TEST YOUR C SKILLS
1.Why doesn't this code:
a[i] = i++;
work?
Answer
The subexpression i++ causes a side effect--it modifies i's value--which leads to undefined behavior since i is also referenced elsewhere in the same expression. (Note that although the language in K&R suggests that the behavior of this expression is unspecified, the C Standard makes the stronger statement that it is undefined
2.So given
a[i] = i++;
we don't know which cell of a[] gets written to, but i does get incremented by one.
Answer
No. Once an expression or program becomes undefined, all aspects of it become undefined.
3.What is this infamous null pointer, anyway?
Answer
The language definition states that for each pointer type, there is a special value--the ``null pointer''--which is distinguishable from all other pointer values and which is ``guaranteed to compare unequal to a pointer to any object or function.'' That is, the address-of operator & will never yield a null pointer, nor will a successful call to malloc. (malloc does return a null pointer when it fails, and this is a typical use of null pointers: as a ``special'' pointer value with some other meaning, usually ``not allocated'' or ``not pointing anywhere yet.'')
A null pointer is conceptually different from an uninitialized pointer. A null pointer is known not to point to any object or function; an uninitialized pointer might point anywhere.
4. I think something's wrong with my compiler: I just noticed that sizeof('a') is 2, not 1 (i.e. not sizeof(char)).
Answer
Perhaps surprisingly, character constants in C are of type int, so sizeof('a') is sizeof(int) (though it's different in C++).
5. How can I print a '%' character in a printf format string? I tried \%, but it didn't work.
Simply double the percent sign: %% .
\% can't work, because the backslash \ is the compiler's escape character, while here our problem is that the % is printf's escape character.
6. Under my compiler, the code
int i = 7;
printf("%d\n", i++ * i++);
prints 49. Regardless of the order of evaluation, shouldn't it print 56?
Answer
Although the postincrement and postdecrement operators ++ and -- perform their operations after yielding the former value, the implication of ``after'' is often misunderstood. It is not guaranteed that an increment or decrement is performed immediately after giving up the previous value and before any other part of the expression is evaluated. It is merely guaranteed that the update will be performed sometime before the expression is considered "finished'' . In the example, the compiler chose to multiply the previous value by itself and to perform both increments afterwards.
The behavior of code which contains multiple, ambiguous side effects has always been undefined. (Loosely speaking, by ``multiple, ambiguous side effects'' we mean any combination of ++, --, =, +=, -=, etc. in a single expression which causes the same object either to be modified twice or modified en inspected. Don't even try to find out how your compiler implements such things (contrary to the ill-advised exercises in many C textbooks); as K&R wisely point out, ``if ou don't know how they are done on various machines, that innocence may help to protect you.''
7.What's a ``sequence point''?
Answer
A sequence point is the point (at the end of a full expression, or at the ||, &&, ?:, or comma operators, or just before a function call) at which the dust has settled and all side effects are guaranteed to be complete. The ANSI/ISO C Standard states that Between the previous and next sequence point an object shall have its stored value modified at most once by the evaluation of an expression. Furthermore, the prior value shall be accessed only to determine the value to be stored.
The second sentence can be difficult to understand. It says that if an object is written to within a full expression, any and all accesses to it within the same expression must be for the purposes of computing the value to be written. This rule effectively constrains legal expressions to those in which the accesses demonstrably precede the modification.
Answer
Precise answers to these and many similar questions depend of course on the processor and compiler in use. If you simply must know, you'll have to time
test programs carefully. (Often the differences are so slight that hundreds of thousands of iterations are required even to see them. Check the compiler's
assembly language output, if available, to see if two purported alternatives aren't compiled identically.)
It is ``usually'' faster to march through large arrays with pointers rather than array subscripts, but for some processors the reverse is true.
Function calls, though obviously incrementally slower than in-line code, contribute so much to modularity and code clarity that there is rarely good reason to
avoid them.
