A Beginners guide to C Programming

Sindu Naraayanan

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A Beginners guide to C Programming

Dennis Ritchie , Father of C

Today, C remains the second most popular programming language in the world (or at least the language in which the second most lines of code have been written), and ushered in C++ and Java; C has been

designed and developed by Dennis Ritchie at Bell laboratories in 1972. The

work has without a doubt made Ritchie one of the most important, if not under-recognized, engineers of the modern era. His work, specifically in relation to UNIX, led to him becoming a joint recipient of the Turing Award with Ken Thompson in 1983, as well as a recipient of the National Medal of Technology in 1998 from then-president Bill Clinton. Read more about him here here on Techhoot.com

C is a popular general purpose programming language. C programs are efficient, fast and highly portable computer can be run on another i.e. C programs written with little or no on one

modification. It

combines the features of high level language and functionality like assembly language. It reduces the gap between high level language and low level language that is why it is known as middle level language. C is a structured language.

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STRUCTURE OF A C PROGRAM :

Include header file section

Global Declaration section

/*comments*/ main() function name

{ /*comments */ Declaration part Executable part } User- defined functions { }

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Include header file section:

C program depends upon some header files for function definition that are used in program. Each header file by default is extended with a .h . The file should be included using #include directive. #include<stdio.h>

Global declaration:
This section declares some variables that are used in more than one function. These variables are known as global variables.

Function main:
Every program written in C language must contain main ( ) function. An empty parenthesis after main is necessary. The function main ( ) is starting part of program execution.

Declaration part:
The declaration part declares the entire variables that are used in the executable part. The initializations of variables are also done in this section

Executable part:
This part contains the statement following the declaration of variables. This part contains a set of statements or a single statement. These statements are enclosed within braces.

User defined function:

The functions defined by the user are called user-defined functions. These functions are generally defined after main (). They can also be defined before main () function.

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Comments:
Comments are not necessary in the program. However, to understand the flow of programs the programmer can include comments in the program. Comments are placed between the delimiters /* &*/. Comments are not the part of executable programs.

PROGRAMMING RULES:
1. All statements should be written in lower case letters (small letters). Upper case letters are only used for symbolic constants. 2. Blank spaces should not be used while declaring a variable, keyword, constants and function. 3. All statements are terminated with semi-colon (;). 4. The opening and closing brace should be balanced, i.e. if opening braces are four then closing braces should be four. 5. Declaration of variables of same type is done in a single statement using comma (,). A program is a set of statements for a specific task, which will be executed in a sequential form. Every program must follow accurately the syntax rules supported by the language.

BASIC TOKENS:
1. Keywords: The C keywords are reserved words by the compiler all the c keywords have been assigned fixed meaning. The keywords cannot be used as variable names because they have been assigned jobs. E.g : auto , break , int , char , float , long , short , e.t.c

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Identifiers are names of variables, functions, and arrays. They are user defined names, consisting of sequence of letters as the first character .Lower case letters are preferred; however upper case letters are also permitted. The underscore (_) symbol is used as a link between two words in long identifiers. #define N 10 (means N =10)

3. Constants:
Variables whose value does not change during the execution of a program are known as constants. Constants are declared using the keyword const. The different types of constants in C are Numeric constants Integer constants Real constants Character constants Single character constants String constants

Variables:
A variable is a data name used for storing a data value. Its value may be changed during the program execution. A variable name may be declared based on the meaning of the operation. E.g: A variable used to store the sum of two numbers can be named as SUM.

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Rules for defining variables:

1) They must begin with a character without white space but underscore is permitted. 2) The length of a variable varies from compiler to compiler. 3) The variable should not be a C keyword. 4) Variable name should not start with digit.

Data types:
All C compilers support a variety of data types. This enables the programmer to select the appropriate data types as per the need of the application.

