs, because they permit a group of related
variables to be treated as a unit instead of as separate
entities.
An example of a structure is the payroll record: an
employee is described by a set of attributes such as name,
address, social security number, salary, etc.
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Structures The Definition

Some of these in turn could be structures: a name has
several components, as does an address.
Other examples of structures are: a point is a pair of
coordinates, a rectangle is a pair of points, and so on.
The main change made by the ANSI standard is to define
structure assignment - structures may be copied and
assigned to, passed to functions, and returned by functions.
Automatic structures and arrays may now also be
initialized.
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Structures Defining a Type

When we declare a structure, we are defining a type.
A structure declaration results in the definition of a
template or a blueprint for a user-defined data type.
Upon declaring a structure, the compiler identifies the
structure declaration as a user-defined data type over and
above the fundamental data types, or primitive data types
built into the compiler.
A structure therefore is a mechanism for the extension
of the type mechanism in the C language.
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Declaring a Structure
The C language provides the struct keyword for declaring
a structure. The following is a structure declaration for
employee attributes.
struct empdata {

int empno;

char name[10];

char job[10];

float salary;
};

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Declaring a Structure
The keyword struct introduces a structure declaration,
which is a list of declarations enclosed in braces.
An optional name called a structure tag may follow the
word struct, as with employee in the previous example.

The tag names this kind of structure, and can be used

subsequently as a shorthand for the part of the declaration
in braces.
A struct declaration defines a type.
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Declaring a Structure - Conventions

The variables named in a structure are called members. A
structure member or tag, and an ordinary (i.e., non-member)
variable can have the same name without conflict, since they
can always be distinguished by context.
Furthermore, the same member names may occur in different
structures, although as a matter of style one would normally use
the same names only for closely related structure variables.
Variables of a structure type may immediately follow the
structure declaration, or may be defined separately as follows:
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Declaring a Structure Variable

struct empdata {

int empno;

char name[10];

char job[10];

float salary;
} emprec; /* emprec is a variable of structure type empdata */
Or a structure can be declared separately as:
struct empdata emprec;/* emprec is a variable of structure type
empdata */

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Declaring a Structure
Declaring a structure only defines a template or a blueprint for a
data type. It does not therefore result in the allocation of memory.
Memory is allocated only when a variable of a structure type is
declared in the program.
Till a variable of a structure type is created, a structure declaration
is only identified as a type, and no memory is allocated.
Even for fundamental data types, the compiler does not allocate
memory for types. Rather, it allocates memory for implementations
of fundamental data types, in short, memory is allocated only for a
variable declaration.

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Accessing Elements of a Structure

Once a structure variable has been declared, the individual
members of the structure can be accessed by prefixing the
structure variable to the element of the structure.

struct empdata {
int empno;
char name[10];
char job[10];
float salary;
}
struct empdata emprec;
emprec.empno /* referring to the element of the structure variable
emprec */

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Passing Structures to Functions

#include<stdio.h>
struct salesdata
{
int transaction_number;
int salesman_number;
int product_number;
int units_sold;
float value_of_sale;
};
main( )
{
struct salesdata salesvar;

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Passing Structures to Functions

printf(enter transaction number :);

scanf(%d, &salesvar.transaction_number);
fflush(stdin);
printf(enter salesman number :);
scanf(%d, &salesvar.salesman_number);
fflush(stdin);
printf(enter product number :);
scanf(%d, &salesvar.product_number);
fflush(stdin);
printf(enter units sold :);
scanf(%d, &salesvar.units_sold);
fflush(stdin);

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Passing Structures to Functions

compute(&salesvar);
.
.
.
}
compute( salesdata *salesptr)
{
static float product_unit_price = {10.0, 20.0, 30.0, 40.0};
/*product unit price for products numbered 1 through 4 */

salesptr-> value_of_sale = (float)salesptr-> units_sold *

product_unit_price[salesptr->product_number 1]

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Array of Structures
Just as it is possible to declare arrays of primitive data
types, it should also be possible to declare arrays of
structures as well.
Consider the structure declaration for the employee details
used earlier.
struct empdata {

int empno;

char name[10];

char job[10];

float salary;
};

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Array of Structures
If one were to define an array of structure variables, one
would do so as follows:
struct empdata employee_array[4];

The rationale for declaring an array of structures becomes

clear when one wants to improve I/O efficiency in a
program.
Once an array of structures is defined, it is possible to read
in a block of records from a file using an appropriate
function (fread( )), the details of which you will see shortly.

