VARIABLES
VARIABLES
Variablesare used to store or hold values in
the program.
They represent a small part of storage in the
computer memory (RAM).
HOW TO USE A VARIABLE?
Declaration:
datatype variable_name ;
Assigning a value to a variable:
variable_name=value;
Variable names are called as identifiers
A variable cannot be used in the program
without declaration
It is advisable to:
Give variable names that can easily convey their
meaning
Keep variable names short and simple
QUICK EXERCISE
1. Can you declare a variable that stores the
average marks of a student?
2. Can you initialize/assign the above variable
a value 67?
3. Can you change the variable value to 50?
4. Can you say what will be the final value of
the variable?
WHAT ARE DATATYPES?
Data types allow us to specify the type of value
that a variable can store.
There are four main built-in data types:
int: Can store only integer values. No fraction/real
numbers. Example: 5, 45, -321, 0 etc.
float: Can store real numbers with a decimal point.
Example: 3.145, -2.5 etc. Can store up to 7 digits after
the decimal point.
double: Same as float. It has more precision. Can store
up to 16 digits after the decimal point.
char: Can store any special characters including
alphabets and special symbols. Example: ‘A’,’?’,’1’ etc
IDENTIFIERS
Name given to a variable or a function
An identifier can be any combination of alphabets, digits and
underscore.
First character should be a letter (alphabet).
Length of variable name can range from 1 to 8.
A space in between is not allowed.
Underscore can be used to concatenate name combinations.
No commas or other special characters (other than underscore _ )
are allowed in a variable name.
C is a case sensitive language – which means a variable name
declared as flag is not same as FLAG.
You can’t use keywords as identifiers.
Keywords
Keywords are reserved words in C which has a
predefined meaning.
The compiler already knows the meaning of these
words.
It will do a particular operation according to the
meaning of the keyword.
There are 32 keywords in C language.
Example: void, int, float, etc.
Check your knowledge
Identify the correct and incorrect declarations:
1. int 1age;
2. float salary;
3. char grade;
4. int x;y,z; Answer:
1, 4, 6, 7, 8 are wrong
5. double pi_value;
6. int double;
7. float $total;
8. char 123name;
9. int age1;
HOW TO PRINT A VARIABLE?
Let’s
say we have the following code:
int x=5;
printf(“x”);
What will be the output?
x
But we are expecting the value:
5
HOW TO PRINT A VARIABLE?
Using printf, we can print any string but we can
also print the value of a variable.
Syntax:
printf(“format specifier”, variable_name);
Format specifiers are characters preceded by a “%”
They differ based on each datatype
%d-int
%c-char
%f-float
%lf-double
How to print a variable
Let
us come back to the same
example:
int x=5;
printf(“%d”,x);
Format specifier Variable
name
The value of the variable “x” is
replaced at the format specifier.
Now the output will be:
5
HOW TO PRINT MULTIPLE
VARIABLES?
Using printf, we can also print the values of
more than one variable.
Syntax:
printf(“format specifiers”, list of variables);
The variable list is separated with a comma.
Format specifiers must match the variable.
Format specifiers are replaced with the
variable values from left to right.
HOW TO PRINT MULTIPLE
VARIABLES?
Let
us take an example:
int x,y,z;
x=5; y=6; z=8;
printf(“%d%d%d”, x,y,z);
What will be the output of the program?
568
How to print variables along with
string/text
Inthe previous program, the output looks
ambiguous/confusing.
We can also combine any text with variable
value.
Example:
int x,y,z;
x=5; y=6; z=8;
printf(“x= %d,y= %d,z= %d”, x,y,z);
Output now will be:
x= 5,y= 6,z= 8
QUICK EXERCISE
Can you make modifications to the previous
program so that the output is as follows?
The value of y is 6
The value of z is 8
The value of x is 5
Use a single “printf” statement only.
Let us see how to input a
variable….
HOW TO INPUT A VARIABLE?
Any program must be as interactive and
human friendly as possible.
Hence, we may want to input a value from
the user before the program processes it
and gives the output.
In order to input a variable we use the
function “scanf”
It is quite similar to printf in many ways….
HOW TO INPUT A VARIABLE?
Syntax of scanf:
scanf(“format specifier”, &variable_name);
Example:
float x;
scanf(“%f”,&x);
Let us see how this works in the program..
HOW TO INPUT MULTIPLE
VARIABLES?
Syntax:
scanf(“list of format specifiers”, list of
variables with each preceded by a &);
Example:
int x,y,z;
scanf (“%d%d%d”, &x,&y,&z);
<stdio.h> library also includes scanf along
with printf
SOME GENERAL POINTS TO NOTE
Same as printf, format specifiers must match
the variables.
The format specifiers are associated with
variables from left to right in scanf also.
All variable values entered through the
keyboard are stored in the variables from left
to right
All input values must be separated by a
“space” or “enter” on the output screen.
Make sure that every input is prompted by a
Find the output of this program
(Assume any value for a and b)
#include <stdio.h> Output:
int main() { Enter the value of a
int a, b; and b:
printf("Enter the value of a and b: "); 5 4
scanf("%d%d", &b, &a); You entered a = 4 and
printf("You entered a = %d and b = %d\ b=5
n", a, b);
return 0;
}
Find the output of this program
(Assume any value for a and b)
scanf cannot print.
#include <stdio.h> It can only have
format specifiers. Output:
int main() { Error
int a, b; Can you guess
scanf("Enter the value of a and b: %d%d”, the mistake?
&a, &b);
printf("You entered a = %d and b = %d\n",
a, b);
return 0;
}
Point out all the mistakes in the
program
#include <stdio.h> & is missing before
variable name
void main() {
int x;
printf("Enter a number: “);
scanf("%d“, x);
printf("You entered: %d" x);
}
, is missing after “ marks
before variable names
QUICK EXERCISE
Write a program that prompts the user for two integer inputs, and
performs all arithmetic operations on them and prints the
results….
Example:
Enter two values:
83
The results of arithmetic operations are
Addition: 11
Subtraction: 5
Multiplication: 24
Division: 2
Modulus: 2
