CSE Department, LCIT Bilaspur

Lakhmi Chand Institute of Technology, Bodri Bilaspur

Department of Computer Science & Engineering

PPS Theory Notes

Subject: Programming for problem Solving

Subject Code: A000213 (022)

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Block Diagram of Computer

Computer Block Diagram System: Mainly computer system consists of three parts that are
central processing unit (CPU), Input Devices, and Output Devices. The Central Processing Unit
(CPU) is divided into two parts again: arithmetic logic unit (ALU) and the control unit (CU).
The set of instruction is in the form of raw data.
A large amount of data is stored in the computer memory with the help of primary and
secondary storage devices. The CPU is like the heart/brain of the computer. The user does not
get the desired output, without the necessary option taken by the CPU. The Central processing
unit (CPU) is responsible for the processing of all the instructions which are given by the user to
the computer system.

Fig: Block Diagram of the computer.

The data is entered through input devices such as the keyboard, mouse, etc. This set of
instruction is processed by the CPU after getting the input by the user, and then the computer
system produces the output. The computer can show the output with the help of output devices
to the user, such as monitor, printer, etc.

 CPU (Central Processing Unit)

 Storage Unit
 ALU(Arithmetic Logic Unit)
 Control Unit

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Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The computer system is nothing without the Central processing Unit so, it is also known as the
brain or heat of computer. The CPU is an electronic hardware device which can perform
different types of operations such as arithmetic and logical operation.

The CPU contains two parts: the arithmetic logic unit and control unit. We have discussed
briefly the arithmetic unit, logical unit, and control unit which are given below:
Control Unit
The control unit (CU) controls all the activities or operations which are performed inside the
computer system. It receives instructions or information directly from the main memory of the
computer.
When the control unit receives an instruction set or information, it converts the instruction set to
control signals then; these signals are sent to the central processor for further processing. The
control unit understands which operation to execute, accurately, and in which order.
Arithmetic and Logical Unit
The arithmetic and logical unit is the combinational digital electronic circuit that can perform
arithmetic operations on integer binary numbers. It presents the arithmetic and logical operation.
The outputs of ALU will change asynchronously in response to the input. The basic arithmetic
and bitwise logic functions are supported by ALU.
Storage Unit
The information or set of guidelines are stored in the storage unit of the computer system. The
storage unit provides the space to store the data or instruction of processed data. The
information or data is saved or hold in computer memory or storage device. The data storage is
the core function and fundamental of the computer components.

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Components of Computer System

The hardware and software exist on the computer. The information which is stored through the
device is known as computer software. The hardware components of the computer system are
related to electronic and mechanical parts, and the software component is related to data and
computer programs. Many elements are connected to the main circuit board of the computer
system called a "motherboard."

 Processor.
 Main Memory.
 Secondary Memory.
 Input Devices.
 Output Devices.

These are mainly five components of the computer system. The computer hardware, computer
software, and liveware exist in the element of the computer system.
Processor
The processor is an electric circuitry within the computer system. The Central processing unit is
the central processor or main processor of the computer system. The processor carries out the
instructions of the computer program with the help of basic arithmetic and logic, input/output
operations.
Main Memory
The Random Access Memory is the main memory of the computer system, which is known as
RAM. The main memory can store the operating system software, application software, and

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other information. The Ram is one of the fastest memory, and it allows the data to be readable
and writeable.
Secondary memory
We can store the data and programs on a long-term basis in the secondary memory. The hard
disks and the optical disks are the common secondary devices. It is slow and cheap memory as
compare to primary memory. This memory is not connected to the processor directly.
It has a large capacity to store the data. The hard disk has a capacity of 500 gigabytes. The data
and programs on the hard disk are organized into files, and the file is the collection of data on
the disk. The secondary storage is direct access by the CPU; that's why it is different from the
primary storage.
The hard disk is about 100 times the capacity of the main memory. The main difference
between primary and secondary storage is speed and capacity. There are several large blocks of
data which are copied from the hard disk into the main memory.
Input Devices
The user provides the set of instruction or information to the computer system with the help of
input devices such as the keyboard, mouse, scanner, etc. The data representation to the
computer system is in the form of binary language after that the processor processes the
converted data. The input unit implements the data which is instructed by the user to the system.
We can enter the data from the outside world into the primary storage as the input through input
devices. The input devices are the medium of communication between the outside world and the
computer system.
There are some important features of input devices which are given below:

1. The input devices receive or accept the data or instruction from the user, who exist in the
outside world.
2. These devices convert the data or instruction into the machine-readable form for further
processing.
3. The input device performs like the connection between the outside world and our
computer system.
4. The keyboard and mouse are common examples of input devices.
5. When the whole procedure is finished, we get the desired output from the output devices
such as monitor, printer, etc.

Output Devices
The output devices produce or generate the desired result according to our input, such as a
printer, monitor, etc. These devices convert the data into a human-readable form from binary
code.

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The computer system is linked or connected to the outside world with the help of output
devices. The primary examples of output devices are a printer, projector, etc.
These devices have various features which are given below:

1. These devices receive or accept the data in the binary form.

2. The output devices convert the binary code into the human-readable form.
3. These devices produce the converted result and show to the user.

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What is an Algorithm?

The word Algorithm means ” A set of finite rules or instructions to be followed in

calculations or other problem-solving operations ” Or ” A procedure for solving a
mathematical problem in a finite number of steps that frequently involves recursive
operations”.

Therefore Algorithm refers to a sequence of finite steps to solve a particular problem.

Algorithms can be simple and complex depending on what you want to achieve.

The Algorithm designed is language-independent, i.e. they are just plain instructions that can
be implemented in any language, and yet the output will be the same, as expected.

What is the need for algorithms?

1. Algorithms are necessary for solving complex problems efficiently and effectively.

2. They help to automate processes and make them more reliable, faster, and easier to
perform.

3. Algorithms also enable computers to perform tasks that would be difficult or impossible for
humans to do manually.

4. They are used in various fields such as mathematics, computer science, engineering,
finance, and many others to optimize processes, analyze data, make predictions, and provide
solutions to problems.

What are the Characteristics of an Algorithm?

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 Clear and Unambiguous: The algorithm should be clear and unambiguous. Each of its
steps should be clear in all aspects and must lead to only one meaning.

 Well-Defined Inputs: If an algorithm says to take inputs, it should be well-defined inputs.

It may or may not take input.

 Well-Defined Outputs: The algorithm must clearly define what output will be yielded and
it should be well-defined as well. It should produce at least 1 output.

 Finite-ness: The algorithm must be finite, i.e. it should terminate after a finite time.

 Feasible: The algorithm must be simple, generic, and practical, such that it can be
executed with the available resources. It must not contain some future technology or
anything.

 Language Independent: The Algorithm designed must be language-independent, i.e. it

must be just plain instructions that can be implemented in any language, and yet the output
will be the same, as expected.

 Input: An algorithm has zero or more inputs. Each that contains a fundamental operator
must accept zero or more inputs.

 Output: An algorithm produces at least one output. Every instruction that contains a
fundamental operator must accept zero or more inputs.

 Definiteness: All instructions in an algorithm must be unambiguous, precise, and easy to

interpret. By referring to any of the instructions in an algorithm one can clearly understand
what is to be done. Every fundamental operator in instruction must be defined without any
ambiguity.

 Finiteness: An algorithm must terminate after a finite number of steps in all test cases.
Every instruction which contains a fundamental operator must be terminated within a finite
amount of time. Infinite loops or recursive functions without base conditions do not
possess finiteness.

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 Effectiveness: An algorithm must be developed by using very basic, simple, and feasible
operations so that one can trace it out by using just paper and pencil.

Properties of Algorithm:
 It should terminate after a finite time.
 It should produce at least one output.
 It should take zero or more input.
 It should be deterministic means giving the same output for the same input case.
 Every step in the algorithm must be effective i.e. every step should do some work.
Advantages of Algorithms:
 It is easy to understand.
 An algorithm is a step-wise representation of a solution to a given problem.
 In Algorithm the problem is broken down into smaller pieces or steps hence, it is easier for
the programmer to convert it into an actual program.
Disadvantages of Algorithms:
 Writing an algorithm takes a long time so it is time-consuming.
 Understanding complex logic through algorithms can be very difficult.
 Branching and looping statements are difficult to show in Algorithms (imp).

Example:

Algorithm 1: Add two numbers entered by the user

Step 1: Start

Step 2: Declare variables num1, num2 and sum.

Step 3: Read values num1 and num2.

Step 4: Add num1 and num2 and assign the result to sum.

sum←num1+num2

Step 5: Display sum

Step 6: Stop

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Algorithm 2: Find the largest number among three numbers

Step 1: Start

Step 2: Declare variables a,b and c.

Step 3: Read variables a,b and c.

Step 4: If a > b

If a > c

Display a is the largest number.

Else

Display c is the largest number.

Else

If b > c

Display b is the largest number.

Else

Display c is the greatest number.

Step 5: Stop

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Algorithm 3: Find the factorial of a number

Step 1: Start

Step 2: Declare variables n, factorial and i.

Step 3: Initialize variables

factorial ← 1

i←1

Step 4: Read value of n

Step 5: Repeat the steps until i = n

5.1: factorial ← factorial*i

5.2: i ← i+1

Step 6: Display factorial

Step 7: Stop

How to express an Algorithm?

1. Natural Language: - Here we express the Algorithm in natural English language. It is too
hard to understand the algorithm from it.

2. Flow Chart: - Here we express the Algorithm by making graphical/pictorial

representation of it. It is easier to understand than Natural Language.

3. Pseudo Code: - Here we express the Algorithm in the form of annotations and informative
text written in plain English which is very much similar to the real code but as it has no
syntax like any of the programming language, it can’t be compiled or interpreted by the
computer. It is the best way to express an algorithm because it can be understood by even a
layman with some school level programming knowledge.

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What is Flowchart?

A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents a workflow or process. A flowchart can also be
defined as a diagrammatic representation of an algorithm, a step-by-step approach to solving a
task.

The flowchart shows the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting the
boxes with arrows. This diagrammatic representation illustrates a solution model to a
given problem. Flowcharts are used in analyzing, designing, documenting or managing a
process or program in various fields.

Types of flowchart

 Document flowcharts, showing controls over a document-flow through a system

 Data flowcharts, showing controls over a data-flow in a system
 System flowcharts, showing controls at a physical or resource level
 Program flowchart, showing the controls in a program within a system

Notice that every type of flowchart focuses on some kind of control, rather than on the
particular flow itself.

Building blocks

Common symbols

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) set standards for flowcharts and their
symbols in the 1960s.[14] The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) adopted the
ANSI symbols in 1970. The current standard, ISO 5807, was revised in 1985. Generally,
flowcharts flow from top to bottom and left to right.

ANSI/ISO Shape Name Description

Shows the process's order of operation. A line

coming from one symbol and pointing at
Flowline (Arrowhead)
another. Arrowheads are added if the flow is not the
standard top-to-bottom, left-to right.

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Indicates the beginning and ending of a program or

sub-process. Represented as a stadium, oval or
rounded (fillet) rectangle. They usually contain the
Terminal
word "Start" or "End", or another phrase signaling
the start or end of a process, such as "submit inquiry"
or "receive product".

Represents a set of operations that changes value,

Process
form, or location of data. Represented as a rectangle.

Shows a conditional operation that determines which

one of the two paths the program will take. The
Decision
operation is commonly a yes/no question or true/false
test. Represented as a diamond (rhombus).

Indicates the process of inputting and outputting

Input/Output data, as in entering data or displaying results.
Represented as a rhomboid.

Indicating additional information about a step in the

program. Represented as an open rectangle with a
Annotation (Comment)
dashed or solid line connecting it to the
corresponding symbol in the flowchart.

Shows named process which is defined elsewhere.

Predefined Process Represented as a rectangle with double-struck
vertical edges.

Pairs of labeled connectors replace long or confusing

On-page Connector lines on a flowchart page. Represented by a small
circle with a letter inside.

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A labeled connector for use when the target is on

Off-page Connector another page. Represented as a home plate-
shaped pentagon.

Advantages of Flowchart

 It is the most efficient way of communicating the logic of system.

 It act like a guide for blueprint during program designed.
 It also helps in debugging process.
 Using flowchart we can easily analyze the programs.
 Flowcharts are good for documentation.

Disadvantages of Flowchart

 Flowcharts are difficult to draw for large and complex programs.

 It does not contain the proper amount of details.
 Flowcharts are very difficult to reproduce.
 Flowcharts are very difficult to modify.

Sample Problems

Question 1. Draw a flowchart to find the greatest number among the 2 numbers.
Solution:

Algorithm:
1. Start

2. Input 2 variables from user

3. Now check the condition If a > b, go to step 4, else go to step 5.

4. Print a is greater, go to step 6

5. Print b is greater

6. Stop

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Flow Chart:

Question 2. Draw a flowchart to print numbers from 1 to 10.

Solution:

Algorithm:
1. Start

2. Now initialize c = 1

3. Now we check the condition if c < 11, then go to step 4 otherwise go to step 6.

4. Print c

5. c = c + 1 then go to step 3

6. Stop Flow Chart:

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What is Pseudo code?

Pseudo code, as the name suggests, is a false code or a representation of code which can be
understood by even a layman with some school level programming knowledge.

Pseudo code is a term which is often used in programming and algorithm based fields. It is a
methodology that allows the programmer to represent the implementation of an algorithm.
Simply, we can say that it’s the cooked up representation of an algorithm. Often at times,
algorithms are represented with the help of pseudo codes as they can be interpreted by
programmers no matter what their programming background or knowledge is.

Pseudo code, It’s simply an implementation of an algorithm in the form of annotations and
informative text written in plain English. It has no syntax like any of the programming
language and thus can’t be compiled or interpreted by the computer.

Advantages of Pseudocode

 Improves the readability of any approach. It’s one of the best approaches to start
implementation of an algorithm.
 Acts as a bridge between the program and the algorithm or flowchart. Also works as a
rough documentation, so the program of one developer can be understood easily when a
pseudo code is written out. In industries, the approach of documentation is essential. And
that’s where a pseudo-code proves vital.
 The main goal of a pseudo code is to explain what exactly each line of a program should
do, hence making the code construction phase easier for the programmer.

How to write a Pseudo-code?

1. Arrange the sequence of tasks and write the pseudocode accordingly.

2. Start with the statement of a pseudo code which establishes the main goal or the aim.
Example:

This program will allow the user to check the number whether it's even or odd.

The way the if-else, for, while loops are indented in a program, indent the statements likewise,
as it helps to comprehend the decision control and execution mechanism. They also improve
the readability to a great extent.

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Example:

if "1"

print response

"I am case 1"

if "2"

print response

"I am case 2"

3. Use appropriate naming conventions. The human tendency follows the approach to follow
what we see. If a programmer goes through a pseudo code, his approach will be the same
as per it, so the naming must be simple and distinct.

4. Use appropriate sentence casings, such as Camel Case for methods, upper case for
constants and lower case for variables.

5. Elaborate everything which is going to happen in the actual code. Don’t make the pseudo
code abstract.

6. Use standard programming structures such as ‘if-then’, ‘for’, ‘while’, ‘cases’ the way we
use it in programming.

7. Check whether all the sections of a pseudo code is complete, finite and clear to understand
and comprehend.

8. Don’t write the pseudo code in a complete programmatic manner. It is necessary to be

simple to understand even for a layman or client, hence don’t incorporate too many
technical terms.

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What is Source Code?

