601.
220 Intermediate Programming
MIDTERM REVIEW QUESTIONS
SOLUTIONS (answers bolded in blue)
These sample questions are meant to roughly convey the question formats and topic coverage
of the midterm. This is not a sample midterm, in that it is not meant to be representative of the
actual length of the midterm.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Choose the SINGLE BEST option for each of the following questions. Clearly indicate
your choice; ambiguous answers will be marked incorrect. Assume appropriate variable
declarations have been made and the necessary header files have been included.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Which of the following declares a variable 'dptr' which will be a pointer
to a double number?
a) double & dptr; b) dnum * dptr;
c) double * dptr; d) dptr -> double;
2) The following code segment uses an `int *` variable called `arr`:
int n = 0;
while(*arr < 0) {
arr++;
n++;
}
printf("%d\n", n);
Which of the following declarations for `arr` is NOT compatible with this
code segment?
a) int arr[]; b) const int *arr;
c) int * const arr; d) int *arr;
3) Let a and b be integer variables and let a=1, b=4. Which expression DOES
NOT evaluate to true?
a) a / b b) a - b
c) a % b d) b - a
4) Consider this code segment:
int my_func() {
int a = 4;
for(int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
// LOOKY HERE
for(int j = 0; j < i; j++) {
int c = i * j;
a += c;
}
}
return a;
}
Which variables are in scope at the point indicated by "LOOKY HERE"?
a) a and i b) a, i and c
c) a, i, j and c d) only c
5) Which of the following prints "true"?
a) if(0) { printf("true\n"); }
b) if(0 && 1) { printf("true\n"); }
c) if(-1) { printf("true\n"); }
d) if(!4) { printf("true\n"); }
6) Which of the following prints "true"?
a) if(1 >> 1) { printf("true\n"); }
b) if(0 << 4) { printf("true\n"); }
c) if(1 & 0) { printf("true\n"); }
d) if(1 >> 0) { printf("true\n"); }
7) Assume `int a` is greater than 0. Which of the following is true when a is even and false
when a is odd?
a) (a & 1) == 0 b) (a >> 1) != 0
c) (a / 2) == 0 d) (a % 2) != 0
8) Let i be an integer variable initially equal to 0. Which of the following prints a FINITE and
NON-EMPTY list of EVEN numbers?
a) while(i > 0 && i < 10) {
printf("%d ", i);
i += 2;
}
b) while(i > 0 || i < 10) {
printf("%d ", i);
i += 2;
}
c) do {
printf("%d ", i);
i += 2;
} while(i > 0 && i < 10);
d) do {
printf("%d ", i);
i += 2;
} while(i > 0 || i < 10);
9) Which of the following FAILS to print all the characters in the zero-
terminated string s ?
a) char *cur = s;
while(*cur != '\0') {
printf("%c", *cur);
cur++;
}
b) char *cur = s;
while(*cur != '\0') {
printf("%c", cur[0]);
cur++;
}
c) int i = 0;
while(i < strlen(s)) {
printf("%c", s[i++]);
}
d) for(int i = 0; i < strlen(s); i++) {
printf("%c", s[i++]);
}
10) Which of the following assigns the address of variable 'char ch' to
variable 'char *cptr' ?
a) &ch -> cptr; b) cptr = ch;
c) *cptr = *ch; d) cptr = &ch;
11) Which of the following assigns the value '?' to variable 'char ch' assuming that 'char *cptr'
points to 'ch' ?
a) &cptr = '?'; b) cptr = '?';
c) *cptr = '?'; d) cptr = & '?';
12) Consider the following struct:
struct some_data {
char *name;
char student_id[10];
float *grade_list;
};
If sizeof(char) == 1 and sizeof(void *) == 8 and the struct is not padded, what is sizeof(struct
some_data)?
a) 36 b) 96
c) 28 d) 26
13) Consider this code segment:
int a = 5;
float b = a / 2;
Which of the following statements is true?
a) At the end, b equals 2.0
b) At the end, a's type has changed to float
c) The a operand's type is promoted to float
prior to the division
d) The 2 operand's type is promoted to float
prior to the division
14) Which of the following declares a zero-terminated string initialized to "work it" ?
a) char str[] = 'work it'; b) char str[7] = "work it";
c) string str = "work it"; d) char str[8] = "work it";
15) Which of the following prints the character 'i' using 'str' from the previous question?
a) printf("%p", str+5); b) printf("%c", str+6);
c) printf("%c", *(str+5)); d) printf("%c", *(str+6));
16) Which of the following reads a string from standard input into character array 'word'?
a) scanf("%c", word); b) scanf("%s", &word);
c) scanf("%s", word); d) scanf("%s", *word);
17) Say 's1' and 's2' have type 'char *', with 's2' pointing to a string and 's1' pointing to an
uninitialized array of chars. Which code snippet below successfully copies the contents of string
's2' into 's1', including the terminator? Assume 's1' has enough space.
