16.3. Conditionals and Loops

Table 1 shows that the syntax and semantics of if-else statements in C and Java are the same.

Table 1. Syntax Comparison of if-else Statements in Java and C
Java version C version 
/* Java if-else example */

import java.util.Scanner;

class IfExample {

 public static void  main(String[] args) {

   int n1, n2;
   Scanner in = new Scanner(System.in);

   System.out.print("Enter 1st num: ");
   n1 = in.nextInt();
   System.out.print("Enter 2nd num: ");
   n2 = in.nextInt();

   if (n1 > n2) {
     System.out.printf("%d is biggest\n",n1);
     n2 = n1;
   } else {
     System.out.printf("%d is biggest\n",n2);
     n1 = n2;
   }
 }

}
 
/* C if-else example */

#include <stdio.h>



int main(void) {

  int n1, n2;


  printf("Enter 1st num: ");
  scanf("%d", &n1);
  printf("Enter 2nd num: ");
  scanf("%d", &n2);

  if (n1 > n2) {
    printf("%d is biggest\n",n1);
    n2 = n1;
  } else {
    printf("%d is biggest\n",n2);
    n1 = n2;
  }

  return 0;
}

The Java and C syntax for if-else statements is identical. In both, the else part is optional. Java and C also support multi-way branching by chaining if and else if statements. The following describes the full if-else C syntax:

    // a one-way branch:
    if ( <boolean expression> ) {
        <true body>
    }

    // a two-way branch:
    if ( <boolean expression> ) {
        <true body>
    }
    else {
        <false body>
    }

    // a multibranch (chaining if-else if-...-else)
    // (has one or more 'else if' following the first if):
    if ( <boolean expression 1> ) {
        <true body>
    }
    else if ( <boolean expression  2> ) {
        // first expression is false, second is true
        <true 2 body>
    }
    else if ( <boolean expression  3> ) {
        // first and second expressions are false, third is true
        <true 3 body>
    }
    // ... more else if's ...
    else if ( <boolean expression  N> ) {
        // first N-1 expressions are false, Nth is true
        <true N body>
    }
    else { // the final else part is optional
        // if all previous expressions are false
        <false body>
    }

16.3.1. Boolean Values in C

C doesn’t provide a Boolean type with true or false values. Instead, integer values evaluate to true or false when used in conditional statements. When used in conditional expressions, any integer expression that is:

  • zero (0) evaluates to false

  • nonzero (any positive or negative value) evaluates to true

C has a set of relational and logical operators for Boolean expressions that are identical to Java’s relational and logical operators.

The relational operators take operand(s) of the same type and evaluate to zero (false) or nonzero (true). The set of relational operators are:

  • equality (==) and inequality (not equal, !=)

  • comparison operators: less than (<), less than or equal (<=), greater than (>), and greater than or equal (>=)

Here are some C code snippets showing examples of relational operators:

// assume x and y are ints, and have been assigned
// values before this point in the code

if (y < 0) {
    printf("y is negative\n");
} else if (y != 0) {
    printf("y is positive\n");
} else {
    printf("y is zero\n");
}

// set x and y to the larger of the two values
if (x >= y) {
    y = x;
} else {
    x = y;
}

C’s logical operators take integer "Boolean" operand(s) and evaluate to either zero (false) or nonzero (true). The set of logical operators are:

  • logical negation (!)

  • logical and (&&): stops evaluating at the first false expression (short-circuiting)

  • logical or (||): stops evaluating at the first true expression (short-circuiting)

C’s short-circuit logical operator evaluation stops evaluating a logical expression as soon as the result is known. For example, if the first operand to a logical and (&&) expression evaluates to false, the result of the && expression must be false. As a result, the second operand’s value need not be evaluated, and it is not evaluated.

The following is an example of conditional statements in C that use logical operators (it’s always best to use parentheses around complex Boolean expressions to make them easier to read):

if ( (x > 10) && (y >= x) ) {
    printf("y and x are both larger than 10\n");
    x = 13;
} else if ( ((-x) == 10) || (y > x) ) {
    printf("y might be bigger than x\n");
    x = y * x;
} else {
    printf("I have no idea what the relationship between x and y is\n");
}

16.3.2. Loops in C

Java and C both have language-level support for repeating a sequence of code. Like Java, C supports for, while, and do-while loops. The syntax and semantics of these are identical in both languages. Java additionally has support for iterating over collections that C does not have.

while Loops

The while loop syntax in C and Java is identical, and the behavior is the same. Table 2 shows an example C program with a while loop.

