3.1.

Character Sets, Keywords & Data Types

Character Sets
The set of characters that used to form words, numbers, and expression in C is called
character set. The combination of these characters form words, numbers and expressions
in C. The characters in C are grouped into the following four categories:
• Letters or Alphabets: Upper Case / Lower Cases (A-Z, a-z)
• Digits: 0 to 9
• Special Characters: (,,;?,””,\,/-,>,^&,%,*,/=,+!,{()}>,<,[~,! etc)
• White Space: (Blank space, Horizontal tab, Carriage return, New line, Form feed)

Keywords
Keywords are predefined words for C program. All keywords have fixed meaning and these
meanings cannot be changed. They serve as basic building blocks for program
statements. They are as: double, int, void, struct, typedef, char, default, do, goto, if else,
return, for, while, switch etc. These words are used for pre-defined purpose and cannot be
used as identifiers to declare variable name. Thus the keywords are also called reserved
words.

Data Types
There are various data types for example 10 and 100.4 are data of different items. The
data 10 is integer number where as 100.4 is fractional number. There are other varieties of
data type supported by C, each may be represented differently within computers memory.
The varieties of data type of C supports are:
• Primary data type
• User-defined data type and
• Derived data types
The primary data types and derived are discussed in this section. The user defined data
types such as arrays, functions, structures and pointers are discussed in next chapters.
There are five primary data types they are:
• Integer (int)
• Floating point type (float)
• Double-precision floating type (double)
• Character Type (char) and
• Void Type (void)

Integer Type
The integers are whole numbers, non fractional numbers. Generally integer requires 16
bytes (2 bit) of storage area. C has further three types of integer they are int, short, and
long in all three data types there are two sign and unsigned forms. The appropriate data
types are used according to our requirements.
Signed Integer(signed int) Unsigned integer(unsigned int)
It represents both positive and negative It represents only positive integers
integers.
The data type qualifiers is signed int or int
The data qualifier is Unsigned int or
Variable are defined as signed int a, b; unsigned. Variables are defined as unsigned
int a,b;
By default all int are signed Unsigned int have to declared explicitly
It reserves 16 bits(2 bytes) in memory It reserves 16 bits(2 bytes)in memory
Int represents values of range -32768 to It represents integer values of range 0 to -2
+32767 (2-15 to 2 15 -1) 16
-1 (0 to 65535)
Its conversion character is %d Its conversion character is %u

Signed short Integer(signed short Unsigned Short integer(unsigned short

int) int)
It represents both positive and negative It represents only positive integers
integers.
The data type qualifiers is signed int or The data qualifier is unsigned short int or
short int unsigned. Variables are defined as unsigned
Variable are defined as signed short int a, short int a,b;
b;
By default all short int are signed. Unsigned short int have to declared explicitly
It reserves 16 bits(2 bytes) in memory It reserves 16 bits(2 bytes)in memory
Int represents values of range -0 to 255( 8 It represents integer values of range (-127 to
bits) 128) bits
Its conversion character is %d or %i Its conversion character is %u

Signed long Integer(signed long int) Unsigned Long integer(unsigned long

int)
It represents both positive and negative It represents only positive integers
integers.
The data type qualifiers is signed long int or The data qualifier is unsigned long int or
long int . Variable are defined as signed long unsigned. Variables are defined as unsigned
int a, b; long int a,b;
By default all short int are signed. Unsigned long int have to declared explicitly
It reserves 32 bits(4 bytes) in memory It reserves 32bits(4 bytes)in memory
Int represents values of range -2147483648 It represents integer values of range
to +2147483647 (-2 31 to +2 31 -1) 0 to +2 32 -1 (0 to 4294967295)
Its conversion character is %ld Its conversion character is %lu
Floating Point Types
Floating point types are factional numbers. They are defined in C with keyword float.
Floating numbers reserve 32 bytes (4) bytes of storage with 6 digits of precision.

Float
• It reserves 4 bytes in memory
• It represents fractional numbers of range 3.4* 10-38 to -3.4 1+38
• The data type qualifier is float variable declaration as float a;
• Its conversion character is % f.

Double Precision Floating Point Type

When accuracy provided by a float number is not sufficient, the type double can be used
to define the number. A double data type number used 64 bits (8 bytes) giving a precision
of 14 digits. There are double expression numbers. To extent the precision further long
double can be used which use 80 bits (10bytes) giving 18 digits of precision.