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Writing Records On To a File

The fwrite( ) function allows a structure variable to be
written on to a file.
The following statement writes the structure variable
salesvar on to a file SALES.DAT, which is pointed to by
the FILE type pointer fp:
fwrite( &salesvar, sizeof(struct salesdata), 1, fp);

The arguments to the function fwrite( ) are explained as

follows:

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Writing Structures To a File

Here &salesrec is the address of the structure variable to be
written to the file.
The second parameter is the size of the data to be written, i.e., size
of the structure salesdata. The parameter to the sizeof( ) operator
is the structure label, or the structure type itself, and not a variable
of the structure type. The sizeof( ) operator can be used to
determine the size of any data type in C (fundamental as well as
user-defined data types.
The third parameter of fwrite( ) is the number of structure
variables to be written to the file. In our statement, it is 1, since
only one structure variable is written to the file. In case, an array
of 4 structure variables is to be written to a file using fwrite( ), the
third parameter to fwrite( ) should be 4.
The last parameter is the pointer to the file.

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Reading Records from a File

Records can be read from a file using fread( ). The
corresponding read statement using fread( ) for the earlier
fwrite( ) statement would be:
fread(&salesvar, sizeof(struct salesdata), 1, fp);

Here, the first parameter &salesvar is the address of the

structure variable salesvar into which 1 record is to be
read from the file pointed to by the FILE type pointer fp.
The second parameter specifies the size of the data to be
read into the structure variable.
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C Programming

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Reading Records from a File

fread( ) will return the actual number of records read from the file. This
feature can be checked for a successful read.
if ((fread( &salesvar, sizeof(struct salesdata), 1, fp)) != 1)
error code;
An odd feature of the fread( ) function is that it does not return any
special character on encountering end of file.
Therefore, after every read using fread( ), care must be taken to check
for end of file, for which the standard C library provides the feof( )
function. It can be used thus:
if(feof(fp))

C Programming

Page 311

Union

Can hold objects of different types and sizes at different times

Syntax similar to structure but meaning is different
All members of union share same storage space
Only the last data member defined can be accessed
Means of conserving memory
union declaration similar to struct declaration
eg. union u_type {
int i;
char ch;
};
union u_type cnvt;
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C Programming
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Unions
In cnvt, both integer i and character ch share the same
memory location. Of course, i occupies 2 bytes (assuming
2-byte integers, and ch uses only one byte.
i

Byte 0

Byte 1

ch
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C Programming

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Unions
To access a member of a union, use the same syntax that
you would use for structures: the dot and arrow operators.
If you are operating on the union directly, use the dot
operator. If the union is accessed through a pointer, use the
arrow operator.
For example, to assign the integer 10 to element i of cnvt,
write cnvt.i = 10;

C Programming

Page 314

Unions
In the following code snippet, a pointer to cnvt is passed to a
function:
void func1( union u_type *un)
{
un->i = 10; /* assign 10 to cnvt using function */
}
Using a union can aid in the production of machineindependent (portable) code. Because the compiler keeps
track of the actual size of the union members, no unnecessary
machine dependencies are produced.
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C Programming

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Unions
Unions are used frequently when specialized type conversions
are needed because you can refer to the data held in the union
in fundamentally different ways.
Consider the problem of writing a short integer to a disk file.
The C standard library defines no function specifically
designed to write a short integer to a file.
While you can write any type of data to a file using fwrite( ),
using fwrite( ) incurs excessive overhead for such a simple
operation.

C Programming

Page 316

Unions
However, using a union, you can easily create a function called
putw( ), which represents the binary representation of a short integer
to a file one byte at a time.
The following example assumes that short integers are 2 bytes long.
First, create a union consisting of one short integer and a 2-byte
character array:
union pw
{
short int i;
char ch[2];
};

C Programming

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Unions
Now, you can use pw to create the version of putw( )
shown in the following program:
#include <stdio.h>
union pw
{
short int i;
char ch[2];
};
int putw( short int num, FILE *fp);
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C Programming

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Unions
int main (void)
{

FILE *fp;

fp = fopen( test.tmp, wb+);

putw(1000, fp); /* write the value 1000 as an integer */

fclose( fp );

return 0;
}

C Programming

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Unions
int putw( short int num, FILE *fp)
{

union pw word;

word.i = num;

fputc( word.ch[0], fp); /* write first half */

fputc( word.ch[1], fp); /* write second half */

}
Although putw( ) is called with a short integer, it can still
use the standard function fputc( ) to write each byte in the
integer to a disk file one byte at a time.
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C Programming

