We learned how to make a valid name for a C function in "The Essentials of C Programs." Now, we're going to learn more about naming a variable and the C keywords reserved by the C compiler in this hour.
Also in this hour we're going to learn about the four data types of the C language in detail:
* char data type
* int data type
* float data type
* double data type
C Keywords
The C language reserves certain words that have special meanings to the language. Those reserved words are sometimes called C keywords. We should not use the C keywords as variable, constant, or function names in our program. The following are the 32 reserved C keywords:
Keyword Description
auto Storage class specifier
break Statement
case Statement
char Type specifier
const Storage class modifier
continue Statement
default Label
do Statement
double Type specifier
else Statement
enum Type specifier
extern Storage class specifier
float Type specifier
for Statement
goto Statement
if Statement
int Type specifier
long Type specifier
register Storage class specifier
return Statement
short Type specifier
signed Type specifier
sizeof Operator
static Storage class specifier
struct Type specifier
switch Statement
typedef Statement
union Type specifier
unsigned Type specifier
void Type specifier
volatile Storage class modifier
while Statement
Don't worry if we can't remember all the C keywords the first time through. In the rest of the book, we'll become more familiar with them and start to use many of the keywords through examples and exercises.
Note that all C keywords are written in lowercase letters. As I've mentioned, C is a case-sensitive language. Therefore, int, as shown in the list here, is considered as a C keyword, but INT is not.
The char Data Type
An object of the char data type represents a single character of the character set used by our computer. For example, A is a character, and so is a. But 7 is a number.
But a computer can only store numeric code. Therefore, characters such as A, a, B, b, and so on all have a unique numeric code that is used by computers to represent the characters. Usually, a character takes 8 bits (that is, 1 byte) to store its numeric code.
For many computers, the ASCII codes are the de facto standard codes to represent a character set. (ASCII, just for our information, stands for American Standard Code for Information Interchange.) The original ASCII character set has only 128 characters because it uses the lower 7 bits that can represent 27 (that is, 128) characters.
On IBM-compatible PCs, however, the character set is extended to contain a total of 256 (that is, 28) characters. Appendix C, "ASCII Character Set," gives a list of the 256 characters.
Character Variables
A variable that can represent different characters is called a character variable.
We can set the data type of a variable to char by using the following declaration format:
char variablename;
where variablename is the place where we put the name of a variable.
If we have more than one variable to declare, we can either use the following format:
char variablename1;
char variablename2;
char variablename3;
or this one:
char variablename1, variablename2, variablename3;
Character Constants
A character enclosed in single quotes (`) is called a character constant. For instance, `A', `a', `B', and `b' are all character constants that have their unique numeric values in the ASCII character set.
We can remember to use the single quote (`), instead of the double quote ("), in character constants because a character constant represents a single character. We'll see later in the book that the double quote is used to indicate a string of characters.
From the ASCII character set listed in Appendix C, we will find that the unique numeric (decimal) values of `A', `a', `B', and `b' are 65, 97, 66, and 98, respectively. Therefore, given x as a character variable, for instance, the following two assignment statements are equivalent:
x = `A';
x = 65;
So are the following two statements:
x = `a';
x = 97;
Later in this hour, we'll see a program (in Listing 4.2) that converts numeric values back to the corresponding characters.
The Escape Character (\)
Actually, we first saw the escape character (\) in "Writing our First C Program," when we learned to use the newline character (\n) to break a message into two pieces. In the C language, the backslash (\) is called the escape character; it tells the computer that a special character follows.
For instance, when the computer sees \ in the newline character \n, it knows that the next character, n, causes a sequence of a carriage return and a line feed.
Besides the newline character, several other special characters exist in the C language, such as the following:
Character Description
\b The backspace character; moves the cursor to the left one character.
\f The form-feed character; goes to the top of a new page.
\r The return character; returns to the beginning of the current line.
\t The tab character; advances to the next tab stop.