1. Integer data type:

These are sequence of numbers from 0 to 9 without decimal points or fractional part or any other symbols. The different types of integer data types are short int, long int, unsigned int, and signed int. Short integer: Occupies 2 bytes in memory

Range: -32,768 t0 +32,767 Control string: %d (or) %I E.g. short int 2=5;
Long integer Occupies 4 bytes in memory Range: -2147483648 to +2147483647 control string used is %ld E.g. long int c= 30004;

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Signed integer Occupies 2 bytes in memory Range: -32,768 t0 +32,767 Control string: %d (or) %i

E.g. int a= 2;
Unsigned integer Occupies 2 bytes in memory Range: 0 to 65535 Control string used is %u E.g. unsigned long b;

(ii)Character data type:

A character can either be an alphabet or number or even a special character. Each character constant has integer values known as ASCII values. Singed char

Occupies 1 byte in memory control string: %c Range: -128 t0 +127

Unsigned char Occupies 1 bytes in memory Range: 0 to 255 control sting used is %c When printed using %d controls string, corresponding ASCII number is printed.

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(iii) Float:
Floating point number has two parts they are mantissa and exponent. The mantissa is either whole number or a decimal number. The exponent is an integer number which may be positive or negative.

Float:
Occupies 4 bytes in memory Range: 3.4e-38 to 3.4e+38 Control string: %f E.g: float a;

Double
Occupies 2 bytes in memory Range: 1.7e-308 to 1.7e+308 Control string used is %lf E.g: double k;

long double
Occupies 10 bytes Range is 3.4e-4932 to 1.1e+4932 Control string is %lf. E.g: long double x;

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Declaring variables:
The declaration of variables should be done in the declaration part of the program .The variables must be declared before they are used in the program. Declaration provides two things (i) (ii) compiler obtains the variable name It tells the complier data type of the variable declared and helps in allocating memory. Syntax: Data_type variable _name;

Data Types
Character Signed character Unsigned character Integer Signed int Unsigned int Unsigned short integer Signed long integer Unsigned long integer Floating point

Keyword
char Signed char Unsigned char int Signed int Unsigned int Unsigned short int Signed long int Unsigned long int float

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Double floating point Extended double point

double Long double

Initializing variables:
Variables declared can be assigned or initialized using an assignment operator = . The declaration and initialization can be done in the same line.

Syntax:
variable_name= constant or data_type variable_ name =constant Example: int x; x=2; int z =5;

OPERATORS AND EXPRESSIONS

An operator indicates an operation to be performed on data that yields a value. An operand is a data item on which operators perform the operation. C provides four classes of operators.

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They are arithmetic operators relational operators logical operators bitwise operator

Type f operators
Arithmetic operators Relational operators Logical operators Increment and decrement operator Assignment operators Bitwise operators Comma operator Conditional operator

Symbolic representation
+,-,*,/ and % >, <, = =,>=, <= and ! = &&, || and ! ++ and -= &,|,^,>>,<< and ~ , ?:

Priority of operators and their clubbing:

Each operator is given its own priority. If an arithmetic expression contains more operation then the execution will be performed according to their priorities. The precedence is set for different operators in C.

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Operators
() [] ->

Operation
Function call Array expression Structure operator

Clubbing
Left to right Left to right Left to right

Priority
1st 1st 1st

Structure operator

Left to right

1st

+ ++

Unary plus Unary minus Increment operator

Right to left Right to left Right to left

2nd 2nd 2nd

--

Decrement operator

Right to left

2nd

! ~

Not operator Ones complement

Right to left Right to left

2nd 2nd

* & Sizeof Type * /

Pointer operator Address operator Size of operator Type cast Multiplication Division

Right to left Right to left Right to left Right to left Left to right Left to right

2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 3rd 3rd

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% + << >> < <=

Modular division Addition Subtraction Left shift Right shift Less than Less than or equal to

Left to right Left to right Left to right Left to right Left to right Left to right Left to right

3rd 4th 4th 5th 5th 6th 6th

> >=

Greater than Greater than or equal to

Left to right Left to right

6th 6th

== != & ^ | && || ?:

Equality Inequality Bitwise AND Bitwise XOR Bitwise OR Logical AND Logical OR Conditional operator

Left to right Left to right Left to right Left to right Left to right Left to right Left to right Right to left

7th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th

=,*=, -= , &=, +=, ^=, |=,,<<=,>>=

Assignment operator

Right to left

14th

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Comma operator

Left to right

15th

When two operators of the same priority are found in the expression, precedence is given to extreme left operator.