Page 320

Enumeration
Is a set of named integer constants that specify all the legal
values a variable of that type can have.
The keyword enum signals the start of an enumeration type.
The general form for enumeration is
enum enum-type-name { enumeration list } variable_list;
enum coin { penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half_dollar,
dollar};
enum coin money;
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C Programming

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Enumeration
Given these declarations, the following types of statements
are perfectly valid:
money = dime;
if (money = = quarter)
printf( Money is a quarter. \n);
The key point to understand about an enumeration is that
each of the symbols stands for an integer value.
As such, they may be used anywhere that an integer may
be used.
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C Programming

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Enumeration
Each symbol is given a value one greater than the symbol
that precedes it. The value of the first enumeration symbol
is 0. Therefore,
printf( %d %d, penny, dime);
displays 0 2 on the screen.
You can specify the value of one or more of the symbols
by using an initializer.
Do this by following the symbol with an equal sign and an
integer value.
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C Programming

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Enumeration
For example, the following code assigns the value of 100
to quarter:
enum coin { penny, nickel, dime, quarter=100, half_dollar,
dollar};
Now, the values of these symbols are:
penny
0
nickel
1
dime
2
quarter
100
half_dollar
101
dollar
102
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C Programming

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Enumeration
One common but erroneous assumption about enumerations
is that the symbols can be input and output directly. This is
not the case.
For example, the following code fragment will not perform
as desired:
money = dollar;
printf( %s, money);
Dollar is simply a name for an integer; it is not a string.
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C Programming

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Enumeration
For the same reason, you cannot use this code to achieve
the desired results:
/* this code is wrong */
strcpy (money, dime);
That is, a string that contains the name of a symbol is not
automatically converted to that symbol.
Actually creating code to input and output enumeration
symbols is quite tedious (unless you are willing to settle
for their integer values).
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C Programming

Page 326

Enumeration

For example, you need the following code to display, in words, the kind of
coins that money contains:

switch (money)
{
case penny : printf( penny);
break;
case nickel : printf( nickel);
break;
case dime : printf( dime);
break;
case quarter : printf( quarter);
break;
case half_dollar : printf( half_dollar);
break;
case dollar : printf( dollar);
break;
}

C Programming

Page 327

Typedef Statements
Creates synonyms (aliases) for previously defined datatypes
Used to create shorter type names
Format: typedef type new-type;
Example: typedef struct Card * CardPtr;
defines a new type name CardPtr as a synonym for type
struct Card *
typedef does not create a new datatype
Only creates an alias
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C Programming

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Summary
In this session, you learnt to:
Trace down the genesis of user-defined data types
Declare user-defined data types, namely
Structures
Unions
Enumerations

Use pointers to structures and unions

C Programming

Page 329

C Programming

Page 330

Session 8

C Programming

Page 331

Recursion

C Programming

Page 332

Objectives

In this session, you will learn to:

Define a recursive function
Describe how to write a recursive function
Describe recursive calls to a function using the runtime
stack
Define, Declare, and Use Function Pointers

C Programming

Page 333

Introduction
Many concepts typically in mathematics are defined by
presenting a process leading up to that concept. For
example, is defined as ratio of the circumference of a
circle to its diameter.
This is equivalent to the following set of instructions:

Obtain the circumference of a circle

Obtain its diameter
Divide circumference by the diameter and call the result
Clearly, the process specified must terminate with a definite result.

C Programming

Page 334

The Factorial Function

Another example of a definition specified by a process is
that of the factorial function.
Given a positive integer n, n factorial is defined as the
product of all integers between n and 1.
For example, 4 factorial equals 4 * 3 * 2 * 1 = 24.
0 factorial is defined as 1.
In mathematics, the exclamation mark (!) is used to denote
the factorial function.
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C Programming

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The Factorial Function

You may therefore write the definition of this function as
follows:
n! = 1 if n = = 0
n! = n * (n-1) * (n-2) * .. * 1 if n > 0.
The dots are really a shorthand notation for all the numbers
between (n 3) and (n 2) multiplied together.
To avoid the shorthand in the definition of n!, we would
have to list a formula for n! for each value of n separately,
as follows:
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C Programming

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The Factorial Function

0! = 1
1! = 1
2! = 2 * 1
3! = 3 * 2 * 1
4! = 4 * 3 * 2 * 1

It is cumbersome for you to list the formula for the factorial of each
integer.
To avoid any shorthand, and to avoid an infinite set of definitions,
but yet to define the function precisely, you may present an
algorithm that accepts an integer n and returns the value of n!.