In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or
without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain
text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the work of
computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by
writing source code.

The source code is often transformed by an assembler or compiler into binary machine code that
can be executed by the computer. The machine code is then available for execution at a later
time.

Most application software is distributed in a form that includes only executable files. If the
source code were included it would be useful to a user, programmer or a system administrator,
any of whom might wish to study or modify the program.

Alternatively, depending on the technology being used, source code may be interpreted and
executed directly.

Source code is the fundamental component of a computer program that is created by a

programmer, often written in the form of functions, descriptions, definitions, calls, methods and
other operational statements. It is designed to be human-readable and formatted in a way that
developers and other users can understand.

As an example, when a programmer types a sequence of C programming language statements

into Windows Notepad and saves the sequence as a text file, the text file now contains source
code.

Source code and object code are sometimes referred to as the before and after versions of a
compiled computer program. However, source code and object code do not apply to script (non-
compiled or interpreted) program languages, like JavaScript, since there is only one form of the
code.

Programmers can use a text editor, a visual programming tool or an integrated development
environment (IDE) such as a software development kit (SDK) to create source code. In large
program development environments, there are often management systems that help
programmers separate and keep track of different states and levels of source code files.

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Source Code:

 Source code refers to high level code or assembly code which is generated by
human/programmer. Source code is easy to read and modify. It is written by
programmer by using any High Level Language or Intermediate language which is
human-readable. Source code contains comments that programmer puts for better
understanding.
 Source code is provided to language translator which converts it into machine
understandable code which is called machine code or object code. Computer can not
understand direct source code, computer understands machine code and executes it. It
is considered as fundamental component of computer. In simple we can say source
code is a set of instructions/commands and statements which is written by a
programmer by using a computer programming language like C, C++, Java, Python,
Assembly language etc. So statements written in any programming language is termed
as source code.

Object Code:

 Object code refers to low level code which is understandable by machine. Object code
is generated from source code after going through compiler or other translator. It is in
executable machine code format. Object code contains a sequence of machine
understandable instructions to which Central Processing Unit understands and
executes.
 Object file contains object code. It is considered as one more of machine code. Some
object file examples are common object file format (COFF), COM files and “.exe”
files. It is the output of a compiler or other translator. We can understand source code
but we cannot understand object code as it is not in plain text like source code rather it
is in binary formats.

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1. Compiler:
It is a translator which takes input i.e., High-Level Language, and produces an output of low-
level language i.e. machine or assembly language.
 A compiler is more intelligent than an assembler it checks all kinds of limits, ranges,
errors, etc.
 But its program run time is more and occupies a larger part of memory. It has a slow speed
because a compiler goes through the entire program and then translates the entire program
into machine codes.

2. Interpreter:
An interpreter is a program that translates a programming language into a comprehensible
language.

 It translates only one statement of the program at a time.

 Interpreters, more often than not are smaller than compilers.

Difference Between Compiler and Interpreter

Parameter Compiler Interpreter

Steps of  Creation of the program.  Creation of the program.

Programming  The Compiler analyses all the  It doesn’t require the linking of files
language statements and or generation of machine code.
throws an error when it finds  It executes the source statements
something incorrect. line by line during the execution.
 If there’s zero error, the
compiler converts the source
code to machine one.
 It links various code files into
a runnable program (exe).
 It runs the program.

Advantage The code execution time is They are fairly easy to use and execute,
comparatively less because the even for a beginner.
program code already gets translated
into machine code.

Disadvantage One can’t change a program without Only computers with the corresponding
getting back to the source code. Interpreter can run the interpreted programs.

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Machine Code It stores the machine language on the It doesn’t save the machine language at all.
disk in the form of machine code.

Running Time The compiled codes run The interpreted codes run comparatively
comparatively faster. slower.

Model It works on the basis of the language- It works on the basis of the Interpretation
translation linking-loading model. method.

Generation of It generates an output program in the It doesn’t generate an output program.

Program exe format. A user can run it Meaning, it evaluates the source program
independently from the originally every time during individual execution.
intended program.

Execution One can separate the program Execution of the program is one of the steps
execution from the compilation. of the Interpretation process. So, you can
Thus, you can perform it only after perform it line by line.
completing the compilation of the
entire output.

Memory Target programs execute Interpreter originally exists in the memory

Requirement independently. They don’t require at the time of interpretation.
the Compiler in the memory.

Best Fitted For You cannot port the Compiler They work the best in web environments-
because it stays bound to the specific where the load time is very crucial.
target machine. The compilation Compiling takes a relatively long time, even
model is very common in with small codes that may not run multiple
programming languages like C and times due to the exhaustive analysis.
C++. Interpretations are better in such cases.

Optimization A compiler is capable of seeing the An interpreter sees a code line by line. The
of Code entire code upfront. Thus, it makes optimization is, thus, not very robust when
the codes run faster by performing compared to Compilers.
plenty of optimizations.

Dynamic Compilers are very difficult to The Interpreted language supports Dynamic
Typing implement because they can’t predict Typing.
anything that happens during the turn
time.

Use It works best for the Production It works the best for the programming and
Environment. development environment.

Execution of A Compiler displays every error and An Interpreter reads every statement, then
Error warning while compiling. So, you displays the errors, if any. A user must
can’t run this program unless you fix resolve these errors in order to interpret the
the errors. next line.

Input A Compiler takes a program as a An Interpreter takes single lines of a code.

whole.

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Output The Compilers generate intermediate The Interpreters never generate any
machine codes. intermediate machine codes.

Errors This translator displays all the errors It displays the errors of every single line
after compiling- together at the same one by one.
time.

Programming Java, Scala, C#, C, C++ use Perl, Ruby, PHP use Interpreters.
Languages Compilers.

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C Programming Language
C language Tutorial with programming approach for beginners and professionals, helps you to
understand the C language tutorial easily. Our C tutorial explains each topic with programs.

The C Language is developed by Dennis Ritchie for creating system applications that directly
interact with the hardware devices such as drivers, kernels, etc.

C programming is considered as the base for other programming languages, that is why it is
known as mother language.

It can be defined by the following ways:

1. Mother language
2. System programming language
3. Procedure-oriented programming language
4. Structured programming language
5. Mid-level programming language

1) C as a mother language

C language is considered as the mother language of all the modern programming languages
because most of the compilers, JVMs, Kernels, etc. are written in C language, and most of
the programming languages follow C syntax, for example, C++, Java, C#, etc.

It provides the core concepts like the array, strings, functions, file handling, etc. that are being
used in many languages like C++, Java, C#, etc.

2) C as a system programming language

A system programming language is used to create system software. C language is a system

programming language because it can be used to do low-level programming (for example
driver and kernel). It is generally used to create hardware devices, OS, drivers, kernels, etc.
For example, Linux kernel is written in C.

It can't be used for internet programming like Java, .Net, PHP, etc.

3) C as a procedural language

A procedure is known as a function, method, routine, subroutine, etc. A procedural

language specifies a series of steps for the program to solve the problem.

A procedural language breaks the program into functions, data structures, etc.

C is a procedural language. In C, variables and function prototypes must be declared before

being used.

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4) C as a structured programming language

A structured programming language is a subset of the procedural language. Structure means to

break a program into parts or blocks so that it may be easy to understand.

In the C language, we break the program into parts using functions. It makes the program easier
to understand and modify.

5) C as a mid-level programming language

C is considered as a middle-level language because it supports the feature of both low-level

and high-level languages. C language program is converted into assembly code, it supports
pointer arithmetic (low-level), but it is machine independent (a feature of high-level).

A Low-level language is specific to one machine, i.e., machine dependent. It is machine

dependent, fast to run. But it is not easy to understand.

A High-Level language is not specific to one machine, i.e., machine independent. It is easy to
understand.

Example:

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
printf("Hello C Programming\n");
return 0;
}

(OR)

#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>
void main()
{
printf("Hello C Programming\n");
getch();
}

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History of C Language
History of C language is interesting to know. Here we are going to discuss
a brief history of the c language.

C programming language was developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at

bell laboratories of AT&T (American Telephone & Telegraph), located in
the U.S.A.

Dennis Ritchie is known as the founder of the c language.

It was developed to overcome the problems of previous languages such as B, BCPL, and etc.

Initially, C language was developed to be used in UNIX operating system. It inherits many
features of previous languages such as B and BCPL.ay Video

Let's see the programming languages that were developed before C language.

Language Year Developed By

Algol 1960 International Group

BCPL 1967 Martin Richard

B 1970 Ken Thompson

Traditional C 1972 Dennis Ritchie

K&RC 1978 Kernighan & Dennis Ritchie

ANSI C 1989 ANSI Committee

ANSI/ISO C 1990 ISO Committee

C99 1999 Standardization Committee

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Features of C Language
1) Simple

C is a simple language in the sense that it provides a structured approach (to break the
problem into parts), the rich set of library functions, data types, etc.

2) Machine Independent or Portable

Unlike assembly language, c programs can be executed on different machines with some
machine specific changes. Therefore, C is a machine independent language.

3) Mid-level programming language

Although, C is intended to do low-level programming. It is used to develop system

applications such as kernel, driver, etc. It also supports the features of a high-level language.
That is why it is known as mid-level language.

4) Structured programming language

C is a structured programming language in the sense that we can break the program into
parts using functions. So, it is easy to understand and modify. Functions also provide code
reusability.

5) Rich Library

C provides a lot of inbuilt functions that make the development fast.

6) Memory Management

It supports the feature of dynamic memory allocation. In C language, we can free the allocated
memory at any time by calling the free() function.

7) Speed

The compilation and execution time of C language is fast since there are lesser inbuilt functions
and hence the lesser overhead.

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8) Pointer

C provides the feature of pointers. We can directly interact with the memory by using the
pointers. We can use pointers for memory, structures, functions, array, etc.

9) Recursion

In C, we can call the function within the function. It provides code reusability for every
function. Recursion enables us to use the approach of backtracking.

10) Extensible

C language is extensible because it can easily adopt new features.

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First C Program
Before starting the C language, you need to learn how to write, compile and run the first c
program.

To write the first c program, open the C console and write the following code:

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. printf("Hello C Language");
4. return 0;
5. }

#include <stdio.h> includes the standard input output library functions. The printf() function
is defined in stdio.h .

int main() The main() function is the entry point of every program in c language.

printf() The printf() function is used to print data on the console.

return 0 The return 0 statement, returns execution status to the OS. The 0 value is used for
successful execution and 1 for unsuccessful execution.

How to compile and run the c program

There are 2 ways to compile and run the c program, by menu and by shortcut.

By menu

Now click on the compile menu then compile sub menu to compile the c program.

Then click on the run menu then run sub menu to run the c program.

By shortcut

Or, press ctrl+f9 keys compile and run the program directly.

You will see the following output on user screen.

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You can view the user screen any time by pressing the alt+f5 keys.

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Compilation process in c
What is a compilation?

The compilation is a process of converting the source code into object code. It is done with the
help of the compiler. The compiler checks the source code for the syntactical or structural
errors, and if the source code is error-free, then it generates the object code.

The c compilation process converts the source code taken as input into the object code or
machine code. The compilation process can be divided into four steps, i.e., Pre-processing,
Compiling, Assembling, and Linking.

The preprocessor takes the source code as an input, and it removes all the comments from the
source code. The preprocessor takes the preprocessor directive and interprets it. For example,
if <stdio.h>, the directive is available in the program, then the preprocessor interprets the
directive and replace this directive with the content of the 'stdio.h' file.

The following are the phases through which our program passes before being transformed into
an executable form:

o Preprocessor
o Compiler
o Assembler
o Linker

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Preprocessor

The source code is the code which is written in a text editor and the source code file is given an
extension ".c". This source code is first passed to the preprocessor, and then the preprocessor
expands this code. After expanding the code, the expanded code is passed to the compiler.

Compiler

The code which is expanded by the preprocessor is passed to the compiler. The compiler
converts this code into assembly code. Or we can say that the C compiler converts the pre-
processed code into assembly code.

Assembler

The assembly code is converted into object code by using an assembler. The name of the object
file generated by the assembler is the same as the source file. The extension of the object file in
DOS is '.obj,' and in UNIX, the extension is 'o'. If the name of the source file is 'hello.c', then
the name of the object file would be 'hello.obj'.

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Linker

Mainly, all the programs written in C use library functions. These library functions are pre-
compiled, and the object code of these library files is stored with '.lib' (or '.a') extension. The
main working of the linker is to combine the object code of library files with the object code of
our program. Sometimes the situation arises when our program refers to the functions defined in
other files; then linker plays a very important role in this. It links the object code of these files to
our program. Therefore, we conclude that the job of the linker is to link the object code of our
program with the object code of the library files and other files. The output of the linker is the
executable file. The name of the executable file is the same as the source file but differs only in
their extensions. In DOS, the extension of the executable file is '.exe', and in UNIX, the
executable file can be named as 'a.out'. For example, if we are using printf() function in a
program, then the linker adds its associated code in an output file.

Let's understand through an example.

hello.c

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. printf("Hello javaTpoint");
5. return 0;
6. }

Now, we will create a flow diagram of the above program:

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In the above flow diagram, the following steps are taken to execute a program:

o Firstly, the input file, i.e., hello.c, is passed to the preprocessor, and the preprocessor
converts the source code into expanded source code. The extension of the expanded
source code would be hello.i.
o The expanded source code is passed to the compiler, and the compiler converts this
expanded source code into assembly code. The extension of the assembly code would
be hello.s.
o This assembly code is then sent to the assembler, which converts the assembly code into
object code.
o After the creation of an object code, the linker creates the executable file. The loader
will then load the executable file for the execution.

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printf() and scanf() in C

The printf() and scanf() functions are used for input and output in C language. Both functions
are inbuilt library functions, defined in stdio.h (header file).

printf() function

The printf() function is used for output. It prints the given statement to the console.

The syntax of printf() function is given below:

1. printf("format string",argument_list);

The format string can be %d (integer), %c (character), %s (string), %f (float) etc.

scanf() function

The scanf() function is used for input. It reads the input data from the console.

1. scanf("format string",argument_list);

Program to print cube of given number

Let's see a simple example of c language that gets input from the user and prints the cube of the
given number.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int number;
5. printf("enter a number:");
6. scanf("%d",&number);
7. printf("cube of number is:%d ",number*number*number);
8. return 0;
9. }

Output

enter a number:5
cube of number is:125

The scanf("%d",&number) statement reads integer number from the console and stores the
given value in number variable.

The printf("cube of number is:%d ",number*number*number) statement prints the cube of

number on the console.

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Program to print sum of 2 numbers

Let's see a simple example of input and output in C language that prints addition of 2 numbers.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int x=0,y=0,result=0;
5.
6. printf("enter first number:");
7. scanf("%d",&x);
8. printf("enter second number:");
9. scanf("%d",&y);
10.
11. result=x+y;
12. printf("sum of 2 numbers:%d ",result);
13.
14. return 0;
15. }

Output

enter first number:9

enter second number:9
sum of 2 numbers:18

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Variables in C
A variable is a name of the memory location. It is used to store data. Its value can be changed,
and it can be reused many times.

It is a way to represent memory location through symbol so that it can be easily identified.

Let's see the syntax to declare a variable:

1. type <variable list>;

The example of declaring the variable is given below:

1. int a;
2. float b;
3. char c;

Here, a, b, c are variables. The int, float, char are the data types.