If there are more sets of parenthesis in the expression, the innermost parenthesis will be solved first, followed by the second and so on.

Comma operator:
The comma operator is used to separate two or more expressions. The comma operator has lowest priority among all the operators. E.g: int a= 2, b= 4, c= a+b;

Conditional operator (Ternary operator):

Conditional operator contains a condition followed by two statements or values. If the condition is true first condition is executed otherwise second statement .the two expressions are separated by colon. The condition is always written before (?) mark.

Syntax:
condition? expression 1 : expression 2 E.g: 3>2 ? printf (true): printf (false);

Output: true

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Arithmetic operators:
The two types of arithmetic operators are Binary operator: These arithmetic operators are used for numerical calculations between two constant (or operands) values. These are arithmetic operators

are called as binary operators. The binary operators are: +, - , *, /, % (refer table for their precedence).

Unary operator: The arithmetic operators which act on one operand are called as unary operator. They are increment (++), decrement (--) and minus (-). Unary minus is used to indicate or change the arithmetic sign of a value.

E.g: int x = -50, y = -x; printf (\n y = %d, y);

Output: y = 50

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Increment operator (++) & Decrement operator (--):

The operator adds one to its operand .Where as -- subtracts one from its operand. x = x+1 x++ and x-1 x--; If ++ or are used as a suffix to variables name

then the post increment/ decrement takes place. If ++ or are used as a prefix to variables name then the pre increment/ decrement takes place. Example 1: int a= 6; printf (a++ = %d, a++); printf ( \n a = %d,a);

Output: a++ = 6 a=7

Example 2: int a= 6; printf (++a = %d, a++); printf (\n a = %d, a); Output: ++a = 7 a=7

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Sizeof operator and & operator:

The sizeof () operator gives the bytes occupied by the variable. The number of bytes occupied varies from variable to variable depending upon its data type. The & operator prints the adders of the variable in memory. Example: int x =1; float y =2 printf (\n sizeof(x) = %d bytes , sizeof(x); printf (\n sizeof(y) = %d bytes , sizeof(y); printf (\n address of x =%u \n address of y = %u, &x, &y);

Output: sizeof(x) = 2 bytes sizeof(x) = 4 bytes address of x =4066 address of y = 25096

Relational operator:
These operators are used to distinguish between two values depending on their relations. These operators provide relationship between the two expressions. If the relation is true then it returns true else false. The relational operators are >, <, <=,> =, = =, =

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Example: printf (10 = = 10 = %d, 10==10); printf (10 != 10 = %d, 10!=10); printf (10 > = 6 = %d, 10>=6); printf (10 < =10 = %d, 10<=10);

Output: 10 = = 10 = 1 10 != 10 = 0 10 > = 6 = 1 10 < =10 = 1

Logical operators:
The logical relationship between the two expressions is checked with logical operators. Using these operators low expressions can be combined .this operators also returns either a1 (true) or 0 (false).The operators could be constants, variables or expressions. Example: printf (%d, 5>3 && 2>3); printf (%d,5>3 || 2>3); printf (%d,!(10==10));

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Output: 0 1 0

Bitwise operator:
C supports a set of bitwise operator, they are >>, <<, ^, ~, &,|. These operators are used to perform bit by bit manipulation on data .these operators can act only on integer such as int, char, short int, long int etc. << (left shift operator) multiplies the number by 2; x = 2; x>>3; Output is 8 (2 is multiplied 3 times by 2) >> (right shift operator) divides the number by 2; x = 8; x>>1; Output is 4 (8 is divided 1 times by 2)

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INPUT AND OUTPUT IN C

When a program needs data, it takes the data through the input functions and sends results obtained through the output functions. Thus, input/output functions are link between user and the terminal. There are number of I/O functions based on the data types.

