Control Instructions in C - c

I am not understanding for loop statement and expression following it. Please do help me understand.
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x = 1;
int y = 1;
for( ; y ; printf("%d %d\n",x,y))
y = x++ <= 5;
return 0;
}
And the output I got
2 1
3 1
4 1
5 1
6 1
7 0

y = x++ <= 5; ==> y = (x++ <= 5); ==> first compare x with 5 to check whether x is small then or equals to 5 or not. Result of (x++ <= 5) is either 1, 0 assigned to y,
As x becomes > 5, (x++ <= 5) becomes 0 so y = 0 and condition false and loop break,

Basically the for syntax is:
for(StartCondition; Test; PostLoopOperation) DoWhileTestPasses;
In this case:
StartCondition == None
Test == (y != 0)
PostLoopOperation == do some printing
DoWhileTestPasses == set y to zero if x > 5 otherwise to non-zero THEN increment x.
Which is all rather bad practice because it is confusing.
Would be better written as:
int x=0;
int y=0;
for(y=0; y = (x <= 6); x++)
{
printff("%d %d\n",x,y);
}
return(0);

In y = x++ <= 5;, y stores the value that is output by the condition x++ <= 5 (here x++ is post increment). If the condition is true then y = 1 else y = 0.
for( ; y ; printf("%d %d\n",x,y))
In the for loop you are printing the values of x and y after executing the for loop body.

Initialize your variables:
int x = 1; int y = 1;
There are 3 statements for the for loop: -1. Initialize, 2. Condition, 3. Iteration:increment/decrement
In your case, you did not provide the initialize condition, however, you have the part of condition and incrementation. I do not think your for loop is used in the correct way.
You should swap the part of incrementation with your body like this:
for(; y; y = x++ <= 5;)
printf("%d %d\n", x, y)
First, you check whether the condition is true or not, y is true or not. Then, you print x and y out. Then, the part of incrementation is executed, x++ <= 5 or not. The result is assigned to y. It does so until your condition is false, y == false.
NOTE: For the good programming, you should enclose your body with a curly braces.

similar to this
int x = 1;
for( int y = 1; y!=0 ; )
{
if (x++ <= 5)
{
y = 1;
}
else
{
y = 0;
}
printf("%d %d\n",x,y);
}

Perhaps this slightly transformed (but functionally equal) code will help:
int x = 1;
int y = 1;
while (y) {
y = (x <= 5);
x = x + 1;
printf("%d %d\n", x, y)
}

Related

I intend to create an infinity for loop but it came out with a result

int x , sum = 0;
for (x = 10; x > 0; x++) {
sum += x;
}
I am expecting the loop never end because x will never hit 0.
System.out.println(sum);
It surprises me when it outputs this value -1073741869 , where my x is incrementing instead of decrementing.