Printing Out Characters
We already know that the printf() function, defined in the C header file stdio.h, can be used to print out messages on the screen. In this section, we're going to learn to use the character format specifier, %c, which indicates to the printf() function that the argument to be printed is a character. Let's first have a look at the program in Listing 4.1, which prints out characters on the screen.
TYPE
Listing 4.1. Printing out characters on the screen.
1: /* 04L01.c: Printing out characters */
2: #include <stdio.h>
3:
4: main()
5: {
6: char c1;
7: char c2;
8:
9: c1 = `A';
10: c2 = `a';
11: printf("Convert the value of c1 to character: %c.\n", c1);
12: printf("Convert the value of c2 to character: %c.\n", c2);
13: return 0;
14: }
OUTPUT
After the executable file of 04L01.c in Listing 4.1 is created, we can run it to see what will be printed out on the screen. On my machine, the executable file is named as 04L01.exe. The following is the output printed on the screen after I run the executable from a DOS prompt:
C:\app> 04L01
Convert the value of c1 to character: A.
Convert the value of c2 to character: a.
C:\app>
ANALYSIS
As we know, line 2 includes the header file, stdio.h, for the printf() function. Lines 5_14 make up the main() function body.
Lines 6 and 7 declare two character variables, c1 and c2, while lines 9 and 10 assign c1 and c2 with the character constants `A' and `a', respectively.
Note that the %c format specifier is used in the printf() function in lines 11 and 12, which tells the computer that the contents contained by c1 and c2 should be printed as characters. When the two statements in lines 11 and 12 are executed, two characters are formatted and output to the screen, based on the numeric values contained by c1 and c2, respectively.
Now look at the program shown in Listing 4.2. This time, %c is used to convert the numeric values back to the corresponding characters.
TYPE
Listing 4.2. Converting numeric values back to characters.
1: /* 04L02.c: Converting numeric values back to characters */
2: #include <stdio.h>
3:
4: main()
5: {
6: char c1;
7: char c2;
8:
9: c1 = 65;
10: c2 = 97;
11: printf("The character that has the numeric value of 65 is: %c.\n", c1);
12: printf("The character that has the numeric value of 97 is: %c.\n", c2);
13: return 0;
14: }
OUTPUT
The following is the output printed on the screen after I run the executable file, 04L02.exe, from a DOS prompt:
C:\app> 04L02
The character that has the numeric value of 65 is: A.
The character that has the numeric value of 97 is: a.
C:\app>
ANALYSIS
The program in Listing 4.2 is similar to the one in Listing 4.1 except for the two statements in lines 9 and 10. Note that in lines 9 and 10 of Listing 4.2, the character variables c1 and c2 are assigned 65 and 97, respectively.
As we know, 65 is the numeric value (decimal) of the A character in the ASCII character set; 97 is the numeric value of a. In lines 11 and 12, the %c format specifier converts the numeric values, 65 and 97, into the A and a, respectively. The A and a characters are then printed out on the screen.
The int Data Type
We saw the integer data type in "The Essential of C programs". The int keyword is used to specify the type of a variable as an integer. Integer numbers are also called whole numbers, which have no fractional part or decimal point. Therefore, the result of an integer division is truncated, simply because any fraction part is ignored.
Depending on the operating system and the C compiler we're using, the length of an integer varies. On most UNIX workstations, for example, an integer is 32 bits long, which means that the range of an integer is from 2147483647 (that is, 231_1) to -2147483648. The range of a 16-bit integer is from 32767 (that is, 215_1) to -32768.
The C compiler I'm using for this book is Visual C++ 1.5, which only provides the 16-bit integer, while a 32-bit version of Visual C++, such as Visual C++ 4.0 or Visual C++ 5.0, supports the 32-bit integer.
Declaring Integer Variables
We also saw the declaration of an integer in "Essential of C programs". The following shows the basic declaration format:
int variablename;
Similar to the character declaration, if we have more than one variable to declare, we can use either the format like this
int variablename1;
int variablename2;
int variablename3;
or like this:
int variablename1, variablename2, variablename3;
Here variablename1, variablename2, and variablename3 indicate the places where we put the names of int variables.
