C: Variables and

operators
(Textbook chapter 12)

Basic C elements
Variables
named and typed data items
Operators
predefined actions performed on data items
combined with variables to form expressions,
statements
Rules and usage
Implementation using LC-3

CMPE12 Fall 2006 A. Di Blas (Orig. by C. Bazeghi)

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Data types
C has three basic data types
int
signed integer (at least 16 bits)
double floating-point number (at least 32 bits)
char
character (at least 8 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 (i.e. the machines word size)

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Variable names
Use any combination of letters, numbers, and
underscore ( _ )
Case matters
sum and Sum are different
Cannot begin with a number
usually, variables beginning with underscore
are used only in special library routines
Only the first 31 characters are taken into account

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Examples of variable names

Legal
i
same identifier
wordsPerSecond
words_per_second
_green
aReally_longName_moreThan31chars
aReally_longName_moreThan31characters
Illegal
10sdigit
ten'sdigit
done?
double

reserved keyword

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CMPE12 Fall 2006 A. Di Blas (Orig. by C. Bazeghi)

Literals
Integer
123
-123
0x123

/* hexadecimal */

Floating point
6.023
6.023e23
5E12

/* 6.023 x 1023 */
/* 5.0 x 1012 */

Character
'c'
'\n'
'\xA'

/* newline */
/* ASCII 10 (0xA) */

CMPE12 Fall 2006 A. Di Blas (Orig. by C. Bazeghi)

/* decimal */

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Scope: Global and local

Where is the variable accessible?

Global: accessed anywhere in program

Local: only accessible in a particular region (block)

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 variables are declared outside all blocks

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Structure of a C program
One main() function
A bunch of other functions
/*****************************/
main()
{
}
/*---------------------------*/
functionA()
{
}
/*---------------------------*/
functionB()
{
}
/*****************************/
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Example
#include
int

<stdio.h>
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
CMPE12 Fall 2006 A. Di Blas (Orig. by C. Bazeghi)

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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.

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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 what is the type of:
counter >= STOP
x + sqrt(y)
x & z + 3 || 9 - w-- % 6

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Statement
Expresses a complete unit of work
Statements are executed in sequential order
Simple statements end with a semicolon
z = x * y;
y = y + 1;
;

/* assign product to z */
/* after multiplication */
/* null statement */

Compound statements group simple statements

using braces.
syntactically equivalent to a simple statement
{

z = x * y; y = y + 1; }

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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
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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.

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Assignment operator
All expressions evaluate to a value,
even the ones with the assignment operator.
For assignment, the result is the value assigned.
usually (but not always) the value of the righthand 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.
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CMPE12 Fall 2006 A. Di Blas (Orig. by C. Bazeghi)

Arithmetic operators
Symbol Operation
*
multiply
/
divide
%
modulo
+
addition
subtraction

Usage
x * y
x / y
x % y
x + y
x - y

Precedence

Assoc

l-to-r

l-to-r

l-to-r

l-to-r

l-to-r

All associate left to right.

* / % have higher precedence than + - (here lower
numbers mean higher precedence)
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Arithmetic expressions
If mixed types, smaller type is "promoted" to larger.
x + 4.3
if x is int, is 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.
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CMPE12 Fall 2006 A. Di Blas (Orig. by C. Bazeghi)

Bitwise logic operators

Symbol Operation
~
bitwise NOT
&
bitwise AND
^
bitwise XOR
|
bitwise OR

Usage
~x
x & y
x ^ y
x | y

Precedence

Assoc

r-to-l

11

l-to-r

12

l-to-r

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.

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Shift operators
Symbol Operation
<<
left shift
>>
right shift

Usage
x << y
x >> y

Precedence

Assoc

l-to-r

l-to-r

One kind of left shift: shift 0 into the lsb. Ex:

Two kinds of right shifts:
Logic: shift 0 into the MSb. Used with unsigned types
Arithmetic: sign-extend the MSb. Used with signed
types

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CMPE12 Fall 2006 A. Di Blas (Orig. by C. Bazeghi)

Boolean logic operators

Symbol
!
&&
||

Operation
logical NOT
logical AND
logical OR

Usage
!x
x && y
x || y

Precedence Assoc
4

r-to-l

14

l-to-r

15

l-to-r

Treats entire variable (or value)

as TRUE (non-zero) or FALSE (zero).
Result is 1 (TRUE) or 0 (FALSE).

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10

Relational operators
Symbol
Operation
>
greater than
>=
greater than or equal
<
less than
<=
less than or equal
==
equal
!=
not equal

Usage PrecedenceAssoc
x > y
9
l-to-r
x >= y
9
l-to-r
x < y
9
l-to-r
x <= y
9
l-to-r
x == y
10
l-to-r
x != y
10
l-to-r

Result is 1 (TRUE) or 0 (FALSE).

Note: Don't confuse equality (==) with assignment (=).

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CMPE12 Fall 2006 A. Di Blas (Orig. by C. Bazeghi)

Special operators: ++ and - Changes value of variable before (or after)

its value is used in an expression.
Symbol
Operation
++
postincrement
-postdecrement
++
preincrement
-predecrement

Usage
x++
x-++x
--x

Precedence Assoc
2

r-to-l

r-to-l

r-to-l

r-to-l

Pre: Increment/decrement variable before using its value.

Post: Increment/decrement variable after using its value.

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11

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)
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Care with ++ and -What does this code print?

int

a, b;
a = b = 0;
a = ++b + b;
printf(%d %d, a, b);

The value of a is machine-dependent - bad coding practice. Use

instead:

++b;
a = b + b;
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12

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 the reader (or you!)
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.

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Special operators: +=, *=, etc.

Arithmetic and bitwise operators can be combined
with the assignment operator.
Statement
Equivalent assignment
x += y;
x = x + y;
x -= y;
x = x - y;
All have same
x *= y;
x = x * y;
precedence and
x /= y;
x = x / y;
associativity
as =
x %= y;
x = x % y;
and associate
x &= y;
x = x & y;
right-to-left.
x |= y;
x = x | y;
x ^= y;
x = x ^ y;
x <<= y;
x = x << y;
x >>= y;
x = x >> y;
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13

Special operator: Conditional

Symbol
?:

Operation
conditional

Usage
x ? y : z

Precedence Assoc
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

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Recommended exercises
Ex 12.2, 12.3
Ex 12.5, 12.6, 12.7, 12.9, 12.11, 12.13, 12.16, 12.17
all good review of operators
Ex. 12.8, 12.10, and 12.19 all good simple starting
programs
Ex 12.20 good too, slightly harder

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