We can also provide values while declaring the variables as given below:

1. int a=10,b=20;//declaring 2 variable of integer type

2. float f=20.8;
3. char c='A';

Rules for defining variables

o A variable can have alphabets, digits, and underscore.
o A variable name can start with the alphabet, and underscore only. It can't start with a
digit.
o No whitespace is allowed within the variable name.
o A variable name must not be any reserved word or keyword, e.g. int, float, etc.

Valid variable names:

1. int a;
2. int _ab;
3. int a30;

Invalid variable names:

1. int 2;
2. int a b;
3. int long;

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Types of Variables in C

There are many types of variables in c:

1. local variable
2. global variable
3. static variable
4. automatic variable
5. external variable

Local Variable

A variable that is declared inside the function or block is called a local variable.

It must be declared at the start of the block.

1. void function1(){
2. int x=10;//local variable
3. }

You must have to initialize the local variable before it is used.

Global Variable

A variable that is declared outside the function or block is called a global variable. Any function
can change the value of the global variable. It is available to all the functions.

It must be declared at the start of the block.

1. int value=20;//global variable

2. void function1(){
3. int x=10;//local variable
4. }

Static Variable

A variable that is declared with the static keyword is called static variable.

It retains its value between multiple function calls.

1. void function1()
2. {
3. int x=10;//local variable
4. static int y=10;//static variable
5. x=x+1;
6. y=y+1;

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7. printf("%d,%d",x,y);
8. }

If you call this function many times, the local variable will print the same value for each
function call, e.g, 11,11,11 and so on. But the static variable will print the incremented
value in each function call, e.g. 11, 12, 13 and so on.

Automatic Variable

All variables in C that are declared inside the block, are automatic variables by default. We can
explicitly declare an automatic variable using auto keyword.

1. void main()
2. {
3. int x=10;//local variable (also automatic)
4. auto int y=20;//automatic variable
5. }

External Variable

We can share a variable in multiple C source files by using an external variable. To declare an
external variable, you need to use extern keyword.

1. extern int x=10;//external variable (also global)

1. #include "myfile.h"
2. #include <stdio.h>
3. void printValue()
4. {
5. printf("Global variable: %d", global_variable);
6. }

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Data Types in C
A data type specifies the type of data that a variable can store such as integer, floating,
character, etc.

There are the following data types in C language.

Types Data Types

Basic Data Type int, char, float, double

Derived Data Type array, pointer, structure, union

Enumeration Data Type enum

Void Data Type void

Basic Data Types

The basic data types are integer-based and floating-point based. C language supports both
signed and unsigned literals.

The memory size of the basic data types may change according to 32 or 64-bit operating system.

Let's see the basic data types. Its size is given according to 32-bit architecture.

Data Types Memory Size Range

char 1 byte −128 to 127

signed char 1 byte −128 to 127

unsigned char 1 byte 0 to 255

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short 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

signed short 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

unsigned short 2 byte 0 to 65,535

int 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

signed int 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

unsigned int 2 byte 0 to 65,535

short int 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

signed short int 2 byte −32,768 to 32,767

unsigned short int 2 byte 0 to 65,535

long int 4 byte -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

signed long int 4 byte -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

unsigned long int 4 byte 0 to 4,294,967,295

float 4 byte

double 8 byte

long double 10 byte

Keywords in C
A keyword is a reserved word. You cannot use it as a variable name, constant name, etc. There
are only 32 reserved words (keywords) in the C language.

A list of 32 keywords in the c language is given below:

auto break case char const continue default do

double else enum extern float for goto if

int long register return short signed sizeof static

struct switch typedef union unsigned void volatile while

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C Identifiers
C identifiers represent the name in the C program, for example, variables, functions, arrays,
structures, unions, labels, etc. An identifier can be composed of letters such as uppercase,
lowercase letters, underscore, digits, but the starting letter should be either an alphabet or an
underscore. If the identifier is not used in the external linkage, then it is called as an internal
identifier. If the identifier is used in the external linkage, then it is called as an external
identifier.

We can say that an identifier is a collection of alphanumeric characters that begins either with
an alphabetical character or an underscore, which are used to represent various programming
elements such as variables, functions, arrays, structures, unions, labels, etc. There are 52
alphabetical characters (uppercase and lowercase), underscore character, and ten numerical
digits (0-9) that represent the identifiers. There is a total of 63 alphanumerical characters that
represent the identifiers.

Rules for constructing C identifiers

o The first character of an identifier should be either an alphabet or an underscore, and
then it can be followed by any of the character, digit, or underscore.
o It should not begin with any numerical digit.
o In identifiers, both uppercase and lowercase letters are distinct. Therefore, we can say
that identifiers are case sensitive.
o Commas or blank spaces cannot be specified within an identifier.
o Keywords cannot be represented as an identifier.
o The length of the identifiers should not be more than 31 characters.
o Identifiers should be written in such a way that it is meaningful, short, and easy to read.

Example of valid identifiers

1. total, sum, average, _m _, sum_1, etc.

Example of invalid identifiers

1. 2sum (starts with a numerical digit)

2. int (reserved word)
3. char (reserved word)
4. m+n (special character, i.e., '+')

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Differences between Keyword and Identifier

Keyword Identifier

Keyword is a pre-defined word. The identifier is a user-defined word

It must be written in a lowercase letter. It can be written in both lowercase and

uppercase letters.

Its meaning is pre-defined in the c compiler. Its meaning is not defined in the c compiler.

It is a combination of alphabetical characters. It is a combination of alphanumeric

characters.

It does not contain the underscore character. It can contain the underscore character.

Let's understand through an example.

1. int main()
2. {
3. int a=10;
4. int A=20;
5. printf("Value of a is : %d",a);
6. printf("\nValue of A is :%d",A);
7. return 0;
8. }

Output

Value of a is : 10
Value of A is :20

The above output shows that the values of both the variables, 'a' and 'A' are different. Therefore,
we conclude that the identifiers are case sensitive.

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C Operators
An operator is simply a symbol that is used to perform operations. There can be many types of
operations like arithmetic, logical, bitwise, etc.

An operator is a symbol that tells the compiler to perform specific mathematical or logical
functions. C language is rich in built-in operators and provides the following types of operators

 Arithmetic Operators
 Relational Operators
 Logical Operators
 Bitwise Operators
 Assignment Operators
 Misc Operators
We will, in this chapter, look into the way each operator works.

Arithmetic Operators
The following table shows all the arithmetic operators supported by the C language. Assume
variable A holds 10 and variable B holds 20 then −

Operator Description Example

+ Adds two operands. A + B = 30

− Subtracts second operand from the first. A − B = -10

* Multiplies both operands. A * B = 200

/ Divides numerator by de-numerator. B/A=2

% Modulus Operator and remainder of after an integer division. B%A=0

++ Increment operator increases the integer value by one. A++ = 11

-- Decrement operator decreases the integer value by one. A-- = 9

Relational Operators
The following table shows all the relational operators supported by C. Assume variable A holds
10 and variable B holds 20 then −

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Show Examples

Operator Description Example

== Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If yes, then the (A == B)
condition becomes true. is not
true.

!= Checks if the values of two operands are equal or not. If the values are not (A != B)
equal, then the condition becomes true. is true.

> Checks if the value of left operand is greater than the value of right operand. (A > B)
If yes, then the condition becomes true. is not
true.

< Checks if the value of left operand is less than the value of right operand. If (A < B)
yes, then the condition becomes true. is true.

>= Checks if the value of left operand is greater than or equal to the value of (A >= B)
right operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. is not
true.

<= Checks if the value of left operand is less than or equal to the value of right (A <= B)
operand. If yes, then the condition becomes true. is true.

Logical Operators
Following table shows all the logical operators supported by C language. Assume
variable A holds 1 and variable B holds 0, then −
Show Examples

Operator Description Example

&& Called Logical AND operator. If both the operands are non-zero, then the (A &&
condition becomes true. B) is
false.

|| Called Logical OR Operator. If any of the two operands is non-zero, then (A || B)

the condition becomes true. is true.

! Called Logical NOT Operator. It is used to reverse the logical state of its !(A &&
operand. If a condition is true, then Logical NOT operator will make it false. B) is
true.

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Bitwise Operators
Bitwise operator works on bits and perform bit-by-bit operation. The truth tables for &, |, and ^
is as follows −

p q p&q p|q p^q

0 0 0 0 0

0 1 0 1 1

1 1 1 1 0

1 0 0 1 1

Assume A = 60 and B = 13 in binary format, they will be as follows −

A = 0011 1100
B = 0000 1101
-----------------
A&B = 0000 1100
A|B = 0011 1101
A^B = 0011 0001
~A = 1100 0011
The following table lists the bitwise operators supported by C. Assume variable 'A' holds 60 and
variable 'B' holds 13, then −
Show Examples

Operator Description Example

& Binary AND Operator copies a bit to the result if it exists in both operands. (A & B)
= 12,
i.e., 0000
1100

| Binary OR Operator copies a bit if it exists in either operand. (A | B) =

61, i.e.,
0011
1101

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^ Binary XOR Operator copies the bit if it is set in one operand but not both. (A ^ B)
= 49,
i.e., 0011
0001

~ (~A ) =
Binary One's Complement Operator is unary and has the effect of 'flipping' ~(60),
bits. i.e,. -
0111101

<< Binary Left Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved left by the A << 2 =
number of bits specified by the right operand. 240 i.e.,
1111
0000

>> Binary Right Shift Operator. The left operands value is moved right by the A >> 2 =
number of bits specified by the right operand. 15 i.e.,
0000
1111

Assignment Operators
The following table lists the assignment operators supported by the C language −
Show Examples

Operator Description Example

= Simple assignment operator. Assigns values from right side operands to left C=A+
side operand B will
assign the
value of
A + B to
C

+= Add AND assignment operator. It adds the right operand to the left operand C += A is
and assign the result to the left operand. equivalent
to C = C
+A

-= Subtract AND assignment operator. It subtracts the right operand from the C -= A is
left operand and assigns the result to the left operand. equivalent
to C = C -
A

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*= Multiply AND assignment operator. It multiplies the right operand with the C *= A is
left operand and assigns the result to the left operand. equivalent
to C = C
*A

/= Divide AND assignment operator. It divides the left operand with the right C /= A is
operand and assigns the result to the left operand. equivalent
to C = C /
A

%= Modulus AND assignment operator. It takes modulus using two operands C %= A

and assigns the result to the left operand. is
equivalent
to C = C
%A

<<= Left shift AND assignment operator. C <<= 2

is same as
C = C <<
2

>>= Right shift AND assignment operator. C >>= 2

is same as
C = C >>
2

&= Bitwise AND assignment operator. C &= 2 is

same as C
=C&2

^= Bitwise exclusive OR and assignment operator. C ^= 2 is

same as C
=C^2

|= Bitwise inclusive OR and assignment operator. C |= 2 is

same as C
=C|2

Misc Operators ↦ sizeof & ternary

Besides the operators discussed above, there are a few other important operators
including sizeof and ? : supported by the C Language.
Show Examples

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Operator Description Example

sizeof() Returns the size of a variable. sizeof(a), where a is integer, will return 4.

& &a; returns the actual address of the

Returns the address of a variable.
variable.

* Pointer to a variable. *a;

?: If Condition is true ? then value X :

Conditional Expression.
otherwise value Y

Operators Precedence in C
Operator precedence determines the grouping of terms in an expression and decides how an
expression is evaluated. Certain operators have higher precedence than others; for example, the
multiplication operator has a higher precedence than the addition operator.
For example, x = 7 + 3 * 2; here, x is assigned 13, not 20 because operator * has a higher
precedence than +, so it first gets multiplied with 3*2 and then adds into 7.
Here, operators with the highest precedence appear at the top of the table, those with the lowest
appear at the bottom. Within an expression, higher precedence operators will be evaluated first.
Show Examples

Category Operator Associativity

Postfix () [] -> . ++ - - Left to right

Unary + - ! ~ ++ - - (type)* & sizeof Right to left

Multiplicative */% Left to right

Additive +- Left to right

Shift << >> Left to right

Relational < <= > >= Left to right

Equality == != Left to right

Bitwise AND & Left to right

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Bitwise XOR ^ Left to right

Bitwise OR | Left to right

Logical AND && Left to right

Logical OR || Left to right

Conditional ?: Right to left

Assignment = += -= *= /= %=>>= <<= &= ^= |= Right to left

Comma , Left to right

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C Format Specifier
The Format specifier is a string used in the formatted input and output functions. The format
string determines the format of the input and output. The format string always starts with a '%'
character.

The commonly used format specifiers in printf() function are:

Format Description
specifier

%d or %i It is used to print the signed integer value where signed integer means that the
variable can hold both positive and negative values.

%u It is used to print the unsigned integer value where the unsigned integer means
that the variable can hold only positive value.

%o It is used to print the octal unsigned integer where octal integer value always
starts with a 0 value.

%x It is used to print the hexadecimal unsigned integer where the hexadecimal

integer value always starts with a 0x value. In this, alphabetical characters are
printed in small letters such as a, b, c, etc.

%X It is used to print the hexadecimal unsigned integer, but %X prints the

alphabetical characters in uppercase such as A, B, C, etc.

%f It is used for printing the decimal floating-point values. By default, it prints the
6 values after '.'.

%e/%E It is used for scientific notation. It is also known as Mantissa or Exponent.

%g It is used to print the decimal floating-point values, and it uses the fixed
precision, i.e., the value after the decimal in input would be exactly the same
as the value in the output.

%p It is used to print the address in a hexadecimal form.

%c It is used to print the unsigned character.

%s It is used to print the strings.

%ld It is used to print the long-signed integer value.

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Let's understand the format specifiers in detail through an example.

o %d

1. int main()
2. {
3. int b=6;
4. int c=8;
5. printf("Value of b is:%d", b);
6. printf("\nValue of c is:%d",c);
7.
8. return 0;
9. }

In the above code, we are printing the integer value of b and c by using the %d specifier.

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Programming Errors in C
Errors are the problems or the faults that occur in the program, which makes the behavior of the
program abnormal, and experienced developers can also make these faults. Programming errors
are also known as the bugs or faults, and the process of removing these bugs is known
as debugging.

These errors are detected either during the time of compilation or execution. Thus, the errors
must be removed from the program for the successful execution of the program.

There are mainly five types of errors exist in C programming:

Syntax error

o Syntax errors are also known as the compilation errors as they occurred at the
compilation time, or we can say that the syntax errors are thrown by the compilers.
These errors are mainly occurred due to the mistakes while typing or do not follow the
syntax of the specified programming language. These mistakes are generally made by
beginners only because they are new to the language. These errors can be easily
debugged or corrected.

For example:

1. If we want to declare the variable of type integer,

2. int a; // this is the correct form
3. Int a; // this is an incorrect form.

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Commonly occurred syntax errors are:

o If we miss the parenthesis (}) while writing the code.

o Displaying the value of a variable without its declaration.
o If we miss the semicolon (;) at the end of the statement.

Let's understand through an example.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. a = 10;
5. printf("The value of a is : %d", a);
6. return 0;
7. }

Output

In the above output, we observe that the code throws the error that 'a' is undeclared. This error is
nothing but the syntax error only.

There can be another possibility in which the syntax error can exist, i.e., if we make mistakes in
the basic construct. Let's understand this scenario through an example.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int a=2;
5. if(.) // syntax error
6.
7. printf("a is greater than 1");
8. return 0;
9. }

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In the above code, we put the (.) instead of condition in 'if', so this generates the syntax error as
shown in the below screenshot.