Showing the Numeric Values of Characters
Like the character format specifier (%c) that is used to format a single character, %d, called the integer format specifier, is used to format an integer. We might recall that in line 16 of Listing 3.2, %d is used in the printf() function to format the second argument of the function to an integer.
In this section we're going to study a program, shown in Listing 4.3, that can print out the numeric values of characters by using the integer format specifier %d with printf().
TYPE
Listing 4.3. Showing the numeric values of characters.
1: /* 04L03.c: Showing the numeric values of characters */
2: #include <stdio.h>
3:
4: main()
5: {
6: char c1;
7: char c2;
8:
9: c1 = `A';
10: c2 = `a';
11: printf("The numeric value of A is: %d.\n", c1);
12: printf("The numeric value of a is: %d.\n", c2);
13: return 0;
14: }
OUTPUT
I get the following output on the screen after running the executable file, 04L03.exe:
C:\app> 04L03
The numeric value of A is: 65.
The numeric value of a is: 97.
C:\app>
ANALYSIS
We may find that the program in Listing 4.3 is quite similar to the one in Listing 4.1. As a matter of fact, I simply copied the source code from Listing 4.1 to Listing 4.3 and made changes in lines 11 and 12. The major change I made was to replace the character format specifier (%c) with the integer format specifier (%d).
The two statements in lines 11 and 12 format the two character variables (c1 and c2) by using the integer format specifier %d, and then print out two messages showing the numeric values 65 and 97 that represent, respectively, the characters A and a in the ASCII character set.
The float Data Type
The floating-point number is another data type in the C language. Unlike an integer number, a floating-point number contains a decimal point. For instance, 7.01 is a floating-point number; so are 5.71 and -3.14. A floating-point number is also called a real number.
A floating-point number is specified by the float keyword in the C language. Floating-point numbers can be suffixed with f or F to specify float. A floating-point number without a suffix is double by default. The double data type is introduced later in this lesson.
Like an integer number, a floating-point number has a limited range. The ANSI standard requires that the range be at least plus or minus 1.0*1037. Normally, a floating-point number is represented by taking 32 bits. Therefore, a floating-point number in C is of at least six digits of precision. That is, for a floating-point number, there are at least six digits (or decimal places) on the right side of the decimal point.
Not like an integer division from which the result is truncated and the fraction part is discarded, a floating-point division produces another floating-point number. A floating-point division is carried out if both the divisor and the dividend, or one of them, are floating-point numbers.
For instance, 571.2 / 10.0 produces another floating-point number, 57.12. So do 571.2 / 10 and 5712 / 10.0.
Declaring Floating-Point Variables
The following shows the declaration format for a floating-point variable:
float variablename;
Similar to the character or integer declaration, if we have more than one variable to declare, we can either use the format like this:
float variablename1;
float variablename2;
float variablename3;
or like the following one:
float variablename1, variablename2, variablename3;
The Floating-Point Format Specifier (%f)
Also, in C, we can use the floating-point format specifier (%f) to format our output. Listing 4.4 gives an example showing how to use the format specifier %f with the printf() function.
TYPE
Listing 4.4. Printing out results of integer and floating-point divisions.