a) s1 = s2;
b) while(*s2 != '\0') {
*s1++ = *s2++;
}
c) do {
s1[i] = s2[i];
i++;
} while(s2[i-1] != '\0');
d) for(int i = 0; i < strlen(s2); i++) {
s1[i] = s2[i];
}
18) Which is the correct prototype for the `calloc` function?
a) void calloc(size_t) b) void calloc(size_t, size_t)
c) void *calloc(size_t) d) void *calloc(size_t, size_t)
19) A memory leak occurs when:
a) a locally declared array goes out of scope
b) two functions make modifications to the same
address in memory
c) dynamically-allocated memory is not freed before
the program exits
d) a function returns a pointer to a locally-declared
array
20) You are adding elements to a dynamically-allocated array and you eventually
discover that the array is full. Which function is most appropriate for making room
for the new elements?
a) strlen b) realloc
c) scanf d) free
21) Which of the following declares a structure containing a character array
with enough space to hold a 6-letter word and a null terminator, as well
as two real numbers?
a) struct s5 { char car[7]; float n1; float n2; };
b) struct s5 { char car[6]; float n1; float n2; };
c) struct s5 { char car[7]; int n1; int n2; };
d) struct s5 { char car[6]; int n1; int n2; };
22) Which of the following declares a structure containing an integer, a
character and a field of the structure type in the above question?
a) struct s6 { int num, char ch, s5; };
b) struct s6 { int num; char ch; s5 s5var; };
c) struct s6 { int num; char ch; struct s5 s5var; };
d) struct s6 { int num, char ch, struct s5; };
23) Which of the following declares a variable to be of the structure type
from the previous question?
a) s6 s6var; b) typedef struct s6 s6var;
c) typedef s6 s6var; d) struct s6 s6var;
24) Assuming 'var5' has been declared a variable of the structure type s5 above,
which of the following initializes its character array to the empty string?
a) var5.car = ""; b) var5->car = "";
c) var5->car = '\0'; d) var5.car[0] = '\0';
The next few questions assume the following definitions:
struct it {
int num;
char word[5];
};
typedef struct thing {
float f;
struct it t;
} TYPEthing;
struct it s2 = {3, "yo"};
TYPEthing t1;
25) Which of the following initializes t1 so that all numbers are 0 and all strings are empty?
a) t1.f = 0.0f; t1.num = 0; t1.word[0] = '\0';
b) t1.f = 0.0f; t1.t.num = 0; t1.t.word[0] = '\0';
c) t1.f = 0.0f; t1.t->num = 0; t1.t->word[0] = '\0';
d) t1->f = 0.0f; t1->t->num = 0; t1->t->word[0] = '\0';
26) Which of the following reads the next word in the text file pointed to by
'fptr' into the word field of variable s2 above?
a) scanf(fptr, "%s", s2.word); b) fscanf(fptr, "%s", s2.word);
c) fscanf(fptr, "%s", &s2.word); d) scanf(s2.word, fptr);
27) Which of the following sets file pointer 'fptr' for reading the existing
file 'f1.txt' ?
a) fptr = fopen("f1.txt", "r"); b) fopen(fptr,"f1.txt", r);
c) fptr = fopen('f1.txt', 'r'); d) fopen(fptr,"f1.txt", e);
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Short-answer questions. Please respond as indicated. When writing C code, include all
required punctuation (even ;) and aim for correct syntax.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28) What is the relative order of the following four operations when creating
and running a C program? (number them 1-4)
_1__ edit
_4__ execute
_2__ preprocess
_3__ compile
29) Write the function prototype for a function called 'thing' that has two float arguments and
returns nothing.
void thing(float, float);
30) strcpy is a function that copies the characters in a string (second argument) to a destination
array (first argument), including the null terminator. In the blank space below, write a new
version of the first line of this code segment such that the strcpy succeeds. Use only stack
memory and try not to waste memory.
char *s1; // change me
char *s2 = "good luck";
strcpy(s1, s2); // I must succeed
char s1[10];
31) Why does the call to realloc in the following code segment fail?
int ra[20];
ra = realloc(ra, 10 * sizeof(int));
ra is not dynamically allocated; realloc can only adjust a pointer allocated with malloc or
the like
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Write-a-function questions. Please respond as indicated. When writing C code, include all
required punctuation and aim for correct syntax. Use comments to explain your approach.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
32) Write a C function called 'descending' that takes two integer parameters
and returns a dynamically-allocated array of consecutive integers. The first
parameter specifies the number of elements in the array and the second
specifies the first number to appear in the array. The array elements
should be descending, so 'descending(3, 7)' should return a dynamically
allocated array containing {7, 6, 5}.
int *descending(int num_elem, int first) {
int *array = malloc(sizeof(int) * num_elem);
for (int i = 0; i < num_elem; i++) {
array[i] = first - i;
}
return array;
}
33) Write C statements which use the above function to create a descending
array with 10 elements where the first number in the list is -20. Assign
the result to a variable. Don't worry about freeing memory here.