Output

Run-time error

Sometimes the errors exist during the execution-time even after the successful compilation
known as run-time errors. When the program is running, and it is not able to perform the
operation is the main cause of the run-time error. The division by zero is the common example
of the run-time error. These errors are very difficult to find, as the compiler does not point to
these errors.

Let's understand through an example.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int a=2;
5. int b=2/0;
6. printf("The value of b is : %d", b);
7. return 0;
8. }

Output

In the above output, we observe that the code shows the run-time error, i.e., division by zero.

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Linker error

Linker errors are mainly generated when the executable file of the program is not created. This
can be happened either due to the wrong function prototyping or usage of the wrong header file.
For example, the main.c file contains the sub() function whose declaration and definition is
done in some other file such as func.c. During the compilation, the compiler finds
the sub() function in func.c file, so it generates two object files, i.e., main.o and func.o. At the
execution time, if the definition of sub() function is not found in the func.o file, then the linker
error will be thrown. The most common linker error that occurs is that we use Main() instead
of main().

Let's understand through a simple example.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int Main()
3. {
4. int a=78;
5. printf("The value of a is : %d", a);
6. return 0;
7. }

Output

Logical error

The logical error is an error that leads to an undesired output. These errors produce the incorrect
output, but they are error-free, known as logical errors. These types of mistakes are mainly done
by beginners. The occurrence of these errors mainly depends upon the logical thinking of the
developer. If the programmers sound logically good, then there will be fewer chances of these
errors.

Let's understand through an example.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int sum=0; // variable initialization
5. int k=1;
6. for(int i=1;i<=10;i++); // logical error, as we put the semicolon after loop
7. {
8. sum=sum+k;
9. k++;
10. }

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11. printf("The value of sum is %d", sum);

12. return 0;
13. }

Output

In the above code, we are trying to print the sum of 10 digits, but we got the wrong output as we
put the semicolon (;) after the for loop, so the inner statements of the for loop will not execute.
This produces the wrong output.

Semantic error

Semantic errors are the errors that occurred when the statements are not understandable by the
compiler.

The following can be the cases for the semantic error:

o Use of an un-initialized variable.

int i;
i=i+2;
o Type compatibility
int b = "javatpoint";
o Errors in expressions
int a, b, c;
a+b = c;
o Array index out of bound
int a[10];
a[10] = 34;

Let's understand through an example.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int a,b,c;
5. a=2;
6. b=3;

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7. c=1;
8. a+b=c; // semantic error
9. return 0;
10. }

In the above code, we use the statement a+b =c, which is incorrect as we cannot use the two
operands on the left-side.

Output

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C if else Statement
The if-else statement in C is used to perform the operations based on some specific condition.
The operations specified in if block are executed if and only if the given condition is true.

There are the following variants of if statement in C language.

o If statement
o If-else statement
o If else-if ladder
o Nested if

If Statement

The if statement is used to check some given condition and perform some operations depending
upon the correctness of that condition. It is mostly used in the scenario where we need to
perform the different operations for the different conditions. The syntax of the if statement is
given below.

1. if(expression){
2. //code to be executed
3. }

Let's see a simple example of C language if statement.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int number=0;
4. printf("Enter a number:");
5. scanf("%d",&number);
6. if(number%2==0){
7. printf("%d is even number",number);
8. }
9. return 0;
10. }

Output

Enter a number:4
4 is even number
enter a number:5

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Program to find the largest number of the three.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int a, b, c;
5. printf("Enter three numbers?");
6. scanf("%d %d %d",&a,&b,&c);
7. if(a>b && a>c)
8. {
9. printf("%d is largest",a);
10. }
11. if(b>a && b > c)
12. {
13. printf("%d is largest",b);
14. }
15. if(c>a && c>b)
16. {
17. printf("%d is largest",c);
18. }
19. if(a == b && a == c)
20. {
21. printf("All are equal");
22. }
23. }

Output

Enter three numbers?

12 23 34
34 is largest

If-else Statement

The if-else statement is used to perform two operations for a single condition. The if-else
statement is an extension to the if statement using which, we can perform two different
operations, i.e., one is for the correctness of that condition, and the other is for the incorrectness
of the condition. Here, we must notice that if and else block cannot be executed simultaneously.
Using if-else statement is always preferable since it always invokes an otherwise case with
every if condition. The syntax of the if-else statement is given below.

1. if(expression){
2. //code to be executed if condition is true
3. }else{
4. //code to be executed if condition is false

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5. }

Flowchart of the if-else statement in C

Let's see the simple example to check whether a number is even or odd using if-else statement
in C language.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int number=0;
4. printf("enter a number:");
5. scanf("%d",&number);
6. if(number%2==0){
7. printf("%d is even number",number);
8. }
9. else{
10. printf("%d is odd number",number);
11. }
12. return 0;

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13. }

Output

enter a number:4
4 is even number
enter a number:5
5 is odd number

Program to check whether a person is eligible to vote or not.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int age;
5. printf("Enter your age?");
6. scanf("%d",&age);
7. if(age>=18)
8. {
9. printf("You are eligible to vote...");
10. }
11. else
12. {
13. printf("Sorry ... you can't vote");
14. }
15. }

Output

Enter your age?18

You are eligible to vote...
Enter your age?13
Sorry ... you can't vote

If else-if ladder Statement

The if-else-if ladder statement is an extension to the if-else statement. It is used in the scenario
where there are multiple cases to be performed for different conditions. In if-else-if ladder
statement, if a condition is true then the statements defined in the if block will be executed,
otherwise if some other condition is true then the statements defined in the else-if block will be
executed, at the last if none of the condition is true then the statements defined in the else block
will be executed. There are multiple else-if blocks possible. It is similar to the switch case
statement where the default is executed instead of else block if none of the cases is matched.

1. if(condition1){
2. //code to be executed if condition1 is true
3. }else if(condition2){

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4. //code to be executed if condition2 is true

5. }
6. else if(condition3){
7. //code to be executed if condition3 is true
8. }
9. ...
10. else{
11. //code to be executed if all the conditions are false
12. }

Flowchart of else-if ladder statement in C

The example of an if-else-if statement in C language is given below.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int number=0;
4. printf("enter a number:");
5. scanf("%d",&number);
6. if(number==10){
7. printf("number is equals to 10");

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8. }
9. else if(number==50){
10. printf("number is equal to 50");
11. }
12. else if(number==100){
13. printf("number is equal to 100");
14. }
15. else{
16. printf("number is not equal to 10, 50 or 100");
17. }
18. return 0;
19. }

Output

enter a number:4
number is not equal to 10, 50 or 100
enter a number:50
number is equal to 50

Program to calculate the grade of the student according to the specified marks.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int marks;
5. printf("Enter your marks?");
6. scanf("%d",&marks);
7. if(marks > 85 && marks <= 100)
8. {
9. printf("Congrats ! you scored grade A ...");
10. }
11. else if (marks > 60 && marks <= 85)
12. {
13. printf("You scored grade B + ...");
14. }
15. else if (marks > 40 && marks <= 60)
16. {
17. printf("You scored grade B ...");
18. }
19. else if (marks > 30 && marks <= 40)
20. {

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21. printf("You scored grade C ...");

22. }
23. else
24. {
25. printf("Sorry you are fail ...");
26. }
27. }

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C Switch Statement
The switch statement in C is an alternate to if-else-if ladder statement which allows us to
execute multiple operations for the different possible values of a single variable called switch
variable. Here, we can define various statements in the multiple cases for the different values of
a single variable.

The syntax of switch statement in c language is given below:

1. switch(expression){
2. case value1:
3. //code to be executed;
4. break; //optional
5. case value2:
6. //code to be executed;
7. break; //optional
8. ......
9.
10. default:
11. code to be executed if all cases are not matched;
12. }

Rules for switch statement in C language

1) The switch expression must be of an integer or character type.

2) The case value must be an integer or character constant.

3) The case value can be used only inside the switch statement.

4) The break statement in switch case is not must. It is optional. If there is no break statement
found in the case, all the cases will be executed present after the matched case. It is known
as fall through the state of C switch statement.

Let's try to understand it by the examples. We are assuming that there are following variables.

1. int x,y,z;
2. char a,b;
3. float f;

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Valid Switch Invalid Switch Valid Case Invalid Case

switch(x) switch(f) case 3; case 2.5;

switch(x>y) switch(x+2.5) case 'a'; case x;

switch(a+b-2) case 1+2; case x+2;

switch(func(x,y)) case 'x'>'y'; case 1,2,3;

Flowchart of switch statement in C

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Functioning of switch case statement

First, the integer expression specified in the switch statement is evaluated. This value is then
matched one by one with the constant values given in the different cases. If a match is found,
then all the statements specified in that case are executed along with the all the cases present
after that case including the default statement. No two cases can have similar values. If the
matched case contains a break statement, then all the cases present after that will be skipped,
and the control comes out of the switch. Otherwise, all the cases following the matched case
will be executed.

Let's see a simple example of c language switch statement.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int number=0;
4. printf("enter a number:");
5. scanf("%d",&number);
6. switch(number){
7. case 10:
8. printf("number is equals to 10");
9. break;
10. case 50:
11. printf("number is equal to 50");
12. break;
13. case 100:
14. printf("number is equal to 100");
15. break;
16. default:
17. printf("number is not equal to 10, 50 or 100");
18. }
19. return 0;
20. }

Output

enter a number:4
number is not equal to 10, 50 or 100
enter a number:50
number is equal to 50

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Switch case example 2

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int x = 10, y = 5;
5. switch(x>y && x+y>0)
6. {
7. case 1:
8. printf("hi");
9. break;
10. case 0:
11. printf("bye");
12. break;
13. default:
14. printf(" Hello bye ");
15. }
16.
17. }

Output

hi

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Difference between if…else and switch statement

If-else switch

Definition Depending on the condition in the The user will decide which statement
'if' statement, 'if' and 'else' blocks is to be executed.
are executed.

Expression It contains either logical or It contains a single expression which

equality expression. can be either a character or integer
variable.

Evaluation It evaluates all types of data, such It evaluates either an integer, or

as integer, floating-point, character character.
or Boolean.

Sequence of First, the condition is checked. If It executes one case after another till
execution the condition is true then 'if' block the break keyword is not found, or the
is executed otherwise 'else' block default statement is executed.

Default If the condition is not true, then by If the value does not match with any
execution default, else block will be case, then by default, default
executed. statement is executed.

Editing Editing is not easy in the 'if-else' Cases in a switch statement are easy
statement. to maintain and modify. Therefore,
we can say that the removal or editing
of any case will not interrupt the
execution of other cases.

Speed If there are multiple choices If we have multiple choices then the
implemented through 'if-else', then switch statement is the best option as
the speed of the execution will be the speed of the execution will be
slow. much higher than 'if-else'.

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C Loops
The looping can be defined as repeating the same process multiple times until a specific
condition satisfies. There are three types of loops used in the C language. In this part of the
tutorial, we are going to learn all the aspects of C loops.

Why use loops in C language?

The looping simplifies the complex problems into the easy ones. It enables us to alter the flow
of the program so that instead of writing the same code again and again, we can repeat the same
code for a finite number of times. For example, if we need to print the first 10 natural numbers
then, instead of using the printf statement 10 times, we can print inside a loop which runs up to
10 iterations.

Advantage of loops in C

1) It provides code reusability.

2) Using loops, we do not need to write the same code again and again.

3) Using loops, we can traverse over the elements of data structures (array or linked lists).

Types of C Loops

There are three types of loops in C language that is given below:

1. do while
2. while
3. for

do-while loop in C

The do-while loop continues until a given condition satisfies. It is also called post tested loop. It
is used when it is necessary to execute the loop at least once (mostly menu driven programs).

The syntax of do-while loop in c language is given below:

1. do{
2. //code to be executed
3. }while(condition);

Flowchart and Example of do-while loop

while loop in C

The while loop in c is to be used in the scenario where we don't know the number of iterations
in advance. The block of statements is executed in the while loop until the condition specified in
the while loop is satisfied. It is also called a pre-tested loop.

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The syntax of while loop in c language is given below:

1. while(condition){
2. //code to be executed
3. }

Flowchart and Example of while loop

for loop in C

The for loop is used in the case where we need to execute some part of the code until the given
condition is satisfied. The for loop is also called as a per-tested loop. It is better to use for loop
if the number of iteration is known in advance.

The syntax of for loop in c language is given below:

1. for(initialization;condition;incr/decr){
2. //code to be executed
3. }

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while loop in C
While loop is also known as a pre-tested loop. In general, a while loop allows a part of the code
to be executed multiple times depending upon a given Boolean condition. It can be viewed as a
repeating if statement. The while loop is mostly used in the case where the number of iterations
is not known in advance.

Syntax of while loop in C language

The syntax of while loop in c language is given below:

1. while(condition){
2. //code to be executed
3. }

Flowchart of while loop in C

Example of the while loop in C language

Let's see the simple program of while loop that prints table of 1.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int i=1;
4. while(i<=10){
5. printf("%d \n",i);

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6. i++;
7. }
8. return 0;
9. }

Output

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Program to print table for the given number using while loop in C
1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int i=1,number=0,b=9;
4. printf("Enter a number: ");
5. scanf("%d",&number);
6. while(i<=10){
7. printf("%d \n",(number*i));
8. i++;
9. }
10. return 0;
11. }

Output

Enter a number: 50
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
Enter a number: 100
100
200
300
400

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500
600
700
800
900
1000

Properties of while loop

o A conditional expression is used to check the condition. The statements defined inside
the while loop will repeatedly execute until the given condition fails.
o The condition will be true if it returns 0. The condition will be false if it returns any non-
zero number.
o In while loop, the condition expression is compulsory.
o Running a while loop without a body is possible.
o We can have more than one conditional expression in while loop.
o If the loop body contains only one statement, then the braces are optional.

Example 1

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. int j = 1;
5. while(j+=2,j<=10)
6. {
7. printf("%d ",j);
8. }
9. printf("%d",j);
10. }

Output

3 5 7 9 11

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Example 2

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. while()
5. {
6. printf("hello Javatpoint");
7. }
8. }

Output

compile time error: while loop can't be empty

Example 3

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. int x = 10, y = 2;
5. while(x+y-1)
6. {
7. printf("%d %d",x--,y--);
8. }
9. }

Output

infinite loop

Infinitive while loop in C

If the expression passed in while loop results in any non-zero value then the loop will run the
infinite number of times.

1. while(1){
2. //statement
3. }

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do while loop in C
The do while loop is a post tested loop. Using the do-while loop, we can repeat the execution of
several parts of the statements. The do-while loop is mainly used in the case where we need to
execute the loop at least once. The do-while loop is mostly used in menu-driven programs
where the termination condition depends upon the end user.

do while loop syntax

The syntax of the C language do-while loop is given below:

1. do{
2. //code to be executed
3. }while(condition);

Example 1

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include<stdlib.h>
3. void main ()
4. {
5. char c;
6. int choice,dummy;
7. do{
8. printf("\n1. Print Hello\n2. Print world\n3. Exit\n");
9. scanf("%d",&choice);
10. switch(choice)
11. {
12. case 1 :
13. printf("Hello");
14. break;
15. case 2:
16. printf("World");
17. break;
18. case 3:
19. exit(0);
20. break;
21. default:
22. printf("please enter valid choice");
23. }
24. printf("do you want to enter more?");

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25. scanf("%d",&dummy);
26. scanf("%c",&c);
27. }while(c=='y');
28. }

Flowchart of do while loop

do while example

There is given the simple program of c language do while loop where we are printing the table
of 1.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int i=1;
4. do{
5. printf("%d \n",i);
6. i++;
7. }while(i<=10);
8. return 0;
9. }

Output

1
2
3
4

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5
6
7
8
9
10

Program to print table for the given number using do while loop

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int i=1,number=0;
4. printf("Enter a number: ");
5. scanf("%d",&number);
6. do{
7. printf("%d \n",(number*i));
8. i++;
9. }while(i<=10);
10. return 0;
11. }

Output

Enter a number: 5
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Enter a number: 10
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100

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Infinitive do while loop

The do-while loop will run infinite times if we pass any non-zero value as the conditional
expression.