The I/O functions are classified into two:

Formatted functions: The formatted I/O functions read and write all types of data values. They require control strings to identify the data type. Hence, they can be used for both reading and writing of all data values. The formatted functions return the values after execution. The return value is equal to the number of variables successfully read/written. Using this value user can find out the errors occurring during reading or writing data. Unformatted functions: The unformatted I/O functions only work with the character data type, so they dont need control strings. The unformatted function also returns value, but the return value of unformatted function is always the same.

I/O functions
Unformatted functions : getch() ,getchar(), gets(),putch(), putchar(), puts()

formatted functions : scanf() , printf()

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FORMATTED FUNCTIONS
printf () statement: The printf () function printf all types of data values to the console. It requires control string and variable names to print the data. the control string and variable names should be in order. Syntax: printf (control stings , variables); Example: int x; float y; char z; printf (%d, %f, %c, x, y, z);

scanf () statement: The scanf () statement reads all type of data values. It is used for runtime assignment of variables. The scanf () statement also requires control string to identify the type of data to be read during execution of the program. The scanf () statement requires & operator called address operator, its role is to indicate the memory location of the variable , so that the value read would be placed at that location. Syntax: scanf(control string,& variable names); Example: int x; float y ; char z; printf (%d, %f, %c ,&x ,&y ,&z);

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Data type
Short int Short unsigned Long singed Long unsigned Integer Unsigned hexadecimal Unsigned octal Float Real Double Signed character unsigned character character String

Control string
%d or %i %u %ld %lu %x %o %f or %g %lf %c %c %s

Example: void main() { char name[25]; printf(\n Enter your name : ); scanf(%s,name); printf(\n My name is %s ,name); }

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Output: Enter your name: SINDU My name is SINDU

UNFORMATTED FUNCTIONS :
C has three types of I/O functions, they are

Character I/O functions: 1) getchar() :

This function reads character type data from the standard input. It reads one character at a time till the user presses the enter key.

Syntax: variable_name = getchar(); Example: char word[15]; int count =0; while((word[count] = getchar())!=\n) c++; word[count] = \0; printf(\n%s,word);

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Output: computer computer

2) putchar():
This function prints one character on the screen at a time which is read by the standard input.

Syntax:
putchar(variable_name);

Example:
void main() { char word[15]; int count =0; while((word[count] = getchar())!=\n) { putchar(word[count]); c++; } word[count] = \0; }

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Output: computer computer

3) getch() & getche():

These functions read any alphanumeric characters from standard input device. The character entered is not displayed by getch ( ) function. Example: void main() { clrscr(); printf(\n Enter any two alphabets ); getche(); getch(); } Output: Enter any two alphabets A Explanation: In the above program even though two characters are entered, the user can see only one character on the console (screen). The second character is accepted but not displayed on the console. The getche () accepts and displays the character whereas getch () accepts but does not display the character.

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4) putch() : This function prints any alphanumeric character taken by the standard input device. Syntax: putch(variable_name); Example: char ch; printf(\n Enter any character to continue :); ch= getch(); printf(\n You entered : ); putch(ch);

Output : Enter any character to continue : A You entered : A

Sting I/O function :

gets():
This function is used for accepting any string through stdin(keyboard) until enter key is pressed. The header file needed is <stdio.h>.

Syntax:

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gets(variable_name); Example: char name[25]; printf(\n Enter your name: ); gets(name); printf(\n %s,name);

Output: Enter your name: Techhoot Techhoot

puts() :
This function prints the string or character array(another name of string ).

Syntax:
puts(variable_name);

Example: { char name[25]; printf(\n Enter your name: ); gets(name);

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puts(name); }

Output:
Enter your name: Techhoot Techhoot

Files I/O functions:

1. fscanf():
This function is used to read data form file.

Syntax:
fscanf(file_pointer ,control string, variable_name); fprintf():

This function is used to write data into file.

Syntax:
fprintf(file_pointer ,control string, variable_name);

Example:
FILE *p1; char name[10]=techhoot, ch[10];

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fprintf (p1,%s,name); fscanf (p1,%s,ch); printf (\n Content of the file is %s,ch);

Output:
Content of the file is techhoot

DECISION STATEMENTS
A program is nothing but the execution of one or more instructions. In monolithic program the sequences of instructions are executed in the same way as they paper in the program. This sequence can be altered using decision making statements. By using decision making the following can be achieved To alter the flow of a program Test the logical conditions. Control the flow of execution as per the selection.