C Programming

Page 337

The Factorial Function

prod = 1
for (x = n; x > 0; x--)
{
prod *= x;
return (prod)
}

Such an algorithm is iterative because it calls for the

explicit repetition of some process until a certain condition
is met.
This function can be translated readily into a C function
that returns n! when n is input as a parameter.
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C Programming

Page 338

The Factorial Function

Pay closer attention to the definition of n! that lists a
separate formula for each value of n.
You may note, for example, that 4! equals 4 * 3 * 2 * 1,
which equals 4 * 3!.

In fact, for any n > 0, you see that n! equals n * (n 1)!.

Multiplying n by the product of all integers from n 1 to 1

yields the product of all integers from n to 1.
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C Programming

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The Factorial Function

You may therefore define:

0! = 1
1! = 1 * 0!
2! = 2 * 1!
3! = 3 * 2!
4! = 4 * 3!

C Programming

Page 340

The Factorial Function

Using the mathematical notation used earlier, you can write the
factorial of any number as:
n! = 1 if n = = 0
n! = n * (n 1)! If n > 0
This definition is interesting since it defines the factorial
function in terms of itself.
This seems to be a circular definition and totally unacceptable
until you realize that the mathematical notation is only a
concise way of writing out the infinite number of equations
necessary to define n! for each n. 0! is defined directly as 1.

C Programming

Page 341

The Factorial Function

Once 0! has been defined, defining 1! As 1* 0! is not
circular at all.
Similarly once 1! factorial has been defined, defining 2! as 2
* 1! is equally straightforward.
It may be argued that the latter notation is more precise than
the definition of n! as n * (n-1) * (n-2) * .. * 1 for n > 0
because it does not resort to dots to be filled in by the
logical intuition of the reader.

C Programming

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The Factorial Function

Such a definition, which defines a problem in terms of a
simpler case of itself, is called a recursive definition.
Let us see how the recursive definition of the factorial
function may be used to evaluate 5!.
The definition states that 5! Equals 5 * 4!.
Thus, before you can evaluate 5!, you must first evaluate
4!. Using the definition once more, you find that 4! = 4 *
3!. Therefore, you must evaluate 3!.
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C Programming

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The Factorial Function

Repeating this process, you have:
5! = 5 * 4!

4! = 4 * 3!

3! = 3 * 2!

2! = 2 * 1!

1! = 1 * 0!

0! = 1

C Programming

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The Factorial Function

From the aforesaid expression, it is obvious that each case
is reduced to a simpler case until we reach the case of 0!,
which is defined directly as 1.
On the last line, you have a value that is defined directly
and not as the value of another number (line containing 0!
= 1).
You may therefore backtrack from line 1 to line 6,
returning the value computed in one line to evaluate the
result of the previous line.
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C Programming

Page 345

The Factorial Function

This produces:

0! = 1
1! = 1 * 0! = 1 * 1 = 1
2! = 2 * 1! = 2 * 1 = 2
3! = 3 * 2! = 3 * 2 = 6
4! = 4 * 3! = 4 * 6 = 24
5! = 5 * 4! = 5 * 24 = 120

C Programming

Page 346

Evolving a Recursive Definition

for the Factorial
You will now attempt to incorporate this process into an
algorithm. You want the algorithm to accept a non-negative
integer, and to compute in a variable fact the non-negative
integer that is n factorial.
if (n == 0)
fact = 1;
else

x = n 1;

find the value of x!. call it y;

fact = n * y;

C Programming

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Evolving a Recursive Definition

for the Factorial
This algorithm exhibits the process used to compute n! by
the recursive definition.
The key to the algorithm is of course line 5 , where you are
told to find the value of x!.
This requires re-executing the algorithm with input x,
since the method for computing the factorial is the
algorithm itself.
To see that the algorithm eventually halts, note that at the
start of line 5, x equals n 1.
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C Programming

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Evolving a Recursive Definition

for the Factorial
Each time the algorithm is executed, its input is one less
than the preceding time, so that 0 is eventually input to the
algorithm. At that point, the algorithm simply returns 1.
This value is returned to line 5, which asks for the
evaluation of 0!.
The multiplication of y (which equals 1) by n (which
equals 1) is then executed and the result is returned. This
sequence of multiplications and returns continues until the
original n! has been evaluated.
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C Programming

Page 349

Properties of Recursive Definitions

It is important to summarize what is involved in a
recursive definition or algorithm.
One important requirement for a recursive algorithm to be
correct is that it does not generate an infinite sequence of
calls to itself.
Clearly, any algorithm that does generate such a sequence
can never terminate.