1: /* 04L04.c: Integer vs. floating-point divisions */
2: #include <stdio.h>
3:
4: main()
5: {
6: int int_num1, int_num2, int_num3; /* Declare integer variables */
7: float flt_num1, flt_num2, flt_num3; /* Declare floating-point variables */
8:
9: int_num1 = 32 / 10; /* Both divisor and dividend are integers */
10: flt_num1 = 32 / 10;
11: int_num2 = 32.0 / 10; /* The divisor is an integer */
12: flt_num2 = 32.0 / 10;
13: int_num3 = 32 / 10.0; /* The dividend is an integer */
14: flt_num3 = 32 / 10.0;
15:
16: printf("The integer divis. of 32/10 is: %d\n", int_num1);
17: printf("The floating-point divis. of 32/10 is: %f\n", flt_num1);
18: printf("The integer divis. of 32.0/10 is: %d\n", int_num2);
19: printf("The floating-point divis. of 32.0/10 is: %f\n", flt_num2);
20: printf("The integer divis. of 32/10.0 is: %d\n", int_num3);
21: printf("The floating-point divis. of 32/10.0 is: %f\n", flt_num3);
22: return 0;
23: }
OUTPUT
The following output is a copy from the screen after the executable file, 04L04.exe, is run on my machine (I did get several warning messages about type conversions while I was compiling the program in Listing 4.4, but I ignored them all because I'd like to create an executable file and show we the differences between the int data type and the float data type.):
C:\app> 04L04
The integer divis. of 32/10 is: 3
The floating-point divis. of 32/10 is: 3.000000
The integer divis. of 32.0/10 is: 3
The floating-point divis. of 32.0/10 is: 3.200000
The integer divis. of 32/10.0 is: 3
The floating-point divis. of 32/10.0 is: 3.200000
C:\app>
ANALYSIS
Inside the main() function, the two statements in lines 6 and 7 declare three integer variables, int_num1, int_num2, and int_num3, and three floating-point variables, flt_num1, flt_num2, and flt_num3.
Lines 9 and 10 assign the result of 32/10 to int_num1 and flt_num1, respectively; 32.0 / 10 to int_num2 and flt_num2 in lines 11 and 12, and 32 / 10.0 to int_num3 and flt_num3 in lines 13 and 14.
Then, lines 16_21 print out the values contained by the three int variables and the three floating-point variables. Note that, %d is used for the integer variables, and the floating-point specifier (%f) is used for formatting the floating-point variables in the printf() function.
Because the truncation occurs in the integer division of 32 / 10, flt_num1 contains 3.000000, not 3.200000, which we can see from the second line of the output. However, flt_num2 and flt_num3 are assigned 3.200000, because both 32.0 / 10 and 32 / 10.0 are considered as the floating-point division.
But int_num2 and int_num3, as integer variables, discard respectively the fraction parts of the floating-point divisions of 32.0 / 10 and 32 / 10.0. Therefore, we just see the integer 3 in both the third and fifth lines of the output.
The double Data Type
In the C language, a floating-point number can also be represented by another data type, called the double data type. In other words, we can specify a variable by the double keyword, and assign the variable a floating-point number.
The difference between a double data type and a float data type is that the former normally uses twice as many bits as the latter. Therefore, a double floating-point number is of at least 10 digits of precision, although the ANSI standard does not specify it for the double data type.
Using Scientific Notation
The C language uses scientific notation to help we write lengthy floating-point numbers.
In scientific notation, a number can be represented by the combination of the mantissa and the exponent. The format of the notation is that the mantissa is followed by the exponent, which is prefixed by e or E. Here are two examples:
[mantissa]e[exponent],
and
[mantissa]E[exponent].
For instance, 5000 can be represented by 5e3 in scientific notation. Likewise, -300 can be represented by -3e2, and 0.0025 by 2.5e-3.
Correspondingly, the format specifier, %e or %E, is used to format a floating-point number in scientific notation. The usage of %e or %E in the printf() function is the same as %f.
Naming a Variable
We've learned how to make a valid function name. In this section, let's focus on naming variables. Function names and variable names are both identifiers in C.
The following are all the characters we can use to make a valid variable name:
* Characters A through Z and a through z.
* Digit characters 0 through 9, which can be used in any position except the first of a variable name.
* The underscore character (_).
For instance, stop_sign, Loop3, and _pause are all valid variable names.
Now, let's see what we cannot use in variable naming:
* A variable name cannot contain any C arithmetic signs.
* A variable name cannot contain any dots (.).
* A variable name cannot contain any apostrophes (`).
* A variable name cannot contain any other special symbols such as *, @, #, ?, and so on.
Some invalid variable names, for example, are, 4flags, sum-result, method*4, and what_size?.
WARNING
Never use the C keywords reserved in the C language, or the names of the standard C library functions, as variable names in our C program.
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