C: help me understanding the output

can any one help me understanding the output of this code?
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x = 1, y = 1;
for(; y; printf("%d %d \n", x, y))
{
y = x++ <= 5;
}
return 0;
}
the output is:
2 1
3 1
4 1
5 1
6 1
7 0
A for loop in the form of
for (a; b; c)
{
d;
}
is equivalent to
{
a;
while (b)
{
d;
c;
}
}
Now if we take your loop
for(; y; printf("%d %d \n", x, y))
{
y = x++ <= 5;
}
It is equivalent to
{
// Nothing
// Loop while y is non-zero
while (y)
{
// Check if x is less than or equal to 5, assign that result to y
// Then increase x by one
y = x++ <= 5;
printf("%d %d \n", x, y);
}
}
Now it should hopefully be easier to understand what's going on.
Also: Remember that for boolean results (like what you get as result from a comparison), true is equal to 1, and false is equal to 0.
The code is an obfuscated, ugly version of this:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
int main()
{
int x = 1;
bool y = true;
while(y == true)
{
y = (x++ <= 5);
printf("%d %d \n", x, (int)y);
}
return 0;
}
y in the original code serves as a boolean. Back in the ancient days, there were no boolean type in C so it was common to use int instead. The expression y = x++ <= 5; evaluates to 0 or 1, which is equivalent to false or true.
Note:
While the C language allows all manner of crazy stuff, you should never write for loops as in the original code. De facto standard is to write for loops like this:
The first clause of a for loop shall only contain iterator initialization.
The second clause should only contain the loop condition.
The third clause should only contain a change of the loop iterator, such as for example an increment (like i++).
A for loop that doesn't follow the above industry standard rules is badly written, no excuses.
The statement y = x++ <= 5; sets y to 1 if x is less than or equal to 5, or to 0 if x is greater than 5. It then increments x. The loop stops when y is equal to 0, that is, on the iteration after x was incremented above 5. Then it runs the printf() statement on each iteration.
You wouldn’t normally see a loop switch the loop condition and the loop body that way. This seems to be a pathological example of how it’s technically legal. You shouldn’t imitate it.
y is 1 (true) as long as x <= 5 and x increases every iteration.
Rewrite your code:
for (int x = 1, y = 1; y; y = x <= 5, x++) {
printf("%d %d\n", x, y);
}
or using while
int x = 1;
int y = 1;
while (y) {
printf("%d %d\n", x, y);
x++;
y = x <= 5;
}
The first component of the for loop is empty; which means values of variables haven't changed. The condition in the for loop is y. Which means that the loop will run till the condition y is true; which means till the value of y is anything other than 0.
When the value of y becomes equal to 0; the condition will become false and the loop will stop iterating.
Then comes the block execution...
y = x++ <= 5;
Here first the condition x <= 5 is checked. Note that x++ is post increment and so the value of x will be incremented after the execution of the statement. So, if the value of x was 1 before increment; it will check 1 <= 5 and not 2 <= 5 and after the execution of the statement; the value will become 2.
After that comes the third component of for loop which is the increment part. Here,
printf("%d %d \n", x, y)
simply prints x and y.
So, what happens is; when the loop starts, both x and y are 1.
The statement
y = x++ <= 5;
is encountered, thus the condition x++ <= 5 is checked, where x is 1. Since the condition is true; the value of y will be 1 and x will be incremented to 2. The same thing continues.... when x will be equal to 5, x++ <= 5 will check 5 <= 5 and the condition will be true and x will be incremented to 6. Now when it goes in the loop the next time; the condition will be false and y will instead be equal to 0. Thus, now when the loop checks the condition y, the condition will be false and thus the control will flow out of the loop and thus you see the result.
I built and dumped this code in IDA since I understand assembly better :D
This code is a bit obfuscated so here will be the normal version of it:
#include <stdio.h>
int x = 1;
int y = 1;
while(y != 0) {
if(x++ <= 5)
{
y = 1;
} else {
y = 0;
}
printf("%d %d\n",x,y);
}
that for loop in the source:
for(; y; printf("%d %d \n", x, y))
checks if y is a non-zero value and if it is, it will print the string you want. In the body of the loop, the result of the comparison (0 or 1) will be copied to y and the check continues.
Precedence of operator <= is higher than the operator =.
So, the statement:
y = x++ <= 5;
is equivalent to:
y = (x++ <= 5)
Because of post-increment ++ operator, the value of x returned first and then x is incremented.
The initial value of both x and yis 1.
Since y is 1, the for loop condition evaluates to true and the statement in the for loop block executed. But in the for loop of your code, in place of loop iterator update statement you have printf() statement which is printing the value of x and y after executing the loop body statements. The flow goes like this:
1 <= 5 evaluate to 1 which is assigned to y and after this x is 2,
Output : 2 1
2 <= 5 evaluate to 1 which is assigned to y and after this x is 3,
Output : 3 1
3 <= 5 evaluate to 1 which is assigned to y and after this x is 4,
Output : 4 1
4 <= 5 evaluate to 1 which is assigned to y and after this x is 5,
Output : 5 1
5 <= 5 evaluate to 1 which is assigned to y and after this x is 6,
Output : 6 1
6 <= 5 evaluate to 0 which is assigned to y and after this x is 7,
Output : 7 0
Now the value y is 0 and in your code, the for loop condition is y so the loop condition evaluates as false and loop exits.

How does 'if((x) || (y=z))' work?