Before rearranging expressions such as i = i + 1, remember that you are dealing with a compiler, not a keystroke-programmable calculator. Any decent
compiler will generate identical code for ++i, i += 1, and i = i + 1. The reasons for using ++i or i += 1 over i = i + 1 have to do with style, not
efficiency.
9. Why doesn't the code
int a = 1000, b = 1000;
long int c = a * b;
work?
Answer
Under C's integral promotion rules, the multiplication is carried out using int arithmetic, and the result may overflow or be truncated before being promoted
and assigned to the long int left-hand side. Use an explicit cast to force long arithmetic:
long int c = (long int)a * b;
Note that (long int)(a * b) would not have the desired effect.
A similar problem can arise when two integers are divided, with the result assigned to a floating-point variable.
10. I have a complicated expression which I have to assign to one of two variables, depending on a condition. Can I use code like this?
((condition) ? a : b) = complicated_expression;
Answer
No. The ?: operator, like most operators, yields a value, and you can't assign to a value. (In other words, ?: does not yield an lvalue.) If you really want to,
you can try something like
*((condition) ? &a : &b) = complicated_expression;
although this is admittedly not as pretty.
11. Does *p++ increment p, or what it points to?
Answer
Unary operators like *, ++, and -- all associate (group) from right to left. Therefore, *p++ increments p (and returns the value pointed to by p before the
increment). To increment the value pointed to by p, use (*p)++ (or perhaps ++*p, if the order of the side effect doesn't matter).
Answer
printf("%*d", width, n) will do just what you want.
Answer
You can't; an asterisk in a scanf format string means to suppress assignment. You may be able to use ANSI stringizing and string concatenation to
accomplish about the same thing, or to construct a scanf format string on-the-fly.
14. Can I declare main as void, to shut off these annoying ``main returns no value'' messages?
Answer
No. main must be declared as returning an int, and as taking either zero or two arguments, of the appropriate types. If you're calling exit() but still getting
warnings, you may have to insert a redundant return statement (or use some kind of ``not reached'' directive, if available).
Declaring a function as void does not merely shut off or rearrange warnings: it may also result in a different function call/return sequence, incompatible with
what the caller (in main's case, the C run-time startup code) expects.
(Note that this discussion of main pertains only to ``hosted'' implementations; none of it applies to ``freestanding'' implementations, which may not even
have main. However, freestanding implementations are comparatively rare, and if you're using one, you probably know it. If you've never heard of the
distinction, you're probably using a hosted implementation, and the above rules apply.)
15. The book I've been using, C Programing for the Compleat Idiot, always uses void main().
Answer
Perhaps its author counts himself among the target audience. Many books unaccountably use void main() in examples. They're wrong.
16. I have a char * pointer that happens to point to some ints, and I want to step it over them. Why doesn't
((int *)p)++;
work?
Answer
In C, a cast operator does not mean ``pretend these bits have a different type, and treat them accordingly''; it is a conversion operator, and by definition it
yields an rvalue, which cannot be assigned to, or incremented with ++. (It is an anomaly in pcc-derived compilers, and an extension in gcc, that expressions
such as the above are ever accepted.) Say what you mean: use
p = (char *)((int *)p + 1);
or (since p is a char *) simply
p += sizeof(int);
Whenever possible, you should choose appropriate pointer types in the first place, instead of trying to treat one type as another.
17. If NULL and 0 are equivalent as null pointer constants, which should I use?
Answer
Many programmers believe that NULL should be used in all pointer contexts, as a reminder that the value is to be thought of as a pointer. Others feel that the
confusion surrounding NULL and 0 is only compounded by hiding 0 behind a macro, and prefer to use unadorned 0 instead. There is no one right answer. (See
also questions 9.2 and 17.10.) C programmers must understand that NULL and 0 are interchangeable in pointer contexts, and that an uncast 0 is perfectly
acceptable. Any usage of NULL (as opposed to 0) should be considered a gentle reminder that a pointer is involved; programmers should not depend on it
(either for their own understanding or the compiler's) for distinguishing pointer 0's from integer 0's.
