Chapter 6
Variables and
Operators
Basic C Elements
Variables
• named, typed data items
Operators
• predefined actions performed on data items
• combined with variables to form expressions, statements
Rules and usage
Implementation using LC-3
12-2
Data Types
C has three basic data types
char character (8 bits)
int integer (16 – 32 bits)
float floating point (32 bits)
double floating point (64 bits)
Exact size can vary, depending on processor
• int is supposed to be "natural" integer size;
for LC-3, that's 16 bits -- 32 bits for most modern processors
12-3
Variable Names
Any combination of letters, numbers, and underscore (_)
Case matters
• "sum" is different than "Sum"
Cannot begin with a number
• usually, variables beginning with underscore
are used only in special library routines
With some compiler like Borland C++, only first 31/55
characters are used
12-4
Examples
Legal
i
wordsPerSecond same identifier
words_per_second
_green
aReally_longName_moreThan31chars
aReally_longName_moreThan31characters
Illegal
10sdigit
ten'sdigit
done? reserved keyword
double
12-5
Literals
Integer
123 /* decimal */
-123
0x123 /* hexadecimal */
Floating point
6.023
6.023e23 /* 6.023 x 1023 */
5E12 /* 5.0 x 1012 */
Character
'c'
'\n' /* newline */
'\xA' /* ASCII 10 (0xA) */
12-6
Some escape sequences of characters
\a 0x07 BEL
\b 0x08 BS
\f 0x0C FF
\n 0x0A LF
\r 0x0D CR
\t 0x09 HT
\v 0x0B VT
\\ 0x5C \
\' 0x2C '
\" 0x22 "
\? 0x3F ?
\ddd ddd Base-8 ASCII code
\xHH 0 x HH Base-16 ASCII code
12-7
Scope: Global and Local
Where is the variable accessible?
Global: accessed anywhere in program
Local: only accessible in a particular region
Compiler infers scope from where variable is declared
• programmer doesn't have to explicitly state
Variable is local to the block in which it is declared
• block defined by open and closed braces { }
• can access variable declared in any "containing" block
Global variable is declared outside all blocks
12-8
Example
#include <stdio.h>
int itsGlobal = 0;
main()
{
int itsLocal = 1; /* local to main */
printf("Global %d Local %d\n", itsGlobal, itsLocal);
{
int itsLocal = 2; /* local to this block */
itsGlobal = 4; /* change global variable */
printf("Global %d Local %d\n", itsGlobal, itsLocal);
}
printf("Global %d Local %d\n", itsGlobal, itsLocal);
}
Output
Global 0 Local 1
Global 4 Local 2
Global 4 Local 1
12-9
Operators
Programmers manipulate variables
using the operators provided by the high-level language.
Variables and operators combine to form
expressions and statements
which denote the work to be done by the program.
Each operator may correspond to many
machine instructions.
• Example: The multiply operator (*) typically requires
multiple LC-3 ADD instructions.
12-10
Expression
Any combination of variables, constants, operators,
and function calls
• every expression has a type,
derived from the types of its components
(according to C typing rules)
Examples:
counter >= STOP
x + sqrt(y)
x & z + 3 || 9 - w-- % 6
12-11
Statement
Expresses a complete unit of work
• executed in sequential order
Simple statement ends with semicolon
z = x * y; /* assign product to z */
y = y + 1; /* after multiplication */
; /* null statement */
Compound statement groups simple statements
using braces.
• syntactically equivalent to a simple statement
{ z = x * y; y = y + 1; }
12-12
Operators
Three things to know about each operator
(1) Function
• what does it do?
(2) Precedence
• in which order are operators combined?
• Example:
"a * b + c * d" is the same as "(a * b) + (c * d)"
because multiply (*) has a higher precedence than addition (+)
(3) Associativity
• in which order are operators of the same precedence combined?
• Example:
"a - b - c" is the same as "(a - b) - c"
because add/sub associate left-to-right
12-13
Assignment Operator
Changes the value of a variable.
x = x + 4;
1. Evaluate right-hand side.
2. Set value of left-hand side variable to result.
12-14
Assignment Operator
All expressions evaluate to a value,
even ones with the assignment operator.
For assignment, the result is the value assigned.
• usually (but not always) the value of the right-hand side
➢type conversion might make assigned value
different than computed value
Assignment associates right to left.
y = x = 3;
y gets the value 3, because (x = 3) evaluates to the value 3.
12-15
Arithmetic Operators
Symbol Operation Usage Precedence Assoc
* multiply x * y 6 l-to-r
/ divide x / y 6 l-to-r
% modulo x % y 6 l-to-r
+ addition x + y 7 l-to-r
- subtraction x - y 7 l-to-r
All associate left to right.