1. do{
2. //statement
3. }while(1);

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for loop in C
The for loop in C language is used to iterate the statements or a part of the program several
times. It is frequently used to traverse the data structures like the array and linked list.

Syntax of for loop in C

The syntax of for loop in c language is given below:

1. for(Expression 1; Expression 2; Expression 3){

2. //code to be executed
3. }

Flowchart of for loop in C

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C for loop Examples

Let's see the simple program of for loop that prints table of 1.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int i=0;
4. for(i=1;i<=10;i++){
5. printf("%d \n",i);
6. }
7. return 0;
8. }

Output

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

C Program: Print table for the given number using C for loop

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int i=1,number=0;
4. printf("Enter a number: ");
5. scanf("%d",&number);
6. for(i=1;i<=10;i++){
7. printf("%d \n",(number*i));
8. }
9. return 0;
10. }

Output

Enter a number: 2
2
4
6
8
10

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12
14
16
18
20
Enter a number: 1000
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
8000
9000
10000

Properties of Expression 1

o The expression represents the initialization of the loop variable.

o We can initialize more than one variable in Expression 1.
o Expression 1 is optional.
o In C, we can not declare the variables in Expression 1. However, It can be an exception
in some compilers.

Example 1

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int a,b,c;
5. for(a=0,b=12,c=23;a<2;a++)
6. {
7. printf("%d ",a+b+c);
8. }
9. }

Output

35 36

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Example 2

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int i=1;
5. for(;i<5;i++)
6. {
7. printf("%d ",i);
8. }
9. }

Output

1234

Properties of Expression 2

o Expression 2 is a conditional expression. It checks for a specific condition to be

satisfied. If it is not, the loop is terminated.
o Expression 2 can have more than one condition. However, the loop will iterate until the
last condition becomes false. Other conditions will be treated as statements.
o Expression 2 is optional.
o Expression 2 can perform the task of expression 1 and expression 3. That is, we can
initialize the variable as well as update the loop variable in expression 2 itself.
o We can pass zero or non-zero value in expression 2. However, in C, any non-zero value
is true, and zero is false by default.

Example 1

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int i;
5. for(i=0;i<=4;i++)
6. {
7. printf("%d ",i);
8. }
9. }

output

01234

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Example 2

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int i,j,k;
5. for(i=0,j=0,k=0;i<4,k<8,j<10;i++)
6. {
7. printf("%d %d %d\n",i,j,k);
8. j+=2;
9. k+=3;
10. }
11. }

Output

000
123
246
369
4 8 12

Example 3

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int i;
5. for(i=0;;i++)
6. {
7. printf("%d",i);
8. }
9. }

Output

infinite loop

Properties of Expression 3

o Expression 3 is used to update the loop variable.

o We can update more than one variable at the same time.
o Expression 3 is optional.

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Example 1

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. int i=0,j=2;
5. for(i = 0;i<5;i++,j=j+2)
6. {
7. printf("%d %d\n",i,j);
8. }
9. }

Output

02
14
26
38
4 10

Loop body

The braces {} are used to define the scope of the loop. However, if the loop contains only one
statement, then we don't need to use braces. A loop without a body is possible. The braces work
as a block separator, i.e., the value variable declared inside for loop is valid only for that block
and not outside. Consider the following example.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. int i;
5. for(i=0;i<10;i++)
6. {
7. int i = 20;
8. printf("%d ",i);
9. }
10. }

Output

20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20

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Infinitive for loop in C

To make a for loop infinite, we need not give any expression in the syntax. Instead of that, we
need to provide two semicolons to validate the syntax of the for loop. This will work as an
infinite for loop.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. for(;;)
5. {
6. printf("welcome to LCIT Bilaspur");
7. }
8. }

If you run this program, you will see above statement infinite times.

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Nested Loops in C
C supports nesting of loops in C. Nesting of loops is the feature in C that allows the looping of
statements inside another loop. Let's observe an example of nesting loops in C.

Any number of loops can be defined inside another loop, i.e., there is no restriction for defining
any number of loops. The nesting level can be defined at n times. You can define any type of
loop inside another loop; for example, you can define 'while' loop inside a 'for' loop.

Syntax of Nested loop

1. Outer_loop
2. {
3. Inner_loop
4. {
5. // inner loop statements.
6. }
7. // outer loop statements.
8. }

Outer_loop and Inner_loop are the valid loops that can be a 'for' loop, 'while' loop or 'do-while'
loop.

Nested for loop

The nested for loop means any type of loop which is defined inside the 'for' loop.

1. for (initialization; condition; update)

2. {
3. for(initialization; condition; update)
4. {
5. // inner loop statements.
6. }
7. // outer loop statements.
8. }

Example of nested for loop

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int n;// variable declaration
5. printf("Enter the value of n :");

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6. // Displaying the n tables.

7. for(int i=1;i<=n;i++) // outer loop
8. {
9. for(int j=1;j<=10;j++) // inner loop
10. {
11. printf("%d\t",(i*j)); // printing the value.
12. }
13. printf("\n");
14. }

Explanation of the above code

o First, the 'i' variable is initialized to 1 and then program control passes to the i<=n.
o The program control checks whether the condition 'i<=n' is true or not.
o If the condition is true, then the program control passes to the inner loop.
o The inner loop will get executed until the condition is true.
o After the execution of the inner loop, the control moves back to the update of the outer
loop, i.e., i++.
o After incrementing the value of the loop counter, the condition is checked again, i.e.,
i<=n.
o If the condition is true, then the inner loop will be executed again.
o This process will continue until the condition of the outer loop is true.

Output:

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Nested while loop

The nested while loop means any type of loop which is defined inside the 'while' loop.

1. while(condition)
2. {
3. while(condition)
4. {
5. // inner loop statements.
6. }
7. // outer loop statements.
8. }

Example of nested while loop

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int rows; // variable declaration
5. int columns; // variable declaration
6. int k=1; // variable initialization
7. printf("Enter the number of rows :"); // input the number of rows.
8. scanf("%d",&rows);
9. printf("\nEnter the number of columns :"); // input the number of columns.
10. scanf("%d",&columns);
11. int a[rows][columns]; //2d array declaration
12. int i=1;
13. while(i<=rows) // outer loop
14. {
15. int j=1;
16. while(j<=columns) // inner loop
17. {
18. printf("%d\t",k); // printing the value of k.
19. k++; // increment counter
20. j++;
21. }
22. i++;
23. printf("\n");
24. }
25. }

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Explanation of the above code.

o We have created the 2d array, i.e., int a[rows][columns].

o The program initializes the 'i' variable by 1.
o Now, control moves to the while loop, and this loop checks whether the condition is
true, then the program control moves to the inner loop.
o After the execution of the inner loop, the control moves to the update of the outer loop,
i.e., i++.
o After incrementing the value of 'i', the condition (i<=rows) is checked.
o If the condition is true, the control then again moves to the inner loop.
o This process continues until the condition of the outer loop is true.

Output:

Nested do..while loop

The nested do..while loop means any type of loop which is defined inside the 'do..while' loop.

1. do
2. {
3. do
4. {
5. // inner loop statements.
6. }while(condition);
7. // outer loop statements.
8. }while(condition);

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Example of nested do..while loop.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. /*printing the pattern
5. ********
6. ********
7. ********
8. ******** */
9. int i=1;
10. do // outer loop
11. {
12. int j=1;
13. do // inner loop
14. {
15. printf("*");
16. j++;
17. }while(j<=8);
18. printf("\n");
19. i++;
20. }while(i<=4);
21. }

Output:

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C break statement
The break is a keyword in C which is used to bring the program control out of the loop. The
break statement is used inside loops or switch statement. The break statement breaks the loop
one by one, i.e., in the case of nested loops, it breaks the inner loop first and then proceeds to
outer loops. The break statement in C can be used in the following two scenarios:

1. With switch case

2. With loop

Syntax:

1. //loop or switch case

2. break;

Flowchart of break in c

Example

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include<stdlib.h>
3. void main ()
4. {
5. int i;
6. for(i = 0; i<10; i++)
7. {
8. printf("%d ",i);
9. if(i == 5)
10. break;

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11. }
12. printf("came outside of loop i = %d",i);
13.
14. }

Output

0 1 2 3 4 5 came outside of loop i = 5

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C continue statement
The continue statement in C language is used to bring the program control to the beginning of
the loop. The continue statement skips some lines of code inside the loop and continues with the
next iteration. It is mainly used for a condition so that we can skip some code for a particular
condition.

Syntax:

1. //loop statements
2. continue;
3. //some lines of the code which is to be skipped

Continue statement example 1

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. int i = 0;
5. while(i!=10)
6. {
7. printf("%d", i);
8. continue;
9. i++;
10. }
11. }

Output

infinite loop

Continue statement example 2

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int i=1;//initializing a local variable
4. //starting a loop from 1 to 10
5. for(i=1;i<=10;i++){
6. if(i==5){//if value of i is equal to 5, it will continue the loop
7. continue;
8. }
9. printf("%d \n",i);
10. }//end of for loop
11. return 0;

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12. }

Output

1
2
3
4
6
7
8
9
10

As you can see, 5 is not printed on the console because loop is continued at i==5.

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C goto statement
The goto statement is known as jump statement in C. As the name suggests, goto is used to
transfer the program control to a predefined label. The goto statement can be used to repeat
some part of the code for a particular condition. It can also be used to break the multiple loops
which can't be done by using a single break statement. However, using goto is avoided these
days since it makes the program less readable and complicated.

Syntax:

1. label:
2. //some part of the code;
3. goto label;

goto example

Let's see a simple example to use goto statement in C language.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int num,i=1;
5. printf("Enter the number whose table you want to print?");
6. scanf("%d",&num);
7. table:
8. printf("%d x %d = %d\n",num,i,num*i);
9. i++;
10. if(i<=10)
11. goto table;
12. }

When should we use goto?

The only condition in which using goto is preferable is when we need to break the multiple
loops using a single statement at the same time. Consider the following example.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int main()
3. {
4. int i, j, k;
5. for(i=0;i<10;i++)
6. {
7. for(j=0;j<5;j++)

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8. {
9. for(k=0;k<3;k++)
10. {
11. printf("%d %d %d\n",i,j,k);
12. if(j == 3)
13. {
14. goto out;
15. }
16. }
17. }
18. }
19. out:
20. printf("came out of the loop");
21. }
000
001
002
010
011
012
020
021
022
030
came out of the loop

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C Functions
In c, we can divide a large program into the basic building blocks known as function. The
function contains the set of programming statements enclosed by {}. A function can be called
multiple times to provide reusability and modularity to the C program. In other words, we can
say that the collection of functions creates a program. The function is also known as procedure
or subroutine in other programming languages.

Advantage of functions in C
There are the following advantages of C functions.

o By using functions, we can avoid rewriting same logic/code again and again in a program.
o We can call C functions any number of times in a program and from any place in a program.
o We can track a large C program easily when it is divided into multiple functions.
o Reusability is the main achievement of C functions.
o However, Function calling is always a overhead in a C program.

Function Aspects
There are three aspects of a C function.

o Function declaration A function must be declared globally in a c program to tell the compiler
about the function name, function parameters, and return type.

o Function call Function can be called from anywhere in the program. The parameter list must not
differ in function calling and function declaration. We must pass the same number of functions
as it is declared in the function declaration.

o Function definition It contains the actual statements which are to be executed. It is the most
important aspect to which the control comes when the function is called. Here, we must notice
that only one value can be returned from the function.

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SN C function aspects Syntax

1 Function declaration return_type function_name (argument list);

2 Function call function_name (argument_list)

3 Function definition return_type function_name (argument list) {function body;}

The syntax of creating function in c language is given below:

1. return_type function_name(data_type parameter...){

2. //code to be executed
3. }

Types of Functions
There are two types of functions in C programming:

1. Library Functions: are the functions which are declared in the C header files such as scanf(),
printf(), gets(), puts(), ceil(), floor() etc.
2. User-defined functions: are the functions which are created by the C programmer, so that
he/she can use it many times. It reduces the complexity of a big program and optimizes the code.

Return Value
A C function may or may not return a value from the function. If you don't have to return any
value from the function, use void for the return type.

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Let's see a simple example of C function that doesn't return any value from the function.

Example without return value:

1. void hello(){
2. printf("hello c");
3. }

If you want to return any value from the function, you need to use any data type such as int,
long, char, etc. The return type depends on the value to be returned from the function.

Let's see a simple example of C function that returns int value from the function.

Example with return value:

1. int get(){
2. return 10;
3. }

In the above example, we have to return 10 as a value, so the return type is int. If you want to
return floating-point value (e.g., 10.2, 3.1, 54.5, etc), you need to use float as the return type of
the method.

1. float get(){
2. return 10.2;
3. }

Now, you need to call the function, to get the value of the function.