Character Type
A single character can be defined as a character type data. Characters are stored in 8 bits
(1 byte). The qualifier is char. The qualifier signed and unsigned may be used with char.
The unsigned char has values between 0 to 255. The sighed char has values form -128 to
127. The conversion character for this type is % c.

Void Data Type

The void type has no return values. This is usually used to specify a type of function when
it does not return any value to the calling function.

User Defined Data Types

C supports type definition which allows defining an identifier that would represent and
existing data type. The typedef statement is used to give new name to an existing data
type. It allows user to define new data types that are equal to existing data types. It takes
the general form
• typedef int integer;
Here integer symbolizes int data type. Now we can declare int variable a as
integer a instead of int a.
• typedef float decimal;
Here float f is equivalent to decimal f. Thus typedef statement is used to alias
existing data types as convenient.
 3.2. Constants and Variables

Constant
Constant is quantity that does not change during the execution of program. C supports
constant can be divided into different category. They are:

Integer Constants
Integer constant refers to a sequence of digits with not decimal point either positive or
negative. If no sign precedes an integer constant, it is assumed to be positive. No commas
or blank spaces are allowed within the integer constant. Example 345,456,-8765.
There are three type of integer namely decimal, octal and hexadecimal.
Decimal Integer Constant: The decimal integer constant are the set of digits 0 to 9
proceeded by an optional – or + signs. Here decimal does not imply fractional numbers. It
represent numbers having base of 10.
Octal Integer Constants: An octal integer constant consists of any combination of digits
for the set form 0 to 7, with leading 0. Valid example are 074, 0676.
Hexadecimal Integer Constants: A hexadecimal integer constant consists of any
combination of digits form the set of 0 to 9 and ABCDEF with leading) 0X examples are
0x345, 0x123, 0xaA.

Real Constants
Real constants are often called floating point constants. They can be written into two
forms- fractional form and exponential form. Real constants are two types.
Fractional Constant: Fractional form of constants must have at least one digit and a
decimal point. It can either be positive or negative but default sing is positive. Commas or
blank space are not allowed within a real constant. For example: 23.56, 45.9,-67.5003 are
in fractional form.
Exponential Constant: In exponential representation, the real constant is represented
in two parts mantissa and exponents. The digit before is called mantissa and after is called
exponent. The mantissa part may be positive or negative sign but default is positive.
Similarly, the exponents must have at least one digit which can either positive or negative
for eg. +3.2e5, 9.1e6.

Character Constant
A character constant is single character alphabet digit or special symbol enclosed within
single ‘ ‘ marks. For example ‘A’ is a valid character. The maximum length of a character
constant can be only one character. It must enclose by single code for example: ‘a’,’g’.

String Constant
A string constant is a sequence of characters enclosed in double quotes. It may contain
letters numbers or special characters or blank space. However it does not have an
equivalent ASCII value. For example “Hello good morning”. This must be enclosed by
double coated(“”).
Variable
A variable is a symbolic name which is used to store data items. Variables are defined in a
computer program to represent an item of data input by the user, any intermediate
calculations results. Unlike constant the value of variable can change during the execution
of a program. The same variable can store different values at a different portion of
program.

Variable name may constant of letters, digits, or underscore characters. Since a variable is
an identifier, the rules for naming variables are similar to those of identifiers.

Some valid examples data type are: firstname, num1,x2, email_id etc can be used
Some invalid examples are: data type, 1nepal, (total), first name, %male. etc.

Need for Variable Declaration

The declaration of variable associates the variable with a specific data type. This means
each variable must be declared or defined as what type it is. By doing this the compiler
will allocate a memory space in the computer as required by data type.

Thus variables are assigned with specific data type according to the values to be stored. If
we have integer values to store, we need to define a variable of type “int”. It gives the
name of variable and its types should have matched properly, when we declared it. It
allocates appropriate memory space according to the data types declared in front of it.

