Friday, September 11, 2009

While Loop

The while loop is ideally suited for case in programming that you want to do something
a fixed number of times.
Sample Program
/* Calculation of simple interest for 3 sets of p, n and r */
main( )
{
int p, n, count ;
float r, si ;
count = 1 ;
while ( count <= 3 )
{
printf ( "\nEnter values of p, n and r " ) ;
scanf ( "%d %d %f", &p, &n, &r ) ;
si = p *n*r/100;
printf ( "Simple interest = Rs. %f", si ) ;
count = count +1;
}
}

The program executes all statements after while 3 times.

Friday, September 4, 2009

DECISION CONTROL STRUCTURE (IF)

A decision control instruction can be implemented in C using:
1.The if statement
2.The if-else statement
3.The conditional operators

The if Statement
Like most languages, C uses the keyword if to implement the decision control instruction. The general form of if statement looks like this:
if ( this condition is true )
execute this statement ;
The keyword if tells the compiler that what follows is a decision control instruction. The condition following the keyword if is always enclosed within a pair of parentheses. If the condition, whatever it is, is true, then the statement is executed. If the condition is not true then the statement is not executed; instead the program skips past it. But how do we express the condition itself in C? And how do we evaluate its truth or falsity? As a general rule, we express a condition using C’s ‘relational’ operators. The relational operators allow us to compare two values to see whether they are equal to each other, unequal, or whether one is greater than the other.

/* Demonstration of if statement */
main( )
{
int num ;
printf ( "Enter a number less than 10 " ) ;
scanf ( "%d", &num ) ;
if ( num <= 10 )
printf ( "What an obedient servant you are !" ) ;
}
On execution of this program, if you type a number less than or equal to 10, you get a message on the screen through printf( ). If you type some other number the program doesn’t do anything. The following flowchart would help you understand the flow of control in the program.

Multiple Statements within if
It may so happen that in a program we want more than one statement to be executed if the expression following if is satisfied. If such multiple statements are to be executed then they must be placed within a pair of braces as illustrated in the following example.
/* Calculation of bonus */
main( )
{
int bonus, cy, yoj, yr_of_ser ;
printf ( "Enter current year and year of joining " ) ;
scanf ( "%d %d", &cy, &yoj ) ;
yr_of_ser = cy - yoj ;
if ( yr_of_ser > 3 )
{
bonus = 2500 ;
printf ( "Bonus = Rs. %d", bonus ) ;
}
}
Observe that here the two statements to be executed on satisfaction of the condition have been enclosed within a pair of braces. If a pair of braces is not used then the C compiler assumes that the programmer wants only the immediately next statement after the if to be executed on satisfaction of the condition. In other words we can say that the default scope of the if statement is the immediately next statement after it.

The if-else Statement
The if statement by itself will execute a single statement, or a group of statements, when the expression following if evaluates to true. It does nothing when the expression evaluates to false. Can we execute one group of statements if the expression evaluates to true and another group of statements if the expression evaluates to false.This is what is the purpose of the else statement that is demonstrated in the following example:

/* Calculation of gross salary */
main( )
{
float bs, gs, da, hra ;
printf ( "Enter basic salary " ) ;
scanf ( "%f", &bs ) ;
if ( bs < 1500 )
{
hra = bs * 10 / 100 ;
da = bs * 90 / 100 ;
}
else
{
hra = 500 ;
da = bs * 98 / 100 ;
}
gs = bs + hra + da ;
printf ( "gross salary = Rs. %f", gs ) ;
}

Hierarchy of Operations

While executing an arithmetic statement, which has two or more operators, we may have some problems as to how exactly does it get executed. For example, does the expression 2 * x - 3 * y correspond to (2x)-(3y) or to 2(x-3y)? Similarly, does A / B * C correspond to A / (B * C) or to (A / B) * C? To answer these questions satisfactorily one has to understand the ‘hierarchy’ of operations. The priority or precedence in which the operations in
an arithmetic statement are performed is called the hierarchy of operations. The hierarchy of commonly used operators is shown in Priority.
Operators
Description
1st * / %
multiplication, division, modular division
2nd + -
addition, subtraction
3rd =
assignment

Now a few tips about usage of operators in general.
1.Within parentheses the same hierarchy as mentioned in Figure 1.11 is operative. Also, if there are more than one set of parentheses, the operations within the innermost parentheses would be performed first, followed by the operations within the second innermost pair and so on.
2.We must always remember to use pairs of parentheses. A careless imbalance of the right and left parentheses is a common error. Best way to avoid this error is to type ( ) and then type an expression inside it.