Different aspects of function calling

A function may or may not accept any argument. It may or may not return any value. Based on
these facts, there are four different aspects of function calls.

o function without arguments and without return value

o function without arguments and with return value
o function with arguments and without return value
o function with arguments and with return value

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Example for Function without argument and return value

Example 1

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void printName();
3. void main ()
4. {
5. printf("Hello ");
6. printName();
7. }
8. void printName()
9. {
10. printf("Javatpoint");
11. }

Output

Hello Javatpoint

Example 2

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void sum();
3. void main()
4. {
5. printf("\nGoing to calculate the sum of two numbers:");
6. sum();
7. }
8. void sum()
9. {
10. int a,b;
11. printf("\nEnter two numbers");
12. scanf("%d %d",&a,&b);
13. printf("The sum is %d",a+b);
14. }

Output

Going to calculate the sum of two numbers:

Enter two numbers 10

24

The sum is 34

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Example for Function without argument and with return value

Example 1

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int sum();
3. void main()
4. {
5. int result;
6. printf("\nGoing to calculate the sum of two numbers:");
7. result = sum();
8. printf("%d",result);
9. }
10. int sum()
11. {
12. int a,b;
13. printf("\nEnter two numbers");
14. scanf("%d %d",&a,&b);
15. return a+b;
16. }

Output

oing to calculate the sum of two numbers:

Enter two numbers 10

24

The sum is 34

Example 2: program to calculate the area of the square

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int sum();
3. void main()
4. {
5. printf("Going to calculate the area of the square\n");
6. float area = square();
7. printf("The area of the square: %f\n",area);
8. }
9. int square()
10. {
11. float side;
12. printf("Enter the length of the side in meters: ");

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13. scanf("%f",&side);
14. return side * side;
15. }

Output

Going to calculate the area of the square

Enter the length of the side in meters: 10
The area of the square: 100.000000

Example for Function with argument and without return value

Example 1

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void sum(int, int);
3. void main()
4. {
5. int a,b,result;
6. printf("\nGoing to calculate the sum of two numbers:");
7. printf("\nEnter two numbers:");
8. scanf("%d %d",&a,&b);
9. sum(a,b);
10. }
11. void sum(int a, int b)
12. {
13. printf("\nThe sum is %d",a+b);
14. }

Output

Going to calculate the sum of two numbers:

Enter two numbers 10

24

The sum is 34

Example 2: program to calculate the average of five numbers.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void average(int, int, int, int, int);
3. void main()
4. {
5. int a,b,c,d,e;
6. printf("\nGoing to calculate the average of five numbers:");
7. printf("\nEnter five numbers:");

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8. scanf("%d %d %d %d %d",&a,&b,&c,&d,&e);
9. average(a,b,c,d,e);
10. }
11. void average(int a, int b, int c, int d, int e)
12. {
13. float avg;
14. avg = (a+b+c+d+e)/5;
15. printf("The average of given five numbers : %f",avg);
16. }

Output

Going to calculate the average of five numbers:

Enter five numbers:10
20
30
40
50
The average of given five numbers : 30.000000

Example for Function with argument and with return value

Example 1

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int sum(int, int);
3. void main()
4. {
5. int a,b,result;
6. printf("\nGoing to calculate the sum of two numbers:");
7. printf("\nEnter two numbers:");
8. scanf("%d %d",&a,&b);
9. result = sum(a,b);
10. printf("\nThe sum is : %d",result);
11. }
12. int sum(int a, int b)
13. {
14. return a+b;
15. }

Output

Going to calculate the sum of two numbers:

Enter two numbers:10
20
The sum is : 30

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Example 2: Program to check whether a number is even or odd

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int even_odd(int);
3. void main()
4. {
5. int n,flag=0;
6. printf("\nGoing to check whether a number is even or odd");
7. printf("\nEnter the number: ");
8. scanf("%d",&n);
9. flag = even_odd(n);
10. if(flag == 0)
11. {
12. printf("\nThe number is odd");
13. }
14. else
15. {
16. printf("\nThe number is even");
17. }
18. }
19. int even_odd(int n)
20. {
21. if(n%2 == 0)
22. {
23. return 1;
24. }
25. else
26. {
27. return 0;
28. }
29. }

Output

Going to check whether a number is even or odd

Enter the number: 100
The number is even

C Library Functions

Library functions are the inbuilt function in C that are grouped and placed at a common place
called the library. Such functions are used to perform some specific operations. For example,
printf is a library function used to print on the console. The library functions are created by the

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designers of compilers. All C standard library functions are defined inside the different header
files saved with the extension .h. We need to include these header files in our program to make
use of the library functions defined in such header files. For example, To use the library
functions such as printf/scanf we need to include stdio.h in our program which is a header file
that contains all the library functions regarding standard input/output.

The list of mostly used header files is given in the following table.

SN Header Description
file

1 stdio.h This is a standard input/output header file. It contains all the library functions
regarding standard input/output.

2 conio.h This is a console input/output header file.

3 string.h It contains all string related library functions like gets(), puts(),etc.

4 stdlib.h This header file contains all the general library functions like malloc(),
calloc(), exit(), etc.

5 math.h This header file contains all the math operations related functions like sqrt(),
pow(), etc.

6 time.h This header file contains all the time-related functions.

7 ctype.h This header file contains all character handling functions.

8 stdarg.h Variable argument functions are defined in this header file.

9 signal.h All the signal handling functions are defined in this header file.

10 setjmp.h This file contains all the jump functions.

11 locale.h This file contains locale functions.

12 errno.h This file contains error handling functions.

13 assert.h This file contains diagnostics functions.

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Call by value and Call by reference in C

There are two methods to pass the data into the function in C language, i.e., call by
value and call by reference.

Let's understand call by value and call by reference in c language one by one.

Call by value in C
o In call by value method, the value of the actual parameters is copied into the formal parameters.
In other words, we can say that the value of the variable is used in the function call in the call by
value method.
o In call by value method, we can not modify the value of the actual parameter by the formal
parameter.
o In call by value, different memory is allocated for actual and formal parameters since the value
of the actual parameter is copied into the formal parameter.
o The actual parameter is the argument which is used in the function call whereas formal
parameter is the argument which is used in the function definition.

Let's try to understand the concept of call by value in c language by the example given below:

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void change(int num) {
3. printf("Before adding value inside function num=%d \n",num);
4. num=num+100;
5. printf("After adding value inside function num=%d \n", num);
6. }
7. int main() {
8. int x=100;
9. printf("Before function call x=%d \n", x);

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10. change(x);//passing value in function

11. printf("After function call x=%d \n", x);
12. return 0;
13. }

Output

Before function call x=100

Before adding value inside function num=100
After adding value inside function num=200
After function call x=100

Call by Value Example: Swapping the values of the two variables

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. void swap(int , int); //prototype of the function
3. int main()
4. {
5. int a = 10;
6. int b = 20;
7. printf("Before swapping the values in main a = %d, b = %d\n",a,b); // printing the value of a and b in
main
8. swap(a,b);
9. printf("After swapping values in main a = %d, b = %d\n",a,b); // The value of actual parameters do not
change by changing the formal parameters in call by value, a = 10, b = 20
10. }
11. void swap (int a, int b)
12. {
13. int temp;
14. temp = a;
15. a=b;
16. b=temp;
17. printf("After swapping values in function a = %d, b = %d\n",a,b); // Formal parameters, a = 20, b = 10

18. }

Output

Before swapping the values in main a = 10, b = 20

After swapping values in function a = 20, b = 10
After swapping values in main a = 10, b = 20

Call by reference in C
o In call by reference, the address of the variable is passed into the function call as the actual
parameter.

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o The value of the actual parameters can be modified by changing the formal parameters since the
address of the actual parameters is passed.
o In call by reference, the memory allocation is similar for both formal parameters and actual
parameters. All the operations in the function are performed on the value stored at the address of
the actual parameters, and the modified value gets stored at the same address.

Consider the following example for the call by reference.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void change(int *num) {
3. printf("Before adding value inside function num=%d \n",*num);
4. (*num) += 100;
5. printf("After adding value inside function num=%d \n", *num);
6. }
7. int main() {
8. int x=100;
9. printf("Before function call x=%d \n", x);
10. change(&x);//passing reference in function
11. printf("After function call x=%d \n", x);
12. return 0;
13. }

Output

Before function call x=100

Before adding value inside function num=100
After adding value inside function num=200
After function call x=200

Call by reference Example: Swapping the values of the two variables

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. void swap(int *, int *); //prototype of the function
3. int main()
4. {
5. int a = 10;
6. int b = 20;
7. printf("Before swapping the values in main a = %d, b = %d\n",a,b); // printing the value of a and b in
main
8. swap(&a,&b);
9. printf("After swapping values in main a = %d, b = %d\n",a,b); // The values of actual parameters do c
hange in call by reference, a = 10, b = 20
10. }

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11. void swap (int *a, int *b)

12. {
13. int temp;
14. temp = *a;
15. *a=*b;
16. *b=temp;
17. printf("After swapping values in function a = %d, b = %d\n",*a,*b); // Formal parameters, a = 20, b =
10
18. }

Output

Before swapping the values in main a = 10, b = 20

After swapping values in function a = 20, b = 10
After swapping values in main a = 20, b = 10

Difference between call by value and call by reference in c

No. Call by value Call by reference

1 A copy of the value is passed into the An address of value is passed into the function
function

2 Changes made inside the function is Changes made inside the function validate
limited to the function only. The values outside of the function also. The values of the
of the actual parameters do not change actual parameters do change by changing the
by changing the formal parameters. formal parameters.

3 Actual and formal arguments are created Actual and formal arguments are created at the
at the different memory location same memory location

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C Array
An array is defined as the collection of similar type of data items stored at contiguous memory
locations. Arrays are the derived data type in C programming language which can store the
primitive type of data such as int, char, double, float, etc. It also has the capability to store the
collection of derived data types, such as pointers, structure, etc. The array is the simplest data
structure where each data element can be randomly accessed by using its index number.

C array is beneficial if you have to store similar elements. For example, if we want to store the
marks of a student in 6 subjects, then we don't need to define different variables for the marks in
the different subject. Instead of that, we can define an array which can store the marks in each
subject at the contiguous memory locations.

By using the array, we can access the elements easily. Only a few lines of code are required to
access the elements of the array.

Properties of Array

The array contains the following properties.

o Each element of an array is of same data type and carries the same size, i.e., int = 4 bytes.
o Elements of the array are stored at contiguous memory locations where the first element is stored
at the smallest memory location.
o Elements of the array can be randomly accessed since we can calculate the address of each
element of the array with the given base address and the size of the data element.

Advantage of C Array

1) Code Optimization: Less code to the access the data.

2) Ease of traversing: By using the for loop, we can retrieve the elements of an array easily.

3) Ease of sorting: To sort the elements of the array, we need a few lines of code only.

4) Random Access: We can access any element randomly using the array.

Disadvantage of C Array

1) Fixed Size: Whatever size, we define at the time of declaration of the array, we can't exceed
the limit. So, it doesn't grow the size dynamically like LinkedList which we will learn later.

Declaration of C Array

We can declare an array in the c language in the following way.

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1. data_type array_name[array_size];

Now, let us see the example to declare the array.

1. int marks[5];

Here, int is the data_type, marks are the array_name, and 5 is the array_size.

Initialization of C Array

The simplest way to initialize an array is by using the index of each element. We can initialize
each element of the array by using the index. Consider the following example.

1. marks[0]=80;//initialization of array
2. marks[1]=60;
3. marks[2]=70;
4. marks[3]=85;
5. marks[4]=75;

C array example

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int i=0;
4. int marks[5];//declaration of array
5. marks[0]=80;//initialization of array
6. marks[1]=60;
7. marks[2]=70;
8. marks[3]=85;
9. marks[4]=75;
10. //traversal of array
11. for(i=0;i<5;i++){
12. printf("%d \n",marks[i]);
13. }//end of for loop
14. return 0;
15. }

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Output

80
60
70
85
75

C Array: Declaration with Initialization

We can initialize the c array at the time of declaration. Let's see the code.

1. int marks[5]={20,30,40,50,60};

In such case, there is no requirement to define the size. So it may also be written as the
following code.

1. int marks[]={20,30,40,50,60};

Let's see the C program to declare and initialize the array in C.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int i=0;
4. int marks[5]={20,30,40,50,60};//declaration and initialization of array
5. //traversal of array
6. for(i=0;i<5;i++){
7. printf("%d \n",marks[i]);
8. }
9. return 0;
10. }

Output

20
30
40
50
60

C Array Example: Sorting an array

In the following program, we are using bubble sort method to sort the array in ascending order.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. int i, j,temp;
5. int a[10] = { 10, 9, 7, 101, 23, 44, 12, 78, 34, 23};
6. for(i = 0; i<10; i++)

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7. {
8. for(j = i+1; j<10; j++)
9. {
10. if(a[j] > a[i])
11. {
12. temp = a[i];
13. a[i] = a[j];
14. a[j] = temp;
15. }
16. }
17. }
18. printf("Printing Sorted Element List ...\n");
19. for(i = 0; i<10; i++)
20. {
21. printf("%d\n",a[i]);
22. }
23. }

Program to print the largest and second largest element of the array.
1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. int arr[100],i,n,largest,sec_largest;
5. printf("Enter the size of the array?");
6. scanf("%d",&n);
7. printf("Enter the elements of the array?");
8. for(i = 0; i<n; i++)
9. {
10. scanf("%d",&arr[i]);
11. }
12. largest = arr[0];
13. sec_largest = arr[1];
14. for(i=0;i<n;i++)
15. {
16. if(arr[i]>largest)
17. {
18. sec_largest = largest;
19. largest = arr[i];
20. }
21. else if (arr[i]>sec_largest && arr[i]!=largest)

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22. {
23. sec_largest=arr[i];
24. }
25. }
26. printf("largest = %d, second largest = %d",largest,sec_largest);
27.
28. }

Two Dimensional Array in C

The two-dimensional array can be defined as an array of arrays. The 2D array is organized as
matrices which can be represented as the collection of rows and columns. However, 2D arrays
are created to implement a relational database lookalike data structure. It provides ease of
holding the bulk of data at once which can be passed to any number of functions wherever
required.

Declaration of two dimensional Array in C

The syntax to declare the 2D array is given below.

data_type array_name[rows][columns];

Consider the following example.

int twodimen[4][3];

Here, 4 is the number of rows, and 3 is the number of columns

Initialization of 2D Array in C

In the 1D array, we don't need to specify the size of the array if the declaration and initialization
are being done simultaneously. However, this will not work with 2D arrays. We will have to
define at least the second dimension of the array. The two-dimensional array can be declared
and defined in the following way.

int arr[4][3]={{1,2,3},{2,3,4},{3,4,5},{4,5,6}};

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Recursion in C
Recursion is the process which comes into existence when a function calls a copy of itself to
work on a smaller problem. Any function which calls itself is called recursive function, and
such function calls are called recursive calls. Recursion involves several numbers of recursive
calls. However, it is important to impose a termination condition of recursion. Recursion code is
shorter than iterative code however it is difficult to understand.

Recursion cannot be applied to all the problem, but it is more useful for the tasks that can be
defined in terms of similar subtasks. For Example, recursion may be applied to sorting,
searching, and traversal problems.

Generally, iterative solutions are more efficient than recursion since function call is always
overhead. Any problem that can be solved recursively, can also be solved iteratively. However,
some problems are best suited to be solved by the recursion, for example, tower of Hanoi,
Fibonacci series, factorial finding, etc.

In the following example, recursion is used to calculate the factorial of a number.

1. #include <stdio.h>
2. int fact (int);
3. int main()
4. {
5. int n,f;
6. printf("Enter the number whose factorial you want to calculate?");
7. scanf("%d",&n);
8. f = fact(n);
9. printf("factorial = %d",f);
10. }
11. int fact(int n)
12. {
13. if (n==0)
14. {
15. return 1;
16. }
17. else if ( n == 1)
18. {
19. return 1;
20. }
21. else

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22. {
23. return n*fact(n-1);
24. }
25. }

Output

Enter the number whose factorial you want to calculate?5

factorial = 120

We can understand the above program of the recursive method call by the figure given below:

Recursive Function

A recursive function performs the tasks by dividing it into the subtasks. There is a termination
condition defined in the function which is satisfied by some specific subtask. After this, the
recursion stops and the final result is returned from the function.

The case at which the function doesn't recur is called the base case whereas the instances where
the function keeps calling itself to perform a subtask, is called the recursive case. All the
recursive functions can be written using this format.

Pseudocode for writing any recursive function is given below.

1. if (test_for_base)
2. {
3. return some_value;
4. }
5. else if (test_for_another_base)
6. {
7. return some_another_value;

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8. }
9. else
10. {
11. // Statements;
12. recursive call;
13. }

Example of recursion in C

Let's see an example to find the nth term of the Fibonacci series.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int fibonacci(int);
3. void main ()
4. {
5. int n,f;
6. printf("Enter the value of n?");
7. scanf("%d",&n);
8. f = fibonacci(n);
9. printf("%d",f);
10. }
11. int fibonacci (int n)
12. {
13. if (n==0)
14. {
15. return 0;
16. }
17. else if (n == 1)
18. {
19. return 1;
20. }
21. else
22. {
23. return fibonacci(n-1)+fibonacci(n-2);
24. }
25. }

Output

Enter the value of n?12

144

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C Pointers
The pointer in C language is a variable which stores the address of another variable. This
variable can be of type int, char, array, function, or any other pointer. The size of the pointer
depends on the architecture. However, in 32-bit architecture the size of a pointer is 2 byte.