Rules for Variable Declaration

• The variable should be stored with only letters or underscore.(itn i; int_p;)
• The variable name should not be any keyword.( int auto,int int, int do;)
• The variable name is case sensitive characters.(if you declared a variable x then
while accessing it do not use X: these two are different representation)
• No two variables of the same name are allowed.(int i; int i are not allowed in same
program)
• It must starts form letters/alphabets.( int a1, char p2 not but int 1a are not allowed)

Preprocessor Directives
Preprocessor directive is a collection of special statements that are executed in the
beginning of compilation process. They are written in source program before the main
program. Preprocessor directives follows special syntax rules that are different form
normal C syntax. They all begins with the symbol # (Hash) and do not require semicolon
at end.
#include<stdio.h> /*used for standard input and output*/
#include<conio.h> /* used for console input and output*/
#define PI 3.1416 /*defining symbol*/
#define TRUE 1 /*used for defining TRUE as 1*/
 #define FALSE 0 /*used for defining FALSE as 0*/
These statements are called preprocessor directives as they preprocessed source
program before compilation of any source code in the program. The other codes in the
program are compiled sequentially line –by line.

Escape Sequence
An escape sequence is non-printing characters used in C. It is character combination of
backslash followed by latter or by combination of digits. Escape sequences are typically
used to specify actions such as carriage returns and tab movements on terminals and
printers. They are also used to provide literal represents of characters that have special
meanings such as double quotation mark (“”).

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
void main(){
printf (“Hello\n I am testing escape sequence”);
getch(); }

Generally, any text written within double quotes (“”) in printf () function will be displayed
on the screen. There are some more escape sequences .

\a Alert purpose by an audible alert or beep sound

\b To delete one character to the left of current cursor position
\f Form feet to feed a blank page when the user prints the
document
\n Line feed next line
\r Carriage return move cursor to the next line during typing
\t Horizontal tabs to move cursor to next tab stop position
\0 For null characters

Symbolic Constant
A symbolic constant is a name that is used in place of sequence of characters. The
character may represent numeric, a character constant or a string constant. When a
program is compiled, each occurrence of symbolic constant is replaced by its
corresponding character sequences.
 3.3. Operators

Operator
An operator is a symbol that operates some sort of calculation. Operators are used in
programming to perform certain mathematical or logical manipulations. For example, in a
simple expression 9+67 the symbol “+” is called an operator which operates on two items
9 and 67 are operands. The data items that operate through operator are called operands.
Here 9 and 67 are operands. According to the number of operands required for an
calculation, we can classify operators into unary, binary and ternary.
Unary Operators: The operator which requires only one operand is known as unary
operators. For example: ++ increment – decrement, a++,--a,++a, Here only one variable
is used.
Binary Operators: The operators which requires two operand are known as binary
operators for example + - * / >, < , a+b, a/b etc are binary operator.
Ternary Operators: The operators that require three operands are known as ternary
operators for example “?:c” is conditional operator.

C operators can be classified into a number of categories

• Arithmetic operators
• Relational operators
• Logical operators
• Assignment operators
• Increment and decrement operator
• Conditional operators
• Conditional operators
• Bit wise operators
• Special operators

Arithmetic Operators
An arithmetic operator performs arithmetic operations. There are five arithmetic operators
in C.

Operator Meaning Example Output int A=20, B=6, C=6;

+ Addition A+B 26
- Subtraction A-B 14
* Multiplication A*B 120
/ Division A/B 3
% Modulo A%C 2(gives remainder)

The +,-,*, / all work in the same way in usual mathematics. The modulo operator (%)
calculates remainder after division of one integer operand by another integer operand. So
the remainder of 20 divided 6 will give remainder 2 but 8%2=0 gives zero as remainder.
Integer Arithmetic
When the operands in a single arithmetic expression such as a+b are integer, the
expression is called an integer arithmetic expression. Integer arithmetic always yields an
integer value. That is why the operation 20/6 in the above example yields 3. The factional
positions of actual results (3.333333) are truncated.
Division Rules
int/int=int float/float=float
int/float=float float/int=float
During integer decision if both operands are of same sign, the results truncated towards
zero.
4/7=0. However if one of the operands is negative then the direction of truncated is
machine dependent. This is -4/7 may be 0 or 1 depending upon the machine. Similarly
during modulo, the sign of the result is always the sign of the first operand. 20% 3=2,
-20%3=-2, the modulo division operation cannot used on floating point data.

Relational Operator
Relational operators are used to compare two similar operands, and depending on their
relation, take some actions. The relational operators compare their left hand side operand
with the right hand side operand by using lesser than, greater than, lesser than or equal to
relations. The value of relational expression is either 1 or 0 (if conditions is false 0 will
produce where as if condition is true result become 1).