int *array = descending(10, -20);
34) Write a C function called shifty that takes a string (character array) and
an integer shift value as parameters. The function should change the
string such that each alphabet character in the original string is
replaced by a new character which is shifted forward in the alphabet
by the specified shift value. When the end of the alphabet is
reached, wrap around to the beginning when shifting. Preserve
capitalization. For example,
char s[] = "Good luck! 2u";
shifty(s, 16);
printf("%s\n", s); // results in "Weet bksa! 2k"
because abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz -> qrstuvwxyzabcdefghijklmnop with
shifty(s, 16). You may use functions from the ctype library.
void shifty (char *a, int shift) {
int len = strlen(a);
for (int i = 0; i < len; i++) {
if (isalpha(a[i])) { // no need to modify non-alphas
char start = ‘A’; // assume we’re dealing with upper case
if (a[i] >= ‘a’) { // then adjust since it’s lower case
start = ‘a’;
}
a[i] = ((a[i] - start + shift) % 26) + start;
}
}
}
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Indicate the output of the given program or code segment.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
35) What is the output of the following program?
/**************************************************************/
#include <stdio.h>
int fa (int a, int *b) {
int c = 5;
a = 20;
*b = a / 2;
return *b / 2;
}
int main() {
int c = 6, b = 12, d = fa(3, &b);
printf("1) %d %d %d\n", d, c, b);
c = 6; b = 12; d = fa(b, &c);
printf("2) %d %d %d\n", d, c, b);
return 0;
}
>>> OUTPUT:
1) 5 6 10
2) 5 10 12
36) What is the output of the following program? (Ignore memory leaks.)
/*******************************************************/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
struct node {
char ch;
struct node * next;
};
// Print each list node's 'ch' character, in order
void pout(struct node *head) {
while(head != NULL) {
printf("%c ", head->ch);
head = head->next;
}
printf("\n");
}
struct node *mystery(struct node *head) {
struct node *cur = head;
while(cur != NULL) {
struct node *temp = malloc(sizeof(struct node));
temp->ch = cur->ch;
temp->next = head;
head = temp;
cur = cur->next;
}
return head;
}
//code continued on next page
int main() {
struct node *head;
struct node *temp;
char ch = 'A';
head = malloc(sizeof(struct node));
head->ch = ch;
head->next = NULL;
temp = head;
for(int i = 1; i <= 2; i++) {
temp->next = malloc(sizeof(struct node));
temp = temp->next;
temp->ch = ch + i;
temp->next = NULL;
}
printf("a) ");
pout(head);
printf("\nb) ");
pout(mystery(head));
return 0;
}
/***********************************************************/
>>> OUTPUT:
a) A B C
b) C B A A B C
37) What is the output of the following program?
#include <stdio.h>
void display();
int main() {
display();
display();
}
void display() {
static int c = 0;
printf("%d ",c);
c += 5;
}
>>> OUTPUT: 0 5
38) Does the following code compile without errors/warnings? If so, what is the output? If not, why not?
#include <stdio.h>
int k = 20;
void fun(int k) {
printf("%d ", k);
}
int main() {
printf( "%d ", k);
int k = 10;
printf( "%d ", k);
{
int k = 0;
k++;
printf( "%d ", k);
}
printf( "%d ", k);
k++;
fun(k);
return 0;
}
>>> OUTPUT: 20 10 1 10 11
39) Which of the following successfully creates a 3 * 5 2D array on the heap (i.e., using dynamic memory
allocation)? Note that 3 * 5 means a 2D array that has 3 rows and 5 columns.
a. int **a = malloc(sizeof(int *) * 3);
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
a[i] = malloc(sizeof(int) * 5);
}
b. int **a = malloc(sizeof(int *) * 5);
for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
a[i] = malloc(sizeof(int) * 3);
}
c. int *a = malloc(sizeof(int) * 15);
d. int *a = malloc(sizeof(int) * 3);
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
a[i] = malloc(sizeof(int) * 5);
}
40) Assume the following is a function that calculates and returns square root of non-imaginary numbers.
Note that we have replaced the actual code that does the calculation with a comment line. Which assert
statement would be most sensible and comprehensive to be the first line in the body of this function?
double sqrt (double val) {
// WHICH ASSERT STATEMENT SHOULD GO HERE?
// code to calculate and return square root of val
}
a) assert( val > 0 );
b) assert( val != 0 );
c) assert( !(val <= 0) );
d) assert( !(val < 0) );
41) Write code to properly read at once all the 100 double values that are stored (in binary format) in a file
named “doubs.dat” and store them in ray_doub. You do NOT need to do any error checking and/or make
sure that you successfully read those 100 values.
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
double ray_doub[100];
FILE *fp = fopen("doubs.dat", "rb");
fread(ray_doub, sizeof(double), 100, fp);
fclose(fp);
}