Consider the following example to define a pointer which stores the address of an integer.

1. int n = 10;
2. int* p = &n; // Variable p of type pointer is pointing to the address of the variable n of type integer.

Declaring a pointer

The pointer in c language can be declared using * (asterisk symbol). It is also known as
indirection pointer used to dereference a pointer.

1. int *a;//pointer to int

2. char *c;//pointer to char

Pointer Example

An example of using pointers to print the address and value is given below.

As you can see in the above figure, pointer variable stores the address of number variable, i.e.,
fff4. The value of number variable is 50. But the address of pointer variable p is aaa3.

By the help of * (indirection operator), we can print the value of pointer variable p.

Let's see the pointer example as explained for the above figure.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int number=50;
4. int *p;
5. p=&number;//stores the address of number variable

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6. printf("Address of p variable is %x \n",p); // p contains the address of the number therefore printing p giv
es the address of number.
7. printf("Value of p variable is %d \n",*p); // As we know that * is used to dereference a pointer therefore i
f we print *p, we will get the value stored at the address contained by p.
8. return 0;
9. }

Output

Address of number variable is fff4

Address of p variable is fff4
Value of p variable is 50

Pointer to array

1. int arr[10];
2. int *p[10]=&arr; // Variable p of type pointer is pointing to the address of an integer array arr.

Pointer to a function

1. void show (int);

2. void(*p)(int) = &display; // Pointer p is pointing to the address of a function

Pointer to structure

1. struct st {
2. int i;
3. float f;
4. }ref;
5. struct st *p = &ref;

Advantage of pointer

1) Pointer reduces the code and improves the performance, it is used to retrieving strings,
trees, etc. and used with arrays, structures, and functions.

2) We can return multiple values from a function using the pointer.

3) It makes you able to access any memory location in the computer's memory.

Usage of pointer

There are many applications of pointers in c language.

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1) Dynamic memory allocation

In c language, we can dynamically allocate memory using malloc() and calloc() functions where
the pointer is used.

2) Arrays, Functions, and Structures

Pointers in c language are widely used in arrays, functions, and structures. It reduces the code
and improves the performance.

Address Of (&) Operator

The address of operator '&' returns the address of a variable. But, we need to use %u to display
the address of a variable.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int number=50;
4. printf("value of number is %d, address of number is %u",number,&number);
5. return 0;
6. }

Output

value of number is 50, address of number is fff4

NULL Pointer
A pointer that is not assigned any value but NULL is known as the NULL pointer. If you don't
have any address to be specified in the pointer at the time of declaration, you can assign NULL
value. It will provide a better approach.

int *p=NULL;

In the most libraries, the value of the pointer is 0 (zero)

Pointer Program to swap two numbers without using the 3rd variable.
1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int a=10,b=20,*p1=&a,*p2=&b;
4.
5. printf("Before swap: *p1=%d *p2=%d",*p1,*p2);
6. *p1=*p1+*p2;
7. *p2=*p1-*p2;
8. *p1=*p1-*p2;
9. printf("\nAfter swap: *p1=%d *p2=%d",*p1,*p2);
10.
11. return 0;

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12. }

Output

Before swap: *p1=10 *p2=20

After swap: *p1=20 *p2=10

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Dynamic memory allocation in C

The concept of dynamic memory allocation in c language enables the C programmer to
allocate memory at runtime. Dynamic memory allocation in c language is possible by 4
functions of stdlib.h header file.

1. malloc()
2. calloc()
3. realloc()
4. free()

Before learning above functions, let's understand the difference between static memory
allocation and dynamic memory allocation.

static memory allocation dynamic memory allocation

Memory is allocated at compile time. Memory is allocated at run time.

Memory can't be increased while executing Memory can be increased while executing
program. program.

Used in array. Used in linked list.

Now let's have a quick look at the methods used for dynamic memory allocation.

malloc() allocates single block of requested memory.

calloc() allocates multiple block of requested memory.

realloc() reallocates the memory occupied by malloc() or calloc() functions.

free() frees the dynamically allocated memory.

malloc() function in C

The malloc() function allocates single block of requested memory.

It doesn't initialize memory at execution time, so it has garbage value initially.

It returns NULL if memory is not sufficient.

The syntax of malloc() function is given below:

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ptr=(cast-type*)malloc(byte-size)

Let's see the example of malloc() function.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include<stdlib.h>
3. int main(){
4. int n,i,*ptr,sum=0;
5. printf("Enter number of elements: ");
6. scanf("%d",&n);
7. ptr=(int*)malloc(n*sizeof(int)); //memory allocated using malloc
8. if(ptr==NULL)
9. {
10. printf("Sorry! unable to allocate memory");
11. exit(0);
12. }
13. printf("Enter elements of array: ");
14. for(i=0;i<n;++i)
15. {
16. scanf("%d",ptr+i);
17. sum+=*(ptr+i);
18. }
19. printf("Sum=%d",sum);
20. free(ptr);
21. return 0;
22. }

Output

Enter elements of array: 3

Enter elements of array: 10
10
10
Sum=30

calloc() function in C
The calloc() function allocates multiple block of requested memory.

It initially initialize all bytes to zero.

It returns NULL if memory is not sufficient.

The syntax of calloc() function is given below:

ptr=(cast-type*)calloc(number, byte-size)

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Let's see the example of calloc() function.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include<stdlib.h>
3. int main()
4. {
5. int n,i,*ptr,sum=0;
6. printf("Enter number of elements: ");
7. scanf("%d",&n);
8. ptr=(int*)calloc(n,sizeof(int)); //memory allocated using calloc
9. if(ptr==NULL)
10. {
11. printf("Sorry! unable to allocate memory");
12. exit(0);
13. }
14. printf("Enter elements of array: ");
15. for(i=0;i<n;++i)
16. {
17. scanf("%d",ptr+i);
18. sum+=*(ptr+i);
19. }
20. printf("Sum=%d",sum);
21. free(ptr);
22. return 0;
23. }

Output

Enter elements of array: 3

Enter elements of array: 10
10
10
Sum=30

realloc() function in C
If memory is not sufficient for malloc() or calloc(), you can reallocate the memory by realloc()
function. In short, it changes the memory size.

Let's see the syntax of realloc() function.

ptr=realloc(ptr, new-size)

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free() function in C
The memory occupied by malloc() or calloc() functions must be released by calling free()
function. Otherwise, it will consume memory until program exit.

Let's see the syntax of free() function.

free(ptr)

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C Strings
The string can be defined as the one-dimensional array of characters terminated by a null ('\0').
The character array or the string is used to manipulate text such as word or sentences. Each
character in the array occupies one byte of memory, and the last character must always be 0.
The termination character ('\0') is important in a string since it is the only way to identify where
the string ends. When we define a string as char s[10], the character s[10] is implicitly
initialized with the null in the memory.

There are two ways to declare a string in c language.

1. By char array
2. By string literal

Let's see the example of declaring string by char array in C language.

char ch[10]={'j', 'a', 'v', 'a', 't', 'p', 'o', 'i', 'n', 't', '\0'};

As we know, array index starts from 0, so it will be represented as in the figure given below.

While declaring string, size is not mandatory. So we can write the above code as given below:

1. char ch[]={'j', 'a', 'v', 'a', 't', 'p', 'o', 'i', 'n', 't', '\0'};

We can also define the string by the string literal in C language. For example:

1. char ch[]="javatpoint";

In such case, '\0' will be appended at the end of the string by the compiler.

Difference between char array and string literal

There are two main differences between char array and literal.

o We need to add the null character '\0' at the end of the array by ourself whereas, it is appended
internally by the compiler in the case of the character array.
o The string literal cannot be reassigned to another set of characters whereas, we can reassign the
characters of the array.

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String Example in C
Let's see a simple example where a string is declared and being printed. The '%s' is used as a
format specifier for the string in c language.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. int main(){
4. char ch[11]={'j', 'a', 'v', 'a', 't', 'p', 'o', 'i', 'n', 't', '\0'};
5. char ch2[11]="javatpoint";
6.
7. printf("Char Array Value is: %s\n", ch);
8. printf("String Literal Value is: %s\n", ch2);
9. return 0;
10. }

Output

Char Array Value is: javatpoint

String Literal Value is: javatpoint

Traversing String

Traversing the string is one of the most important aspects in any of the programming languages.
We may need to manipulate a very large text which can be done by traversing the text.
Traversing string is somewhat different from the traversing an integer array. We need to know
the length of the array to traverse an integer array, whereas we may use the null character in the
case of string to identify the end the string and terminate the loop.

Hence, there are two ways to traverse a string.

o By using the length of string

o By using the null character.

Let's discuss each one of them.

Using the length of string

Let's see an example of counting the number of vowels in a string.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. char s[11] = "javatpoint";

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5. int i = 0;
6. int count = 0;
7. while(i<11)
8. {
9. if(s[i]=='a' || s[i] == 'e' || s[i] == 'i' || s[i] == 'u' || s[i] == 'o')
10. {
11. count ++;
12. }
13. i++;
14. }
15. printf("The number of vowels %d",count);
16. }

Output

The number of vowels 4

Using the null character

Let's see the same example of counting the number of vowels by using the null character.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. char s[11] = "javatpoint";
5. int i = 0;
6. int count = 0;
7. while(s[i] != NULL)
8. {
9. if(s[i]=='a' || s[i] == 'e' || s[i] == 'i' || s[i] == 'u' || s[i] == 'o')
10. {
11. count ++;
12. }
13. i++;
14. }
15. printf("The number of vowels %d",count);
16. }

Output

The number of vowels 4

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Accepting string as the input

Till now, we have used scanf to accept the input from the user. However, it can also be used in
the case of strings but with a different scenario. Consider the below code which stores the string
while space is encountered.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. char s[20];
5. printf("Enter the string?");
6. scanf("%s",s);
7. printf("You entered %s",s);
8. }

Output

Enter the string?javatpoint is the best

You entered javatpoint

It is clear from the output that, the above code will not work for space separated strings. To
make this code working for the space separated strings, the minor changed required in the scanf
function, i.e., instead of writing scanf("%s",s), we must write: scanf("%[^\n]s",s) which
instructs the compiler to store the string s while the new line (\n) is encountered. Let's consider
the following example to store the space-separated strings.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. char s[20];
5. printf("Enter the string?");
6. scanf("%[^\n]s",s);
7. printf("You entered %s",s);
8. }

Output

Enter the string?javatpoint is the best

You entered javatpoint is the best

Here we must also notice that we do not need to use address of (&) operator in scanf to store a
string since string s is an array of characters and the name of the array, i.e., s indicates the base
address of the string (character array) therefore we need not use & with it.

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Some important points

However, there are the following points which must be noticed while entering the strings by
using scanf.

o The compiler doesn't perform bounds checking on the character array. Hence, there can be a case
where the length of the string can exceed the dimension of the character array which may always
overwrite some important data.
o Instead of using scanf, we may use gets() which is an inbuilt function defined in a header file
string.h. The gets() is capable of receiving only one string at a time.

Pointers with strings

We have used pointers with the array, functions, and primitive data types so far. However,
pointers can be used to point to the strings. There are various advantages of using pointers to
point strings. Let us consider the following example to access the string via the pointer.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. char s[11] = "world";
5. char *p = s; // pointer p is pointing to string s.
6. printf("%s",p); // the string javatpoint is printed if we print p.
7. }

Output

world
1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. char *p = "hello javatpoint";
5. printf("String p: %s\n",p);
6. char *q;
7. printf("copying the content of p into q...\n");
8. q = p;
9. printf("String q: %s\n",q);
10. }

Once a string is defined, it cannot be reassigned to another set of characters. However, using
pointers, we can assign the set of characters to the string. Consider the following example.

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1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. char *p = "hello javatpoint";
5. printf("Before assigning: %s\n",p);
6. p = "hello";
7. printf("After assigning: %s\n",p);
8. }
C String Functions
There are many important string functions defined in "string.h" library.

No. Function Description

1) strlen(string_name) returns the length of string name.

2) strcpy(destination, source) copies the contents of source string to destination string.

3) strcat(first_string, concats or joins first string with second string. The result of the
second_string) string is stored in first string.

4) strcmp(first_string, compares the first string with second string. If both strings are
second_string) same, it returns 0.

5) strrev(string) returns reverse string.

6) strlwr(string) returns string characters in lowercase.

7) strupr(string) returns string characters in uppercase.

C String Length: strlen() function

The strlen() function returns the length of the given string. It doesn't count null character '\0'.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. int main(){
4. char ch[20]={'j', 'a', 'v', 'a', 't', 'p', 'o', 'i', 'n', 't', '\0'};
5. printf("Length of string is: %d",strlen(ch));
6. return 0;
7. }

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Output:

Length of string is: 10

C Copy String: strcpy()

The strcpy(destination, source) function copies the source string in destination.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. int main(){
4. char ch[20]={'j', 'a', 'v', 'a', 't', 'p', 'o', 'i', 'n', 't', '\0'};
5. char ch2[20];
6. strcpy(ch2,ch);
7. printf("Value of second string is: %s",ch2);
8. return 0;
9. }

Output:

Value of second string is: javatpoint

C String Concatenation: strcat()

The strcat(first_string, second_string) function concatenates two strings and result is returned to
first_string.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. int main(){
4. char ch[10]={'h', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o', '\0'};
5. char ch2[10]={'c', '\0'};
6. strcat(ch,ch2);
7. printf("Value of first string is: %s",ch);
8. return 0;
9. }

Output:

Value of first string is: helloc

C Compare String: strcmp()

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The strcmp(first_string, second_string) function compares two string and returns 0 if both
strings are equal.

Here, we are using gets() function which reads string from the console.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. int main(){
4. char str1[20],str2[20];
5. printf("Enter 1st string: ");
6. gets(str1);//reads string from console
7. printf("Enter 2nd string: ");
8. gets(str2);
9. if(strcmp(str1,str2)==0)
10. printf("Strings are equal");
11. else
12. printf("Strings are not equal");
13. return 0;
14. }

Output:

Enter 1st string: hello

Enter 2nd string: hello
Strings are equal

C Reverse String: strrev()

The strrev(string) function returns reverse of the given string. Let's see a simple example of
strrev() function.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. int main(){
4. char str[20];
5. printf("Enter string: ");
6. gets(str);//reads string from console
7. printf("String is: %s",str);
8. printf("\nReverse String is: %s",strrev(str));
9. return 0;
10. }

Output:

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Enter string: javatpoint

String is: javatpoint
Reverse String is: tnioptavaj
C String Lowercase: strlwr()
The strlwr(string) function returns string characters in lowercase. Let's see a simple example of
strlwr() function.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. int main(){
4. char str[20];
5. printf("Enter string: ");
6. gets(str);//reads string from console
7. printf("String is: %s",str);
8. printf("\nLower String is: %s",strlwr(str));
9. return 0;
10. }

Output:

Enter string: JAVATpoint

String is: JAVATpoint
Lower String is: javatpoint

C String Uppercase: strupr()

The strupr(string) function returns string characters in uppercase. Let's see a simple example of
strupr() function.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. int main()
4. {
5. char str[20];
6. printf("Enter string: ");
7. gets(str);//reads string from console
8. printf("String is: %s",str);
9. printf("\nUpper String is: %s",strupr(str));
10. return 0;
11. }

Output:

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Enter string: javatpoint

String is: javatpoint
Upper String is: JAVATPOINT

C String strstr()

The strstr() function returns pointer to the first occurrence of the matched string in the given
string. It is used to return substring from first match till the last character.