Operator Meaning Example Output(int a=20,b=6)

< Less Than A<b 0
> Greater than a>b 1
<= Less than or equal A<=b 0
>= Greater than or a>=b 1
equal
== Equal to A==b 0
!= Not equal to A!=b 1

Logical Operator
Logical operators are used to compare or evaluate logical and relational expressions. The
operands of these operators must produce either 1 or 0. The whole result produce by
these operators is also either true or false. There are three logical operators used in C
programming.
(&&) Logical AND (||) Logical OR (!)Logical NOT

A B A&&B A||B !A !B
0 0 0 0 1 0
0 1 0 1 1 0
1 0 0 1 0 1
1 1 1 1 0 1
Assignment Operator
Assignment operators are used to assign the result of an expression to a variable. The
common assignment operator is =. There are other various shorthand’s assignments they
are:
a+=b // a=a+b
a-=b // a=a-b
a/=b // a=a/b
a%=b // a=a%b
• If two operands in assignment expressions are different data type, then the value of
expression on the right will automatically be converted to the type of identifier on
left.
• A floating-point value may be truncated if assignment to an integer.
• A double precision value may be rounded if assignment to floating point value.
• An integer quantity may be altered if assignment to a shorter integer variable.

Increment and Decrement Operators

The increment operator is to increase the variable of an operand by 1, and the decrement
operator is used to decrease the value of an operand by 1. They take only one operand, so
called unary operator.
The increment/decrement operators are prefix or postfix in prefix notation, the value of
variable is first incremented or decremented and then the value is assigned to the
variable.
Similarly, the postfixes, first the previous value of variable is used and then the value is
incremented or decremented.

Conditional Operator
The conditional operator that takes three operands so it is also called ternary operator.
The syntax of this operator is Expression1? Expression2: Expression 3.
Here, expression 1 is evaluated first, if Expression 1 is true, the value of Expression 2 is
assigned to the large variable. Else Expression 1 is false then value of Expression3 is
assigned to the large variable.

Comma Operator
The comma operator can be used to link related expressions together. Comma linked lists
of expressions are evaluated from left to right and the value of the rightmost expression is
the value of the combined expression.
N2=(n1=50, n2=10,n1+n2)
This will first assign the value 50 to n1, then again 10 is assign to n2 variables. The finally
the sum is calculated then assigned to N2 variable (n1+n2 ie 60). Since comma operator
has lower precedence of all operators.

Sizeof Operator
The sizeof operator is used with an operand to return the number of bytes it occupies. It is
a compile time operand. The operand may be a constant, value or data type qualifier as
following. The syntax sizeof(argument). Here sizeof operator gives its argument size.
Operator Precedence
The precedence is used to determine how an expression is evaluated and which order it
will start to evaluation among various operators used. There are distinct levels of
precedence and an operator may belong to one of these levels. The operators at the
higher level of precedence are evaluated first. The operators of same precedence are
evaluated either form left to right or right to left depending to the level . This is known as
associative property of an operator.

Precedence Operator Description Associative

1 (Highest) ()[] Function call Left to right
2 +,-,+ Unary,increment/decrement, Right to left
+,--,!,~,*,&, address, pointer, type cast
sizeof, type
3 *,/,% Multiplication/ division/modulo l-R
4 +,- Addition/division L-R
5 <<,<=<>,>= Relational L-R
6 ==,!= Relational L-R
7 &,|<&&,||?: Logical L-R
8 =,*=,/=,+= Assignment Right to Left
9(Lowest) , Comma L-R

Type Conversion in Expression

C allows mixing of constants and variables of different types in single expression. In such
situation, one type must be converted to another before evaluation can be done. This kind
of conversion is called type conversion. The common type conversion are two types
implicitly or explicitly.

Implicit Type Conversion

When there are constants and variables of different types in an expression, C
automatically converts any intermediate values to the proper type. This conversion
assures that the expressions can be evaluated without losing any digits inside. This
automatically convert typed is known as implicit type conversion.

During evaluation if operands are of different types, the lower type is automatically
converted into the higher type before the operation proceeds. The conversion takes place
according to rule called the conversion hierarchy.
The final result of an expression is converted to the type of variable on the left of the
assignment signs before assignment the value to it. However the following changes are
introduced before the final assignment.

Float to int causes truncation of the fractional part

Double to float causes rounded of digits
Long int to int causes dropping of the excess higher order bits.

Explicit Type Conversion

Instance where the type can be converted forcefully by the user himself is called explicit
type conversion or casting value. The general rule to cast is (type name) expression.