C Programming

Page 350

Properties of Recursive Definitions

For at least one argument or group of arguments, a
recursive function f must be defined in terms that do
not involve f.
There must be a way out of the sequence of recursive
calls.
For example, the non-recursive portion of the n! was 0!
that is equal to 1 and did not involve another recursive
definition.

C Programming

Page 351

C Program for a Factorial Function

int fact(n)
int n;
{

int x, y;

if ( n == 0)

return (1);

else

x = n-1;

y = fact(x);

return ( n * y);

C Programming

Page 352

Mechanics of Recursion
In the statement y = fact(x), the function fact( ) makes a
recursive call to itself.
This is the essential ingredient of a recursive routine.
The programmer assumes that the function being
computed has already been written, and uses it in its own
definition.
However, the programmer must ensure that this does not
lead to an endless series of calls.
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C Programming

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Mechanics of Recursion
It is important to examine the execution of this function
when it is called by another program.
For example, the calling program (main( )) contains the
statement: printf(%d, fact(4));
When the calling function calls fact( ), the parameter n is
set equal to 4. Since n is not 0, x is set equal to 3.
At that point, fact( ) is called a second time with an
argument of 3.
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C Programming

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Mechanics of Recursion
Therefore, the function fact( ) is reentered and the local
variables (x and y) and parameter (n) of the block are
reallocated.
Since execution has not yet left the first call of fact( ), the
first allocation of these variables remains.
Thus, there are two generations of each of these variables
in existence simultaneously in the stack for the first call,
and the second recursive call to the function fact( )
respectively.
Copyright

C Programming

Page 355

Mechanics of Recursion
From any point within the second execution of fact( ), only
the most recent copy of these variables can be referenced.
In general, each time the function fact( ) is entered
recursively, a new set of local variables and parameters is
allocated on the stack, and only this new set may be
referenced within that call of fact( ).
When a return from fact( ) to a point in a previous call
takes place, the most recent allocation of these variables is
freed from the stack when the function returns, and the
previous copy is reactivated (belonging to the previous
recursive call to the function fact( )).

C Programming

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Mechanics of Recursion
This previous copy is the one that was allocated upon the
original entry to the previous call and is local to that call.
This description suggests the use of a stack to keep the
successive generations of local variables and parameters.
This stack is maintained by the C system and is invisible to
the programmer.
Each time that a recursive function is entered, a new
allocation of its variables is pushed on top of the stack.
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C Programming

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Mechanics of Recursion
Any reference to a local variable or parameter is through
the current top of the stack.
When the function returns, the stack is popped, the top
allocation is freed, and the previous allocation becomes
the current top of the stack to be used for referencing local
variables and parameters.
You will now see how this mechanism is applied in
computing the factorial function.

C Programming

Page 358

Mechanics of Recursion
The following figure contains a series of snapshots of the
stack for the variables n, x, and y as execution of the fact( )
function proceeds.
Initially, the stacks are empty, as illustrated in (a).
After the first call on fact( ) by the calling procedure, the
situation is as shown in (b) with n equal to 4. The variables
x and y are allocated but not initialized.

C Programming

Page 359

Mechanics of Recursion
Since n does not equal 0, x is set to 3 and fact(3) is called
as shown in (c).
The new value of n does not equal 0; therefore, x is set to 2
and fact(2) is called as shown in (d).
This continues until n equals 0 as shown in(f).
At that point, the value 1 is returned from the call to
fact(0).
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C Programming

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Mechanics of Recursion
Execution resumes from the point at which fact(0) was
called, which is the assignment of the returned value to the
copy of y declared in fact(1).
This is shown by the status of the stack shown in figure
(g), where the variables allocated for fact(0) have been
freed and y is set to 1.
The statement return (n * y) is then executed, multiplying
the top values of n and y to obtain 1, and returning the
value to fact(2) as shown in (h).
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C Programming

