C functions

OUTLINE
 What is C function?
 Uses of C functions
 C function declaration, function call and definition with example
program
 How to call C functions in a program?
 Call by value
 Call by reference
 C function arguments and return values
 C function with arguments and with return value
 C function with arguments and without return value
 C function without arguments and without return value
 C function without arguments and with return value
 Types of C functions
 Library functions in C
 User defined functions in C
 Creating/Adding user defined function in C library
 Command line arguments in C
 Variable length arguments in C

WHAT IS C FUNCTION?
 A function is a group of statements that together perform a task.
Every C program has at least one function, which is main().
 You can divide up your code into separate functions. How you
divide up your code among different functions is up to you, but
logically the division usually is so each function performs a
specific task.
 A function declaration tells the compiler about a function's
name, return type, and parameters. A
function definition provides the actual body of the function.
 The C standard library provides numerous built-in functions that
your program can call. For example, function printf() to print
output in the console.
 A function is known with various names like a method or a sub-
routine or a procedure, etc.

 Most languages allow you to create functions of some sort.
 Functions are used to break up large programs into named
sections.
 You have already been using a function which is the main
function.
 Functions are often used when the same piece of code has
to run multiple times.
 In this case you can put this piece of code in a function and
give that function a name. When the piece of code is
required you just have to call the function by its name. (So
you only have to type the piece of code once).
C - FUNCTIONS

C - FUNCTIONS
 In the example below we declare a function with the name
MyPrint.
 The only thing that this function does is to print the sentence:
“Printing from a function”.
 If we want to use the function we just have to call MyPrint()
and the printf statement will be executed.

DEFINING A FUNCTION
 The general form of a function definition is as follows:
 A function definition in C language consists of
 a function header and
 a function body.

 Here are all the parts of a function:
 Function Name: This is the actual name of the function. The
function name and the parameter list together constitute the
function signature.
 Parameters: A parameter is like a placeholder. When a function is
invoked, you pass a value to the parameter. This value is referred
to as actual parameter or argument. The parameter list refers to
the type, order, and number of the parameters of a function.
Parameters are optional; that is, a function may contain no
parameters.
 Return Type: A function may return a value. The return type is
the data type of the value the function returns. If you don’t want to
return a result from a function, you can use void return type. Some
functions perform the desired operations without returning a value.
In this case, the return type is the keyword void.
 Function Body: The function body contains a collection of
statements that define what the function does.
PARTS OF A FUNCTION

EXAMPLE: FUNCTION
 Following is the source code for a function called max().
This function takes two parameters num1 and num2 and
returns the maximum between the two:

FUNCTION DECLARATIONS
 A function declaration(function prototype) tells the compiler
about a function name and how to call the function. The actual
body of the function can be defined separately.
 A function declaration has the following parts:
 For the above defined function max(), following is the function
declaration:
 Parameter names are not important in function declaration only
their type is required, so following is also valid declaration:
 Function declaration is required when you define a function in
one source file and you call that function in another file. In such
case you should declare the function at the top of the file
calling the function.

CALLING A FUNCTION
 While creating a C function, you give a definition of what the
function has to do. To use a function, you will have to call
that function to perform the defined task.
 When a program calls a function, program control is
transferred to the called function. A called function performs
defined task and when its return statement is executed or
when its function-ending closing brace is reached, it returns
program control back to the main program.
 To call a function, you simply need to pass the required
parameters along with function name, and if function returns
a value, then you can store returned value. For example:

CODE EXAMPLE: CALLING A FUNCTION

CODE EXAMPLE: CALLING A FUNCTION
A C program with
function declaration/fu
nction prototype.

FUNCTION ARGUMENTS
 C functions can accept an unlimited number of parameters.
 If a function is to use arguments, it must declare variables
that accept the values of the arguments. These variables
are called the formal parameters of the function.
 The formal parameters behave like other local variables
inside the function and are created upon entry into the
function and destroyed upon exit.

GLOBAL AND LOCAL VARIABLES
 Local variable:
 A local variable is a variable that is declared inside a function.
 A local variable can only be used in the function where it is
declared.
 Global variable:
 A global variable is a variable that is declared outside all
functions.
 A global variable can be used in all functions.
 See the following example( see the next slide )

 As you can see two
global variables are
declared, A and B.
These variables
can be used in
main() and Add().
 The local variable
answer can only
be used in main().
GLOBAL AND LOCAL VARIABLES

TYPE OF FUNCTION CALL
Call Type Description
Call by value This method copies the actual value of an argument into
the formal parameter of the function. In this case,
changes made to the parameter inside the function have
no effect on the argument.
Call by reference This method copies the address of an argument into the
formal parameter. Inside the function, the address is used
to access the actual argument used in the call. This
means that changes made to the parameter affect the
argument.
While calling a function, there are two ways that arguments
can be passed to a function:

CALL BY VALUE
 The call by value method of passing arguments to a
function copies the actual value of an argument into the
formal parameter of the function.
 In this case, changes made to the parameter inside the
function have no effect on the argument.
 By default, C programming language uses call by
value method to pass arguments. In general, this means
that code within a function cannot alter the arguments
used to call the function. Consider the
function swap() definition as follows.