N1=(int)9.50 9.50 is converted to integer by truncation

N2=(int)16.9/(int)6.5 Evaluation is done 16/6, resulting 2
N3=(double)sum/n Sum is calculate to double and division is done
in floating mode
N4= (int) (a+b) The results is converted then assign
N3=sin((double)x) X is converted to double and the sin value is
calculated and assign
 3.4. Input and Output Operations/Management

Formatting scanf() and printf() functions

A program without any input or output has not meaning; generally a program reads input
data form keyboard or other files. The program then processes input data and result is
displayed on the screen or monitor. Let’s consider program to create mark sheet of
student then program must take marks of five subjects then after getting some
information the percentage and division will be calculated. Finally the required results is
shown in the screen.

C has number of input and output functions, when a program needs data. We take the
data through input functions and results to output devices through output functions. As
keyboard is standard input devices, the input functions used to read data form keyboard
are called standard input function.

The standard input functions which are scanf(), getchar(), getche(), getch(), gets().
Similarly output functions are printf(), putchar(), putch(), puts (). The standard library
<stdio.h>provides functions for input and output. The instruction include<stdio.h> tells
the compiler to search <stdio.h>from the standard i/o directory and place its contents in
the program. The content of header files become part of source code. The input and
output factions are two types: Formatted functions and Unformatted functions.

Formatted Function
Formatted functions allow to give input/ read form the keyboard and output displayed on
screen to can be formatted according to user requirements. The input function scanf() and
printf() are fall under this category. While displaying certain data on screen we can specify
the number of digits after point, number of spaces before the data, and position where
output is to be displayed are handled through there functions.

Formatted Input/Scanf()
Formatted input refers to an input data that has been arranged in a particular format for
example 50,30.4, name. This line contains three types of data and must be read according
to its format. The first part should move into variable int, the second must be variable in
float and the third into char. This is possible in C by using scanf() function.
The built in function scanf() can be used to enter input data to the computer form the
standard input devices. The functions can be used to enter any conditional or numerical
values, single characters or string. In other word, it is used for runtime assignments of
variables.
Syntax: scanf(“control string”,args,arg2,args);
The address of location where the data is stored signifies in control string. It represents
pointer that indicates the address of data items within computer memory (&). The control
string consists of individual groups of data format with one group for each input data
items. Each data format must begin with a percentage sign (%).
Formatted Output/Printf()
The formatted output refers to the output of data that has been arranged in particular
format. The printf() is a built in function which is used to output data from the computer
output devices on screen. The printf statements can be used to control the alignment and
spacing.
Syntax: printf (“control string”, args,args,args);
The control string consists of four type items
• Characters that will be printed on the screen
• Format specification that define output format for display of each items
• Escape sequences that define output format for display
• Any combination of characters, format specification and escape sequences
The control string has as form:
printf (“ %[flag][field][.precision] conversion character”);

Flags [Optional]: The flag affects the appearance of the output. They must be placed
just after percentage sign. -+,0, o, x or blank space are symbol . – indicates the left
justified. + indicates +ve or –ve numbers. A blank space will precede each positive signed
numerical data. o it refers octal similarly x refers hexadecimal numbers.
Output of Integer Numbers: %wd is used to display in a desired width of integer
values. Where w is the minimum field width for the output and d specifies that the value
printed is an integer.
Output of Single Character: A single character can be designed in a desired position
using format %wc.
Precision [Optional]: The operation of precision field depends on data type of
conversion. It must start with period (.).
Output of Real Numbers: The precision can further be extended using field width of
form w.pf where w is field width and p is precision. The conversion character is %f.
Output String: The format specifies for output string is form of %w. p s where w is width
for display and p instruct that only the first p character of string are displayed, it count
white space too.

Unformatted Functions
Unformatted function do not allow user to read or display data in desired format. These
library functions are available in the header files they are: getchar(), putchar(), gets(),
puts(), getche(), getch() are unformatted functions.

getchar() and putchar(): The getchar function reads character form standard input
devices. It takes the following format char p=getchar();. Similarly putchar () function
display a character to standard out devices. It takes flowing format putchar (character
variable);

getch(), getche() and putch(): The function getche() and getch() reads single
character of instant of time, it is type without waiting for enter key to be hit. The
difference between them is that getch() reads the character typed without echoing it on
the screen, while getche () reads the character and echoes display it onto the screen.
getch() format is char variable=getch(); the function putch() prints a character onto the
screen. It has the form putch (char variable name);