Syntax:

1. char *strstr(const char *string, const char *match)

String strstr() parameters

string: It represents the full string from where substring will be searched.

match: It represents the substring to be searched in the full string.

String strstr() example

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. int main(){
4. char str[100]="this is javatpoint with c and java";
5. char *sub;
6. sub=strstr(str,"java");
7. printf("\nSubstring is: %s",sub);
8. return 0;
9. }

Output:

javatpoint with c and java

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C Math
C Programming allows us to perform mathematical operations through the functions defined in
<math.h> header file. The <math.h> header file contains various methods for performing
mathematical operations such as sqrt(), pow(), ceil(), floor() etc.

C Math Functions

There are various methods in math.h header file. The commonly used functions of math.h
header file are given below.

No. Function Description

1) ceil(number) rounds up the given number. It returns the integer value which is greater
than or equal to given number.

2) floor(number) rounds down the given number. It returns the integer value which is less
than or equal to given number.

3) sqrt(number) returns the square root of given number.

4) pow(base, returns the power of given number.

exponent)

5) abs(number) returns the absolute value of given number.

C Math Example
Let's see a simple example of math functions found in math.h header file.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <math.h>
3. int main(){
4. printf("\n%f",ceil(3.6));
5. printf("\n%f",ceil(3.3));
6. printf("\n%f",floor(3.6));
7. printf("\n%f",floor(3.2));
8. printf("\n%f",sqrt(16));
9. printf("\n%f",sqrt(7));
10. printf("\n%f",pow(2,4));
11. printf("\n%f",pow(3,3));

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12. printf("\n%d",abs(-12));
13. return 0;
14. }

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C Structure
Why use structure?
In C, there are cases where we need to store multiple attributes of an entity. It is not necessary
that an entity has all the information of one type only. It can have different attributes of different
data types. For example, an entity Student may have its name (string), roll number (int), marks
(float). To store such type of information regarding an entity student, we have the following
approaches:

o Construct individual arrays for storing names, roll numbers, and marks.
o Use a special data structure to store the collection of different data types.

Let's look at the first approach in detail.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main ()
3. {
4. char names[2][10],dummy; // 2-
dimensioanal character array names is used to store the names of the students
5. int roll_numbers[2],i;
6. float marks[2];
7. for (i=0;i<3;i++)
8. {
9.
10. printf("Enter the name, roll number, and marks of the student %d",i+1);
11. scanf("%s %d %f",&names[i],&roll_numbers[i],&marks[i]);
12. scanf("%c",&dummy); // enter will be stored into dummy character at each iteration
13. }
14. printf("Printing the Student details ...\n");
15. for (i=0;i<3;i++)
16. {
17. printf("%s %d %f\n",names[i],roll_numbers[i],marks[i]);
18. }
19. }

Output

Enter the name, roll number, and marks of the student 1Arun 90 91
Enter the name, roll number, and marks of the student 2Varun 91 56
Enter the name, roll number, and marks of the student 3Sham 89 69

Printing the Student details...

Arun 90 91.000000

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Varun 91 56.000000
Sham 89 69.000000

The above program may fulfill our requirement of storing the information of an entity student.
However, the program is very complex, and the complexity increase with the amount of the
input. The elements of each of the array are stored contiguously, but all the arrays may not be
stored contiguously in the memory. C provides you with an additional and simpler approach
where you can use a special data structure, i.e., structure, in which, you can group all the
information of different data type regarding an entity.

What is Structure
Structure in c is a user-defined data type that enables us to store the collection of different data
types. Each element of a structure is called a member. Structures ca; simulate the use of classes
and templates as it can store various information

The ,struct keyword is used to define the structure. Let's see the syntax to define the structure in
c.

1. struct structure_name
2. {
3. data_type member1;
4. data_type member2;
5. .
6. .
7. data_type memeberN;
8. };

Let's see the example to define a structure for an entity employee in c.

1. struct employee
2. { int id;
3. char name[20];
4. float salary;
5. };

The following image shows the memory allocation of the structure employee that is defined in
the above example.

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Here, struct is the keyword; employee is the name of the structure; id, name, and salary are
the members or fields of the structure. Let's understand it by the diagram given below:

Declaring structure variable

We can declare a variable for the structure so that we can access the member of the structure
easily. There are two ways to declare structure variable:

1. By struct keyword within main() function

2. By declaring a variable at the time of defining the structure.

1st way:

Let's see the example to declare the structure variable by struct keyword. It should be declared
within the main function.

1. struct employee
2. { int id;
3. char name[50];
4. float salary;

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5. };

Now write given code inside the main() function.

1. struct employee e1, e2;

The variables e1 and e2 can be used to access the values stored in the structure. Here, e1 and e2
can be treated in the same way as the objects in C++ and Java.

2nd way:

Let's see another way to declare variable at the time of defining the structure.

1. struct employee
2. { int id;
3. char name[50];
4. float salary;
5. }e1,e2;

Which approach is good

If number of variables are not fixed, use the 1st approach. It provides you the flexibility to
declare the structure variable many times.

If no. of variables are fixed, use 2nd approach. It saves your code to declare a variable in main()
function.

Accessing members of the structure

There are two ways to access structure members:

1. By . (member or dot operator)

2. By -> (structure pointer operator)

Let's see the code to access the id member of p1 variable by. (member) operator.

1. p1.id

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C Structure example

Let's see a simple example of structure in C language.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. struct employee
4. { int id;
5. char name[50];
6. }e1; //declaring e1 variable for structure
7. int main( )
8. {
9. //store first employee information
10. e1.id=101;
11. strcpy(e1.name, "Sonoo Jaiswal");//copying string into char array
12. //printing first employee information
13. printf( "employee 1 id : %d\n", e1.id);
14. printf( "employee 1 name : %s\n", e1.name);
15. return 0;
16. }

Output:

employee 1 id : 101
employee 1 name : Sonoo Jaiswal

Let's see another example of the structure in C language to store many employees information.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. struct employee
4. { int id;
5. char name[50];
6. float salary;
7. }e1,e2; //declaring e1 and e2 variables for structure
8. int main( )
9. {
10. //store first employee information
11. e1.id=101;
12. strcpy(e1.name, "Sonoo Jaiswal");//copying string into char array
13. e1.salary=56000;
14.
15. //store second employee information

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16. e2.id=102;
17. strcpy(e2.name, "James Bond");
18. e2.salary=126000;
19.
20. //printing first employee information
21. printf( "employee 1 id : %d\n", e1.id);
22. printf( "employee 1 name : %s\n", e1.name);
23. printf( "employee 1 salary : %f\n", e1.salary);
24.
25. //printing second employee information
26. printf( "employee 2 id : %d\n", e2.id);
27. printf( "employee 2 name : %s\n", e2.name);
28. printf( "employee 2 salary : %f\n", e2.salary);
29. return 0;
30. }

Output:

employee 1 id : 101
employee 1 name : Sonoo Jaiswal
employee 1 salary : 56000.000000
employee 2 id : 102
employee 2 name : James Bond
employee 2 salary : 126000.000000

C Array of Structures
Why use an array of structures?
Consider a case, where we need to store the data of 5 students. We can store it by using the
structure as given below.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. struct student
3. {
4. char name[20];
5. int id;
6. float marks;
7. };
8. void main()
9. {
10. struct student s1,s2,s3;
11. int dummy;
12. printf("Enter the name, id, and marks of student 1 ");

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13. scanf("%s %d %f",s1.name,&s1.id,&s1.marks);

14. scanf("%c",&dummy);
15. printf("Enter the name, id, and marks of student 2 ");
16. scanf("%s %d %f",s2.name,&s2.id,&s2.marks);
17. scanf("%c",&dummy);
18. printf("Enter the name, id, and marks of student 3 ");
19. scanf("%s %d %f",s3.name,&s3.id,&s3.marks);
20. scanf("%c",&dummy);
21. printf("Printing the details....\n");
22. printf("%s %d %f\n",s1.name,s1.id,s1.marks);
23. printf("%s %d %f\n",s2.name,s2.id,s2.marks);
24. printf("%s %d %f\n",s3.name,s3.id,s3.marks);
25. }

Output

Enter the name, id, and marks of student 1 James 90 90

Enter the name, id, and marks of student 2 Adoms 90 90
Enter the name, id, and marks of student 3 Nick 90 90
Printing the details....
James 90 90.000000
Adoms 90 90.000000
Nick 90 90.000000

In the above program, we have stored data of 3 students in the structure. However, the
complexity of the program will be increased if there are 20 students. In that case, we will have
to declare 20 different structure variables and store them one by one. This will always be tough
since we will have to declare a variable every time we add a student. Remembering the name of
all the variables is also a very tricky task. However, c enables us to declare an array of
structures by using which, we can avoid declaring the different structure variables; instead we
can make a collection containing all the structures that store the information of different entities.

Array of Structures in C

An array of structres in C can be defined as the collection of multiple structures variables where
each variable contains information about different entities. The array of structures in C are used
to store information about multiple entities of different data types. The array of structures is also
known as the collection of structures.

mation about multiple entities of different data types. The array of structures is also known as
the collection of structures.Play Video

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Let's see an example of an array of structures that stores information of 5 students and prints it.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include <string.h>
3. struct student{
4. int rollno;
5. char name[10];
6. };
7. int main(){
8. int i;
9. struct student st[5];
10. printf("Enter Records of 5 students");
11. for(i=0;i<5;i++){
12. printf("\nEnter Rollno:");
13. scanf("%d",&st[i].rollno);
14. printf("\nEnter Name:");
15. scanf("%s",&st[i].name);
16. }
17. printf("\nStudent Information List:");
18. for(i=0;i<5;i++){
19. printf("\nRollno:%d, Name:%s",st[i].rollno,st[i].name);
20. }
21. return 0;
22. }

Output:

Enter Records of 5 students

Enter Rollno:1

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Enter Name:Sonoo
Enter Rollno:2
Enter Name:Ratan
Enter Rollno:3
Enter Name:Vimal
Enter Rollno:4
Enter Name:James
Enter Rollno:5
Enter Name:Sarfraz

Student Information List:

Rollno:1, Name:Sonoo
Rollno:2, Name:Ratan
Rollno:3, Name:Vimal
Rollno:4, Name:James
Rollno:5, Name:Sarfraz

Union in C
Union can be defined as a user-defined data type which is a collection of different variables of
different data types in the same memory location. The union can also be defined as many
members, but only one member can contain a value at a particular point in time.

Union is a user-defined data type, but unlike structures, they share the same memory location.

Let's understand this through an example.

1. struct abc
2. {
3. int a;
4. char b;
5. }

The above code is the user-defined structure that consists of two members, i.e., 'a' of
type int and 'b' of type character. When we check the addresses of 'a' and 'b', we found that
their addresses are different. Therefore, we conclude that the members in the structure do not
share the same memory location.

When we define the union, then we found that union is defined in the same way as the structure is
defined but the difference is that union keyword is used for defining the union data type, whereas the
struct keyword is used for defining the structure. The union contains the data members, i.e., 'a' and 'b',
when we check the addresses of both the variables then we found that both have the same addresses. It
means that the union members share the same memory location.

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File Handling in C
In programming, we may require some specific input data to be generated several numbers of
times. Sometimes, it is not enough to only display the data on the console. The data to be
displayed may be very large, and only a limited amount of data can be displayed on the console,
and since the memory is volatile, it is impossible to recover the programmatically generated
data again and again. However, if we need to do so, we may store it onto the local file system
which is volatile and can be accessed every time. Here, comes the need of file handling in C.

File handling in C enables us to create, update, read, and delete the files stored on the local file
system through our C program. The following operations can be performed on a file.

o Creation of the new file

o Opening an existing file
o Reading from the file
o Writing to the file
o Deleting the file

Functions for file handling

There are many functions in the C library to open, read, write, search and close the file. A list of
file functions are given below:

No. Function Description

1 fopen() opens new or existing file

2 fprintf() write data into the file

3 fscanf() reads data from the file

4 fputc() writes a character into the file

5 fgetc() reads a character from file

6 fclose() closes the file

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7 fseek() sets the file pointer to given position

8 fputw() writes an integer to file

9 fgetw() reads an integer from file

10 ftell() returns current position

11 rewind() sets the file pointer to the beginning of the file

Opening File: fopen()

We must open a file before it can be read, write, or update. The fopen() function is used to open
a file. The syntax of the fopen() is given below.

1. FILE *fopen( const char * filename, const char * mode );

The fopen() function accepts two parameters:

o The file name (string). If the file is stored at some specific location, then we must mention the
path at which the file is stored. For example, a file name can be
like "c://some_folder/some_file.ext".
o The mode in which the file is to be opened. It is a string.

We can use one of the following modes in the fopen() function.

Mode Description

r opens a text file in read mode

w opens a text file in write mode

a opens a text file in append mode

r+ opens a text file in read and write mode

w+ opens a text file in read and write mode

a+ opens a text file in read and write mode

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rb opens a binary file in read mode

wb opens a binary file in write mode

ab opens a binary file in append mode

rb+ opens a binary file in read and write mode

wb+ opens a binary file in read and write mode

ab+ opens a binary file in read and write mode

The fopen function works in the following way.

o Firstly, It searches the file to be opened.

o Then, it loads the file from the disk and place it into the buffer. The buffer is used to provide
efficiency for the read operations.
o It sets up a character pointer which points to the first character of the file.

Consider the following example which opens a file in write mode.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. void main( )
3. {
4. FILE *fp ;
5. char ch ;
6. fp = fopen("file_handle.c","r") ;
7. while ( 1 )
8. {
9. ch = fgetc ( fp ) ;
10. if ( ch == EOF )
11. break ;
12. printf("%c",ch) ;
13. }
14. fclose (fp ) ;
15. }

Output

The content of the file will be printed.

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 CSE Department, LCIT Bilaspur

#include;
void main( )
{
FILE *fp; // file pointer
char ch;
fp = fopen("file_handle.c","r");
while ( 1 )
{
ch = fgetc ( fp ); //Each character of the file is read and stored in the character file.
if ( ch == EOF )
break;
printf("%c",ch);
}
fclose (fp );
}

Closing File: fclose()

The fclose() function is used to close a file. The file must be closed after performing all the
operations on it. The syntax of fclose() function is given below:

int fclose( FILE *fp );

C fprintf() and fscanf()

C fprintf() and fscanf() example

C fputc() and fgetc()

C fputc() and fgetc() example

C fputs() and fgets()

C fputs() and fgets()

Types of Files
There are two types of files in C language which are as follows −

 Text file
 Binary File

Text File
 It contains alphabets and numbers which are easily understood by human beings.
 An error in a text file can be eliminated when seen.
 In text file, the text and characters will store one char per byte.
 For example, the integer value 4567 will occupy 2 bytes in memory, but, it will occupy 5
bytes in text file.
 The data format is usually line-oriented. Here, each line is a separate command.

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Binary file
 It contains 1’s and 0’s, which are easily understood by computers.
 The error in a binary file corrupts the file and is not easy to detect.
 In binary file, the integer value 1245 will occupy 2 bytes in memory and in file.
 A binary file always needs a matching software to read or write it.
 For example, an MP3 file can be produced by a sound recorder or audio editor, and it can
be played in a music player.
 MP3 file will not play in an image viewer or a database software.

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