NULL should not be used when another kind of 0 is required, even though it might work, because doing so sends the wrong stylistic message. (Furthermore,
ANSI allows the definition of NULL to be ((void *)0), which will not work at all in non-pointer contexts.) In particular, do not use NULL when the ASCII null
character (NUL) is desired. Provide your own definition
#define NUL '\0'
if you must.
18.This is strange. NULL is guaranteed to be 0, but the null pointer is not?
Answer
When the term ``null'' or ``NULL'' is casually used, one of several things may be meant:
1.1. The internal (or run-time) representation of a null pointer, which may or may not be all-bits-0 and which may be different for different pointer
types. The actual values should be of concern only to compiler writers. Authors of C programs never see them, since they use...
2.2. The null pointer constant, which is a constant integer 0 . It is often hidden behind...
3.3. The NULL macro, which is #defined to be 0 or ((void *)0) . Finally, as red herrings, we have...
4.4. The ASCII null character (NUL), which does have all bits zero, but has no necessary relation to the null pointer except in name; and...
5.5. The ``null string,'' which is another name for the empty string (""). Using the term ``null string'' can be confusing in C, because an empty string
involves a null ('\0') character, but not a null pointer, which brings us full circle...
19. Is char a[3] = "abc"; legal? What does it mean?
Answer
It is legal in ANSI C (and perhaps in a few pre-ANSI systems), though useful only in rare circumstances. It declares an array of size three, initialized with
the three characters 'a', 'b', and 'c', without the usual terminating '\0' character. The array is therefore not a true C string and cannot be used with
strcpy, printf %s, etc.
Most of the time, you should let the compiler count the initializers when initializing arrays (in the case of the initializer "abc", of course, the computed size
will be 4).
20. What's the difference between calloc and malloc? Is it safe to take advantage of calloc's zero-filling? Does free work on memory allocated with calloc, or do you need a cfree?
Answer
calloc(m, n) is essentially equivalent to
p = malloc(m * n);
memset(p, 0, m * n);
The zero fill is all-bits-zero, and does not therefore guarantee useful null pointer values (see section 5 of this list) or floating-point zero values. free is
properly used to free the memory allocated by calloc.
21. What's the difference between const char *p and char * const p?
Answer
char const *p declares a pointer to a constant character (you can't change the character); char * const p declares a constant pointer to a (variable)
character (i.e. you can't change the pointer).
22. What should malloc(0) do? Return a null pointer or a pointer to 0 bytes?
Answer
The ANSI/ISO Standard says that it may do either; the behavior is implementation-defined
23. What's wrong with this code?
char c;
while((c = getchar()) != EOF) ...
Answer
For one thing, the variable to hold getchar's return value must be an int. getchar can return all possible character values, as well as EOF. By passing
getchar's return value through a char, either a normal character might be misinterpreted as EOF, or the EOF might be altered (particularly if type char is
unsigned) and so never seen.
24. How can I convert numbers to strings (the opposite of atoi)? Is there an itoa function?
Answer
Just use sprintf. (Don't worry that sprintf may be overkill, potentially wasting run time or code space; it works well in practice.)
You can obviously use sprintf to convert long or floating-point numbers to strings as well (using %ld or %f).
25. How can I get random integers in a certain range?
Answer
The obvious way,
rand() % N /* POOR */
(which tries to return numbers from 0 to N-1) is poor, because the low-order bits of many random number generators are distressingly non-random.
A better method is something like
(int)((double)rand() / ((double)RAND_MAX + 1) * N)
If you're worried about using floating point, you could use
rand() / (RAND_MAX / N + 1)
Both methods obviously require knowing RAND_MAX (which ANSI #defines in
(Note, by the way, that RAND_MAX is a constant telling you what the fixed range of the C library rand function is. You cannot set RAND_MAX to some other
value, and there is no way of requesting that rand return numbers in some other range.)
If you're starting with a random number generator which returns floating-point values between 0 and 1, all you have to do to get integers from 0 to N-1 is
multiply the output of that generator by N.
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