The decision making statements checks the given condition and then executes its sub block. The decision statement decides the statement to be executed after the success or failure of a given condition. 1. The if statement: If statement executes a set of command lines or one command line when the logical condition is true else it executes statement x. It has only on option. The condition is always enclosed within a pair of parenthesis . The conditional statements should not be terminated with semicolon (;).

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The statements following if statements are normally enclosed in curly braces.

Syntax:
if(condition) { action block; } Example: int sum; if(3>2) { printf(\n true); }

2. The if ....else statement: The if..else statement takes care of true as well as false conditions. It has two blocks. One block is for if and it is executed when the condition is true. The other block is of else and it is executed when the condition fails. The else statement cannot be used without if.

Syntax:
if(condition) { action block 1;

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} else { action block 2; }

Example: if(3<2) printf(\n true); else printf(\n false); Output: false

3. Nested if ..else statement:

This type of if statement contains one if structure within another. Nested if.. else can be chained with one another. If one of the if statement satisfies the condition, other nested else if will not be executed. Any number of if statement can be used in nested if .. else

Syntax:
if(condition)

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{ if(condition) { //true block } else { //false block } } else { //action block }

Example: if(a>b) { if(a>c) { printf(\n a is the greatest number );

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} } else { printf(\n a is not the greatest number); }

4. else ..if ladder:

This if statement has if condition in the else part also and as default case else is placed. The block of statements which match the condition/test expression gets executed, in case a match is not found default statement ( else) gets executed.

Syntax:
if(condition 1) { //action block } else if (condition 2) { // action block } .

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. else if(condition n) { //action block } else { //default statements }

Example: if(mark>80) printf(\n distinction); else if(mark >60) printf(\n first class); else if(mark>=40) printf(\n pass); else printf(\n fail);

The break statement:

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The keyword break allows the user to terminate the loop. The break skips from the loop or block in which it is defined. The control then automatically goes to the first statement after the loop or block. The break statement can be associated with all conditional statements. If break statement is used within the innermost loop, then the control of the program is terminated only from the innermost loop. Example: for(i=0;i<n;i++) { printf(\n); for(j=0 ; j<i ; j++) { if(j==i) { break; } printf(\t %d,j); } }

Explanation:
Here the break statement causes the control to exit from j loop (innermost loop)

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The continue statement is used for continuing next iteration of the loop statements. When it occurs in the loop it does not terminate, but skips the statements that continue statement. It is useful when we want to continue the program without executing any part of the program.

Example: printf(\n ODD NUMBERS\n); for(i=0;i<n;i++) { if(i%2==0) { continue; } printf(\n\t%d,i); }

The SWITCH statement:

The switch statement is a multi-way branch statement. When there is a need to make a choice from number of options, this structured selection is useful. The switch statement requires only one argument of any data type, which is checked with number of case options. The switch statement is useful for writing menu driven programs. Switch, case and default are keywords. Switch should not be terminated with (;) .The entire case structure following the keyword switch should be enclosed within braces {}. If the case structure contains multiple statements, they need not be enclosed within curly braces.

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The keywords case and break performs the respectively the job of opening and closing curly braces.

Syntax:
switch(variable or expression) { case constant_1: statement; break; case constant_2 : statement; break; case constant_n: statement; break; default: statement; }

Example: int ch; printf(\n enter a number either 1 or 2); scanf(%d,&ch); switch(ch) { case 1:printf(\n ONE);break;

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case 2:printf(\n TWO );break; default: printf(\n try again); }

LOOPING STATEMENTS:
A loop is defined as a block of statements which are repeatedly executed for certain number of times otherwise Loop causes a section of code to be executed repeatedly until a termination condition is met. The following are the looping statements supported in c: (a) for statement (b) while statement (c) do-while statement Purpose (working) of each loop is the same, difference lies in their structure.