Associativity of Operators
When an expression contains two operators of equal priority the tie between them is settled using the associativity of the operators. Associativity can be of two types—Left to Right or Right to Left. Left to Right associativity means that the left operand must be unambiguous. It must not be involved in evaluation of any other sub-expression. Similarly, in case of Right to Left associativity the right operand must be unambiguous. Let us understand this with an example.

Consider the expression
a = 3 / 2 * 5 ;
Here there is a tie between operators of same priority, that is between / and *. This tie is settled using the associativity of / and *. But both enjoy Left to Right associativity

Control Instructions in C
As the name suggests the ‘Control Instructions’ enable us to specify the order in which the various instructions in a program are to be executed by the computer. In other words the control instructions determine the ‘flow of control’ in a program. There are four types of control instructions in C. They are:
(a) Sequence Control Instruction
(b) Selection or Decision Control Instruction
(c) Repetition or Loop Control Instruction
(d) Case Control Instruction
The Sequence control instruction ensures that the instructions are executed in the same order in which they appear in the program. Decision and Case control instructions allow the computer to take a decision as to which instruction is to be executed next. The Loop control instruction helps computer to execute a group of statements repeatedly.

C Instructions

Now that we have written a few programs let us look at the instructions that we used in these programs.

There are basically three types of instructions in C:
1.Type Declaration Instruction
2.Arithmetic Instruction
3.Control Instruction
The purpose of each of these instructions is given below:
Type declaration instruction

To declare the type of variables used in a C program.
Arithmetic instruction

To perform arithmetic operations between con-stants and variables.
Control instruction

To control the sequence of execution of various state-ments in a C program.

1.Type declaration Statement
The type declaration statement is written at the beginning of main( ) function.
Ex.: int bas ;
float rs, grosssal ;
char name, code ;


2.Arithmetic Instruction
A C arithmetic instruction consists of a variable name on the left hand side of = and variable names & constants on the right hand side of =. The variables and constants appearing on the right hand side of = are connected by arithmetic operators like +, -, *, and /.
Ex.: int ad ;
float kot, deta, alpha, beta, gamma ;
ad = 3200 ;
kot = 0.0056 ;
deta = alpha * beta / gamma + 3.2 * 2 / 5 ;

Compilation and Execution of C Program

Once you have written the program you need to type it and instruct the machine to execute it. To type your C program you need another program called Editor. Once the program has been typed it needs to be converted to machine language (0s and 1s) before the machine can execute it. To carry out this conversion we need another program called Compiler. Compiler vendors provide an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which consists of an Editor as well as the Compiler.
There are several such IDEs available in the market targeted towards different operating systems. For example, Turbo C, Turbo C++ and Microsoft C are some of the popular compilers that work under MS-DOS; Visual C++ and Borland C++ are the compilers that work under Windows, whereas gcc compiler works under Linux. Note that Turbo C++, Microsoft C++ and Borland C++ software also contain a C compiler bundled with them. If you are a beginner you would be better off using a simple compiler like Turbo C or Turbo C++. Once you have mastered the language elements you can then switch over to more sophisticated compilers like Visual C++ under Windows or gcc under Linux. Most of the would work with all the compilers. Assuming that you are using a Turbo C or Turbo C++ compiler here are the steps that you need to follow to compile and execute your first C program…
Start the compiler at C> prompt. The compiler (TC.EXE is usually present in C:\TC\BIN directory).
Select New from the File menu.
Type the program.
Save the program using F2 under a proper name (say Program1.c).
Use Ctrl + F9 to compile and execute the program.
Use Alt + F5 to view the output.


Thursday, September 3, 2009

CONSTANTS IN C

C constants can be divided into two major categories:
1.Primary Constants
2.Secondary Constants
Primary Constants include Integer Constant,Real Constant,Character Constant
Secondary Constants include Array,Pointer,Structure, Union ,Enum,etc.