I don't quite understand how the if statement in this case works. It evaluates the x != 0 statement and when that is not true anymore, it assigns z to y and then breaks the if statement?
int main()
{
int x, y, z, i;
x = 3;
y = 2;
z = 3;
for (i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
if ((x) || (y = z)) {
x--;
z--;
} else {
break;
}
}
printf("%d %d %d", x, y, z);
}
Let's decompose that into smaller bits.
if (x) is the same as if (x != 0). If x != 0, then you know the condition is true, so you don't do the other portion of the if.
If part 1. was false, then y = z assigns z into y and returns the final value of y.
From point 2., we can understand that if (y = z) is equivalent to y = z; if (y != 0)
Thus, from points 1. and 3., we can understand that :
if ((x) || (y = z)) {
doSomething();
}
else {
doSomethingElse();
}
Is the same as :
if (x != 0) {
doSomething();
}
else {
y = z;
if (y != 0) {
doSomething();
}
else {
doSomethingElse();
}
}
It's true it's not particularly readable code though.
No. if ((x) || (y = z)) {
in C-English is basically:
if x is nonzero, evaluate the following code.
if x is zero, set y to z.
if y is nonzero, evaluate the following code.
otherwise, break out of the loop.
If x is zero or y is zero, it breaks out of the loop.
int main()
{
int x = 3;
int y = 2;
int z = 3;
unsigned int i;
for (i = 0; i < 10; i++)
if (x != 0) {
x = x-1;
z = z-1;
}
else {
y = z;
if (y != 0) {
x = x-1;
z = z-1;
}
else {
break;
}
}
}
printf("%d %d %d", x, y, z);
}
In C, there is short-circuiting, so the statement y=z will not be evaluated until x becomes zero.
When x == 0, since z also decrements the same way, z == 0. Hence y will also be zero at that time due to the assignment. The statement y=z also returns y at this point which will be evaluated as a condition, and since that is also 0, the else break will be hit.
Hence I believe the answer should be 0 0 0.
When you use assignment in an if statement, the result of the assignment is returned. so when you write :
if (x = y)
It will be always true unless the value of y is 0, so 0 is returned as the result of assigning and the if statement is not executed.(anything except 0 is considered as true.)
So when you write :
if ( x || (x = y))
The if statement doesn't execute only if x is 0 & y is 0.
Here
if ((x) || (y = z))
there are two condition
one condition is
if ((x)) and another condition is if ((y = z))
if one of them is true then if portion is execute otherwise else condition work
only and only when both condition are false then else execute.

what is the explanation of output of given program [closed]

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Improve this question
the output of following code is
2 1
3 1
4 1
5 1
6 1
7 0
Anyone can please explain?
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x=1, y=1;
for(; y; printf("%d %d\n", x, y))
{
y = x++ <= 5;
}
printf("\n");
return 0;
}
Here is your program reformulated. I think that the behavior is obvious.
#include<stdio.h>
int main() {
int x=1, y=1;
while (y != 0) {
if (x <= 5) y = 1;
else y = 0;
x = x + 1;
printf("%d %d\n", x, y)) ;
}
printf("\n");
return 0;
}
Its fairly straightforward - you have
for(; y; printf("%d %d\n", x, y))
{
y = x++ <= 5;
}
Initially x=1, y=1.
On first pass: y = x++ <= 5; means y = 1++ <= 5 (so to say) hence by the of this statement - x=2, y=1 - since 1<=5 evaluates to 1
On second pass: y = x++ <= 5; means y = 2++ <= 5 (so to say) hence by the of this statement - x=3, y=1 - since 1<=5 evaluates to 1
and it goes on like this until we get y=0 when x++ <= 5 evaluates to 6++ <= 6 and then in the for loop for(; y; printf("%d %d\n", x, y)) the condition evaluates to false since y is 0.
y is used as condition in for loop where as you are printing the data in place of incrementation. As printf returns int, it is totally valid.
y = x++ <= 5;
Means increment x and check if value of x <=5. if it is then y = 1, otherwise y=0.
If y=0, it will end the loop.
The program can also be written like.
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x=1, y=1;
while(y)
{
printf("%d %d\n", x, y)
x++;
if(x <= 5)
y=1;
else
y=0;
}
printf("\n");
return 0;
}

Trying to get this for loop to work?

I just started to learn C so the answer is probably incredibly obvious but when I run this code the number 0 just keeps repeating in an infinite loop. I'm trying to print x from 0 to 1 in increments of .05.
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
double x;
for( x = 0; x <= 1; x+.05 )
{
printf("%d\n", x );
}
}
for( x = 0; x <= 1; x += .05 )
seems like your not writing the changed x value to x..... If you know what I mean :D
x++ is the same as x+=1
x+.05 doesn't modify x's value, thus x will always be 0 and result in a infinite loop...
I think that's what you're looking for:
for( x = 0; x <= 1; x+=0.05 )
{
printf("%f\n", x );
}
You'll want to change to the += sign and change the d to an f.
d is for decimal integers
f is for floating point numbers
You want the addition and assignment compound operator, which is +=, not just +.
for( x = 0; x <= 1; x+=.05 )
Currently the result of your expression is x + 5, and its result is not used, resulting in your loop's condition never being false.
Change the line in your for loop to
for( x = 0; x <= 1; x += .05 )
Note that
x += .05
Is equivalent to typing
x = x + .05
which is what you really want since the goal is to update the value of x.

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