Table 2. while Loop Syntax in C
C while loop example 
/* C while loop example */

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {

    int num, val;

    printf("Enter a value: ");
    scanf("%d", &num);
    // make sure num is not negative
    if (num < 0) {
        num = -num;
    }
    val = 1;
    while (val < num) {
        printf("%d\n", val);
        val = val * 2;
    }

    return 0;
}

The while loop syntax in C is the same as in Java and both are evaluated in the same way:

while ( <boolean expression> ) {
    <true body>
}

The while loop checks the Boolean expression first and executes the body if true. In the preceding example program, the value of the val variable will be repeatedly printed in the while loop until its value is greater than the value of the num variable. If the user enters 10, the C and Java programs will print:

1
2
4
8

Java and C also has a do-while loop that is similar to its while loop, but it executes the loop body first and then checks a condition and repeats executing the loop body for as long as the condition is true. That is, a do-while loop will always execute the loop body at least one time:

do {
    <body>
} while ( <boolean expression> );

For additional while loop examples, try these two programs:

for Loops

The for loop in C is the same as the for loop in Java, and they are evaluated in the same way. The C (and Java) for loop syntax is:

for ( <initialization>; <boolean expression>; <step> ) {
    <body>
}

The for loop evaluation rules are:

  1. Evaluate initialization one time when first entering the loop.

  2. Evaluate the boolean expression. If it’s 0 (false), drop out of the for loop (that is, the program is done repeating the loop body statements).

  3. Evaluate the statements inside the loop body.

  4. Evaluate the step expression.

  5. Repeat from step (2).

Here’s a simple example for loop to print the values 0, 1, and 2:

int i;

for (i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
    printf("%d\n", i);
}

Executing the for loop evaluation rules on the preceding loop yields the following sequence of actions:

(1) eval init: i is set to 0  (i=0)
(2) eval bool expr: i < 3 is true
(3) execute loop body: print the value of i (0)
(4) eval step: i is set to 1  (i++)
(2) eval bool expr: i < 3 is true
(3) execute loop body: print the value of i (1)
(4) eval step: i is set to 2  (i++)
(2) eval bool expr: i < 3 is true
(3) execute loop body: print the value of i (2)
(4) eval step: i is set to 3  (i++)
(2) eval bool expr: i < 3 is false, drop out of the for loop

The following program shows a more complicated for loop example (it’s also available to download). Note that just because C supports for loops with a list of statements for its initialization and step parts, it’s best to keep it simple (this example illustrates a more complicated for loop syntax, but the for loop would be easier to read and understand if it were simplified by moving the j += 10 step statement to the end of the loop body and having just a single step statement, i += 1).

/* An example of a more complex for loop which uses multiple variables.
 * (it is unusual to have for loops with multiple statements in the
 * init and step parts, but C supports it and there are times when it
 * is useful...don't go nuts with this just because you can)
 */
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {
    int i, j;

    for (i=0, j=0; i < 10; i+=1, j+=10) {
        printf("i+j = %d\n", i+j);
    }

    return 0;
}

// the rules for evaluating a for loop are the same no matter how
// simple or complex each part is:
// (1) evaluate the initialization statements once on the first
//     evaluation of the for loop:  i=0 and j=0
// (2) evaluate the boolean condition: i < 10
//     if false (when i is 10), drop out of the for loop
// (3) execute the statements inside the for loop body: printf
// (4) evaluate the step statements:  i += 1, j += 10
// (5) repeat, starting at step (2)

As in Java, in C for loops and while loops are equivalent in power, meaning that any while loop can be expressed as a for loop, and vice versa.

Consider the following while loop in C:

int guess = 0;

while (guess != num) {
    printf("%d is not the right number\n", guess);
    printf("Enter another guess: ");
    scanf("%d", &guess);
}

This loop can be translated to an equivalent for loop in C:

int guess;

for (guess = 0; guess != num; ) {
    printf("%d is not the right number\n", guess);
    printf("Enter another guess: ");
    scanf("%d", &guess);
}

Because for and while loops are equally expressive in C, only one looping construct is needed in the language. However, for loops are a more natural language construct for definite loops (like iterating over a range of values), whereas while loops are a more natural language construct for indefinite loops (like repeating until the user enters an even number). As a result, C (and Java) provides both to programmers.