Integer Constant:

An integer constant must have at least one digit.
It must not have a decimal point.
It can be either positive or negative.
If no sign precedes an integer constant it is assumed to be positive.
No commas or blanks are allowed within an integer constant.
The allowable range for integer constants is -32768 to 32767.

Rules for Constructing Real Constants

A real constant must have at least one digit.
It must have a decimal point.
It could be either positive or negative.
Default sign is positive.
No commas or blanks are allowed within a real constant.
Ex.: +325.34
426.0
-32.76
-48.5792

Introduction to Programming language C

C is a programming language developed at AT & T’s Bell Laboratories of USA in 1972. It was designed and written by a man named Dennis Ritchie. In the late seventies C began to replace the more familiar languages of that time like PL/I, ALGOL, etc. No one pushed C. It wasn’t made the ‘official’ Bell Labs language. Thus, without any advertisement C’s reputation spread and its pool of users grew. Ritchie seems to have been rather surprised that so many programmers preferred C to older languages like FORTRAN or PL/I, or the newer ones like Pascal and APL. But, that's what happened. Possibly why C seems so popular is because it is reliable, simple and easy to use. Moreover, in an industry where newer languages, tools and technologies emerge and vanish day in and day out, a language that has survived for more than 3 decades has to be really good.

WHY C FIRST WHY NOT JAVA,C++

I believe that nobody can learn C++ or Java directly. This is because while learning these languages you have things like classes, objects, inheritance, polymorphism, templates, exception handling, references, etc. do deal with apart from knowing the actual language elements. Learning these complicated concepts when you are not even comfortable with the basic language elements is like putting the cart before the horse. Hence one should first learn all the language elements very thoroughly using C language before migrating to C++, C# or Java. Though this two step learning process may take more time, but at the end of it you will definitely find it worth the trouble.

C++, C# or Java make use of a principle called Object Oriented Programming (OOP) to organize the program. This organizing principle has lots of advantages to offer. But even while using this organizing principle you would still need a good hold over the language elements of C and the basic programming skills.

Though many C++ and Java based programming tools and frameworks have evolved over the years the importance of C is still unchallenged because knowingly or unknowingly while using these frameworks and tools you would be still required to use the core C language elements—another good reason why one should learn C before C++, C# or Java.

Major parts of popular operating systems like Windows, UNIX, Linux is still written in C. This is because even today when it comes to performance (speed of execution) nothing beats C. Moreover, if one is to extend the operating system to work with new devices one needs to write device driver programs. These programs are exclusively written in C.

Mobile devices like cellular phones and palmtops are becoming increasingly popular. Also, common consumer devices like microwave oven, washing machines and digital cameras are getting smarter by the day. This smartness comes from a microprocessor, an operating system and a program embedded in this devices. These programs not only have to run fast but also have to work in limited amount of memory. No wonder that such programs are written in C. With these constraints on time and space, C is the language of choice while building such operating systems and programs.

You must have seen several professional 3D computer games where the user navigates some object, like say a spaceship and fires bullets at the invaders. The essence of all such games is speed. Needless to say, such games won't become popular if they takes a long time to move the spaceship or to fire a bullet. To match the expectations of the player the game has to react fast to the user inputs. This is where C language scores over other languages. Many popular gaming frameworks have been built using C language.

At times one is required to very closely interact with the hardware devices. Since C provides several language elements that make this interaction feasible without compromising the performance it is the preferred choice of the programmer.

I hope that these are very convincing reasons why one should adopt C as the first and the very important step in your quest for learning programming languages.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009


The versatility of the computer lies in its ability to perform a set of instructions repeatedly. This involves repeating some portion of the program either a specified number of times or until a particular condition is being satisfied. This repetitive operation is done through a loop control instruction
There are three methods by way of which we can repeat a part of a program. They are:

(a) Using a for statement

(b) Using a while statement

(c) Using a do-while statement

a perdurable a day, helps you sleep, work and play

enjoy with C

To learn more about server optimization using C check this link http://www.unixnewbie.org



 
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