Steps in loop:
Loop variable: It is a variable used in the loop. Initialization: It is the first step in which starting value is assigned to the loop variable. Each time the updated value is checked by the loop itself. Increment/Decrement: It is the numerical value added or subtracted to the variable in each round of the loop. Test expression (or) condition: This determines when the loop is to be terminated.

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Based on the place where condition is placed we have two types of loop, they are (i) Entry check loop (ii) Exit check loop

(I) Entry check loop:

The condition is placed at the top of the loop, if only if the condition is true the body of the loop will be executed, else it will not be executed. E.g.: for loop and while loop.

(II) Exit check loop:

The condition is placed at the bottom of the loop body. The loop is executed at least once even though the condition is false. E.g. do-while loop. for loop : (for is the keyword). For loop is

Syntax:
for(initialise counter; test condition; increment/decrement) { // body of for loop }

Example: // to calculate factorial n numbers using for loop int i, n,f=1; for(i=1;i<n;i++)

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{ f*= i; } printf(\n factorial is %d,a);

while loop:
while is the keyword . it is not terminated with (;).

Syntax:
initialization; while(condition) { // body of while loop increment/decrement; }

Example: // to calculate factorial n numbers using while loop int i, n,f=1; i=1; while(i<n) {

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f*= i; i++; } printf(\n factorial is %d,a);

Do-while loop:
do and while are the key words, and in do-while loop condition is terminated with (;). while is the keyword . it is not terminated with (;).

Syntax:
initialization; do { // body of while loop increment/decrement; } while(condition);

Example: // to calculate factorial n numbers using while loop

int i, n,f=1; i=1; do

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{ f*= i; i++; } while(i<n); printf(\n factorial is %d,a);

ARRAYS
Array is a collection of similar data types in which each element is unique and located in separate memory locations. Characteristic of array:

The declaration int a[5] is nothing but creation of 5 integer variables in

memory.

All elements of an array share the name, and they are distinguished from
the other with help of an element number ( array index)

Array index plays a major role in calling each element. Array is identified with its [] brackets. They have contiguous memory location Array index always starts from 0 to (size -1) Size of an array should be positive

Array declaration: data_type array_identifer[ size ]; Array initialization:

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Array can initialized as they are declared. The two types of initialization are static and dynamic initialization. If the array is initialized where it is declared it is said to be static initialization. E.g. int a[5]={11,2,3,4,5}//one dimensional array, i.e. ay with one subscript) Dynamic initialization is done using malloc(), calloc() and new. E.g. int a[]=(int)malloc(sizeof(int),5); Note: string is a one dimensional array and it is terminated by a null string \0.

Two dimensional array:

Two dimensional arrays is a collection of elements in rows and columns. It is also referred as matrix. Syntax: data_type array_identifer[ row size ][col size]; Specifying the row is optional , but it is necessary to specify the number of columns. int a[2][2]={ {0,0},{0,1},{1,0},{1,1} }//declaration and initialization of 2-D array Each row of a 2-D array can be thought as a 1-D array.

NOTE: There does not exist any row or column in memory , elements of 2D array are stored in continuous locations(like chain). Passing an array to function:

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Syntax: function_name(array_name/identifier, array_size); Example: main() { int a[5]; //some statements; add(a,5);//passing array named a to the function add() return 0; }

Pointer notations:
1-D array: Syntax:
*(pointer variable + array_index)//array_index-position of the element Example: int natural[5] ,*p; p=natural[0]//or p= natural or p= &natural[0] printf(%d,*(p+2));//prints the element at position 2;

2-D array:

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syntax:
*(pointer_variable +row_no * no.of col +col_no); Example: int matrix[2][3],*p; p=matrix; printf(%d,*(p+1*3+2));//prints the element at matrix[1][2];

FUNCTIONS:
Building blocks of c programs are functions. A function is a self - contained block or a sub program with one or more statements that performs a special task. The two types of functions are

(1) Library functions :

The library functions are pre defined and its functions are limited.

(2) User defined functions:

The functions defined by user according to his/her requirement are called user-defined functions.

Advantage of using functions:

Reduces the length of the program . Debugging is easier. Increases readability and re- usability.