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Mechanics of Recursion
This process is repeated twice more, until finally the value
of y in fact(4) equals 6.
The statement return (n * y) is executed one more time.
The product 24 is returned to the calling function where it
is printed by the statement printf(%d, fact(4));
Note that each time that a recursive routine returns, it
returns to the point immediately following the point from
which it was called.
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C Programming

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Mechanics of Recursion
Thus, the recursive call to fact(3) returns to the assignment
of the result to y within fact(4), but the call to fact(4)
returns to the printf( ) statement in the calling function.
(a) initially

(b) fact(4)

4
n

*
n

*
x

C Programming

Page 363

Mechanics of Recursion

(e) fact(1)

(f) fact(0)

(g) y = fact(0)

(h) y = fact(1)

C Programming

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Mechanics of Recursion

(i) y = fact(2)

(j) y = fact(3)

4
n

Pritnf(%d, fact(4))

6
y

The stack at various times during execution. An asterisk indicates an uninitialized value.

C Programming

Page 365

Function Pointers
Function Pointers are pointers, i.e. variables, which point
to the address of a function.
You must keep in mind, that a running program gets a
certain space in the main-memory.
Both, the executable compiled program code and the used
variables, are put inside this memory.
Thus a function in the program code is, like e.g. a
character field, nothing else than an address.
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C Programming

Page 366

Function Pointers
It is only important how you, or better, your
compiler/processor, interpret the memory a pointer points to.
When you want to call a function fn() at a certain point in
your program, you just put the call of the function fn() at that
point in your source code.
Then you compile your code, and every time your program
comes to that point, your function is called.
But what can you do, if you don't know at build-time which
function has got to be called? Or, invoke functions at runtime.
Copyright
C Programming
Page 367

Function Pointers
You want to select one function out of a pool of possible
functions.
However you can also solve the latter problem using a
switch-statement, where you call the functions just like
you want it, in the different branches.
But there's still another way: Use a function pointer!
Consider the example on the following slide:
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C Programming

Page 368

Declaring and Using Function Pointers

How are function pointers used? As stated above they are typically
used so one function can take in other functions as a parameter.

Consider the following example:

#include <stdio.h>
int compute( int, int (*comp)(int) );
int doubleIt( int );
int tripleIt( int );
int main()
{
int x;
x = compute( 5, &doubleIt );
printf("The result is: %i\n", x );

C Programming

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Declaring and Using Function Pointers

x = compute( 5, &tripleIt );

printf("The result is: %i\n", x );

return 0;
}

int compute( int y, int (*comp)(int) )

{ return comp( y );
}
int doubleIt( int y )
{ return y*2;
}
int tripleIt( int y )
{ return y*3;
}

C Programming

Page 370

Declaring and Using Function Pointers

Aside from main( ), this program has 3 functions.
The functions doubleIt( ) and tripleIt( ) are just run of
mill functions that take in an integer, either double or triple
the value of the argument received, and return the value.
The function of interest here is compute( ). It starts off
normal. It returns an int, and the first parameter is an int.
But the second parameter is pretty strange looking. The
whole "int (comp*)(int)" is one parameter, which, in fact,
is the format of a function pointer.
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C Programming

Page 371

Declaring and Using Function Pointers

Basically it says compute( ) wants a pointer to a function
that takes one integer parameter, and returns an integer.
And it is going to refer to this function through the
parameter name comp.
When compute( ) is called, it uses its parameter comp just
like a normal function. When a function pointer is passed
to a function, it can be used like a normal function.
When compute( ) is called in main( ), the second
parameter is given the name of another function with an
ampersand.
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C Programming

Page 372

Declaring and Using Function Pointers

The ampersand is of course, the "address of" operator. So
this is passing the address of doubleIt( ) (and pointers are
really just addresses). So this is how compute( ) gets the
pointer to doubleIt( )
It is important to note however, that if the return type of the
function doubleIt( ) and it's parameter list did not match
the ones for the function pointer comp, it could not be
used.
When you pass a function pointer, the functions header
must match the header of the function pointer definition
exactly, or it cannot be used.

C Programming

Page 373

Summary

In this session, you learnt to:

Define a recursive function
Describe how to write a recursive function
Describe recursive calls to a function using the runtime
stack
Define, Declare, and Use Function Pointers

C Programming

Page 374

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