CALL BY VALUE
 Consider the function swap() definition as follows.

CALL BY VALUE
 Now, let us call the function swap() by passing actual values as in the
following example:
Output:
The output shows that there is
no change in the values though
they had been changed inside
the function.

CALL BY REFERENCE
 The call by reference method of passing arguments to a
function copies the address of an argument into the
formal parameter.
 Inside the function, the address is used to access the
actual argument used in the call. This means that
changes made to the parameter affect the passed
argument.
 To pass the value by call by reference, argument pointers
are passed to the functions.

FUNCTION CALL BY REFERENCE
 To pass the value by reference, argument pointers are passed to
the functions just like any other value.
 So accordingly you need to declare the function parameters as
pointer types as in the following function swap(), which
exchanges the values of the two integer variables pointed to by
its arguments.

CALL BY REFERENCE
 Let us call the function swap() by passing values by reference as in the following
example:
Which shows that the
change has reflected
outside of the function as
well unlike call by value
where changes does not
reflect outside of the
function.
Output:

RECURSION
 Recursion is the process of repeating items in a self-similar way. Same
applies in programming languages as well where if a programming
allows you to call a function inside the same function that is called
recursive call of the function as follows.
 The C programming language supports recursion, i.e., a function to call
itself.
 But while using recursion, programmers need to be careful to define an
exit condition (base condition) from the function, otherwise it will go in
infinite loop.
 Recursive function are very useful to solve many mathematical
problems like to calculate factorial of a number, generating Fibonacci
series, etc.

NUMBER FACTORIAL
 Following is an example, which calculates factorial for a
given number using a recursive function:

FIBONACCI SERIES
 Following is another example, which generates Fibonacci
series for a given number using a recursive function:

 Function Example:
1. Implement the following Temperature conversion functions:
i) function Celsius returns the Celsius equivalent of a Fahrenheit
temperature, using the calculation:
celsius = 5.0 / 9.0 * ( fahrenheit - 32 );
ii) function Fahrenheit returns the Fahrenheit equivalent of a Celsius
temperature, using the calculation:
fahrenheit = 9.0 / 5.0 * (celsius + 32);
Use the functions from parts (i) and (ii) to write an application that enables the
user to choose either to enter a Fahrenheit temperature and display the Celsius
equivalent or to enter a Celsius temperature and display the Fahrenheit
equivalent.

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
float Celsius(float F)
{
float c;
c=((F-32)*5)/9;
return c;
}
float Fahrenheit(float C)
{
float f;
f=((9*C)/5)+32;
return f;
}
int main()
{
char ch;
float cels, farn;
printf("nnWhich conversion you prefer?nnn");
printf(" 1.For Celsius to Fahrenheitn 2.For Fahrenheit to Celsius");
ch=getch();
switch(ch)
{
case '1':
printf("nnEnter temperature in Celsius: ");
scanf("%f",&cels);
farn=Fahrenheit(cels);
printf("nnConverted temperature in Fahrenheit: %f",farn);
break;
case '2':
printf("nnEnter temperature in Fahrenheit: ");
scanf("%f",&farn);
cels=Celsius(farn);
printf("nnConverted temperature in Celsius: %f",cels);
break;
default:
printf("nnWrong Choice....Have a good day!!");
break;
}
return 0;
}

2. Write codes for two functions named ArraySum and ArrayAvg with
appropriate parameter and return type to find out the sum and
average from an integer array. Call these functions from the main
function, pass the integer array and print the returned sum and
average in the main function.
 Hint: If you pass an array which has 3, 1, 4, 2, 5 as its elements than
ArraySum will return 15 and ArrayAvg will return 3.

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>
#include<malloc.h>
int ArraySum(int *a,int Size)
{
int i,sum=0;
for(i=0;i<Size;i++)
{
sum=sum+*(a+i);
}
return sum;
}
float ArrayAvg(int *a,int Size)
{
int i;
float avg,sum=0;
for(i=0;i<Size;i++)
{
sum=sum+*(a+i);
}
avg = sum/Size;
return avg;
}
int main()
{
int N,sum,i,*Ary;
float avg;
printf("nnnHow many elements in your array??? ");
scanf("%d",&N);
Ary=(int*)malloc(sizeof(int)*N); //Dynamic Memory Allocation
printf("nnEnter %d Elements of your Arrayn",N);
for(i=0;i<N;i++)
{
scanf("%d",&Ary[i]);
}
sum=ArraySum(Ary,N);
printf("nnSum of Array Elements: %d",sum);
avg=ArrayAvg(Ary,N);
printf("nnAverage of Array Elements: %.3f",avg);
free(Ary);
getch();
return 0;
}

C functions

More Related Content

What's hot (20)

Similar to C functions (20)

More from University of Potsdam (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

C functions