Working of functions:

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Once a function is defined and called, it takes some data from the calling program and returns a value to the calling program.// calling program program which calls the function , called function program which is called for some special task. Whenever a function is called, control passes to the called function and the working of calling function is stopped. When the execution of called function is completed, control returns back to the calling program and execute the next statement. The values of actual parameters passed by calling function are received by formal parameters of the called function. The number of actual and formal parameter should be the same. The called function can also return data to the calling function. This is done by the return statement. Function prototype (declaration): return_type function_name(argument /parameter list);// semi colon is present in the function declaration and absent in function definition. void add(int a, int b);//a , b are the name of the parameters /arguments By default the return type of a function is int. A function prototype contains the function name , return type , number of parameters and their data types . Actual argument/parameter: The arguments of the calling function are called actual arguments. Formal parameter: The arguments of the called function are called formal parameters/arguments.

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A function can be called using its name.

The 4 different types of functions:

1) Functions with no arguments and no return type: Neither the data is not passed through the calling function nor is the data sent back from the called function. The function is only executed and nothing is obtained. They can act independently. Example: void main()// calling function { void add( );//function prototype add();// call to the function add() } void add( )//no arguments, definition of called function { int a= 5, b=6,c; c= a+b; }

2) Functions with arguments and no return type:

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Arguments are passed to the called function by the calling function and the called function does not return any values to the calling function. They are partially dependent: Example: void main()// calling function { void add(int , int ); add( 5,6);// call to the function add() } void add(int a , int b ) { int c; c= a+b; }

3) Functions with argument and with return type:

Data is transferred between both calling and called functions. Two way communication. They are dependent. Example: void main()// calling function {

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int c; int add(int , int ); c = add( 5,6);// call to the function add() } int add(int a , int b ) { int d; d= a+b; return (d);// return is the keyword }

4) Functions with no argument and with return type

The called function returns values to the calling function, calling function does not pass any arguments. They are partially dependent. Example: void main()// calling function { int c; int add( ); c = add( );// call to the function add() } int add( )

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{ int d, a= 5, b = 6; d= a+b; return (d);// return is the keyword }

Call by value and call reference:

1) call by value:
In this type value of actual arguments are passed to the formal parameter and the operations are done on the formal parameter. Any change made to formal parameter does not affect the actual parameter, because formal arguments are a copy of actual parameters. Example: void main() { int a = 5 , b= 6; swap(a,b); // print values of a and b } void swap( int a, int b) { int t;

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t=a; a=b; b=t; // print values of a and b }

2) Call by reference:
In this type instead of value, address (reference) is passed, so the formal parameters should be of pointers. Hence any changes made to the formal parameter are reflected back in the actual parameter. Example: void main() { int a = 5 , b= 6; swap(&a,&b); // print values of a and b } void swap( int *a, int *b) { int t; t=*a; *a=*b; *b=*t; // print values of a and b } Function can return more than one value using reference method (i.e. .pointers).

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STRUCTURE and UNIONS:

Structure:
Structure is the extension of arrays. Structure is a collection of dissimilar elements under a common name. A structure should be terminated with semi-colon. Members of the structure are accessed through their objects (also known as tags).

Syntax:
struct structure_name { data_type data_type data_type data_type }; member 1; member 2; member 3; member n;

Example:
struct classroom { int benches;//structure members char class_name[25]; }; Syntax to create object for a structure:structure_name object_name; classroom c1;

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Union:
Union is similar to structure. In structure each element has its own memory, but members of union share common memory. The member or variable which occupies more number of bytes will be the size of the union and that number of bytes is allocated to the union. This allocated memory is shared by all other members of the same union.

Syntax:
union union_name { data_type data_type data_type data_type }; member 1; member 2; member 3; member n;

Example:
union classroom { int benches;//structure members, occupies 2 bytes char class_name[25];// occupies 25 bytes }; Syntax to create object for a union: union_name object_name; classroom c1;

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Thus I conclude this ebook with hope that it would have instilled the interest and skill of C programming in you. The above discussed topics are the basic for anyone to develop a C program. Happy C coding !!!

-Sindu Naraayanan,

Author, Techhoot.com

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