* / % have higher precedence than + -.
12-16
Arithmetic Expressions
If mixed types, smaller type is "promoted" to larger.
x + 4.3
if x is int, converted to double and result is double
Integer division -- fraction is dropped.
x / 3
if x is int and x=5, result is 1 (not 1.666666...)
Modulo -- result is remainder.
x % 3
if x is int and x=5, result is 2.
12-17
Bitwise Operators
Symbol Operation Usage Precedence Assoc
~ bitwise NOT ~x 4 r-to-l
<< left shift x << y 8 l-to-r
>> right shift x >> y 8 l-to-r
& bitwise AND x & y 11 l-to-r
^ bitwise XOR x ^ y 12 l-to-r
| bitwise OR x | y 13 l-to-r
Operate on variables bit-by-bit.
• Like LC-3 AND and NOT instructions.
Shift operations are logical (not arithmetic).
Operate on values -- neither operand is changed.
12-18
Logical Operators
Symbol Operation Usage Precedence Assoc
! logical NOT !x 4 r-to-l
&& logical AND x && y 14 l-to-r
|| logical OR x || y 15 l-to-r
Treats entire variable (or value)
as TRUE (non-zero) or FALSE (zero).
Result is 1 (TRUE) or 0 (FALSE).
12-19
Examples
1. if ( !a)
// a = 0
2. if (a % 2 == 0)
-> if ( ! (a % 2 ) )
3. if (c >= ‘a’ && c <= ‘z’ || c >= ‘A’ && c <= ‘Z’)
// ?
12-20
Example
Input a character, check if it is a letter or not
int c;
c = getchar ();
if (c >= ‘a’ && c <= ‘z’ || c >= ‘A’ && c <= ‘Z’)
printf (“%c is a letter”, c);
12-21
How about this,
Input a character, check if it is NOT a letter
int c;
c = getchar ();
if (? )
printf (“%c is NOT a letter”, c);
12-22
Relational Operators
Symbol Operation Usage Precedence Assoc
> greater than x > y 9 l-to-r
>= greater than or equal x >= y 9 l-to-r
< less than x < y 9 l-to-r
<= less than or equal x <= y 9 l-to-r
== equal x == y 10 l-to-r
!= not equal x != y 10 l-to-r
Result is 1 (TRUE) or 0 (FALSE).
Note: Don't confuse equality (==) with assignment (=).
12-23
Special Operators: ++ and --
Changes value of variable before (or after)
its value is used in an expression.
Symbol Operation Usage Precedence Assoc
++ postincrement x++ 2 r-to-l
-- postdecrement x-- 2 r-to-l
++ preincrement ++x 3 r-to-l
-- predecrement --x 3 r-to-l
Pre: Increment/decrement variable before using its value.
Post: Increment/decrement variable after using its value.
12-24
Using ++ and --
x = 4;
y = x++;
Results: x = 5, y = 4
(because x is incremented after assignment)
x = 4;
y = ++x;
Results: x = 5, y = 5
(because x is incremented before assignment)
12-25
Practice with Precedence
Assume a=1, b=2, c=3, d=4.
x = a * b + c * d / 2; /* x = 8 */
same as:
x = (a * b) + ((c * d) / 2);
For long or confusing expressions,
use parentheses, because reader might not have
memorized precedence table.
Note: Assignment operator has lowest precedence,
so all the arithmetic operations on the right-hand side
are evaluated first.
12-26
Variables and Memory Locations
In our examples,
a variable is always stored in memory.
When assigning to a variable,
must store to memory location.
A real compiler would perform code optimizations
that try to keep variables allocated in registers.
Why?
12-27
Example:
#include <stdio.h>
int inGlobal;
main()
{
int inLocal; /* local to main */
int outLocalA;
int outLocalB;
/* initialize */
inLocal = 5;
inGlobal = 3;
/* perform calculations */
outLocalA = inLocal++ & ~inGlobal;
outLocalB = (inLocal + inGlobal) - (inLocal - inGlobal);
/* print results */
printf("The results are: outLocalA = %d, outLocalB = %d\n",
outLocalA, outLocalB);
}
12-28
Special Operator: Conditional
Symbol Operation Usage Precedence Assoc
?: conditional x?y:z 16 l-to-r
If x is TRUE (non-zero), result is y;
else, result is z.
Like a MUX, with x as the select signal.
y z
1 0
x
12-29
Example
If statement:
if (a ==5)
b = 2;
else
b = 4;
Conditional expresion:
b = (a == 5) ? 2 : 4;
12-30
Comma operator
(value 1) , (value 2)
Example:
1. a = 2;
b = (2 , a + 1);
2. for (i =1, s = 0; i < n; i++)
...
12-31
Homework
12.1 -> 12.20
12-32
