Why dividing two integers doesn't get a float? [duplicate] - c

Question

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Dividing 1/n always returns 0.0 [duplicate]
(3 answers)
Closed 9 years ago.
Can anyone explain why b gets rounded off here when I divide it by an integer although it's a float?
#include <stdio.h>
void main() {
int a;
float b, c, d;
a = 750;
b = a / 350;
c = 750;
d = c / 350;
printf("%.2f %.2f", b, d);
// output: 2.00 2.14
}
http://codepad.org/j1pckw0y

Answer 1

This is because of implicit conversion. The variables b, c, d are of float type. But the / operator sees two integers it has to divide and hence returns an integer in the result which gets implicitly converted to a float by the addition of a decimal point. If you want float divisions, try making the two operands to the / floats. Like follows.
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int a;
float b, c, d;
a = 750;
b = a / 350.0f;
c = 750;
d = c / 350;
printf("%.2f %.2f", b, d);
// output: 2.14 2.14
return 0;
}

Answer 2

Use casting of types:
int main() {
int a;
float b, c, d;
a = 750;
b = a / (float)350;
c = 750;
d = c / (float)350;
printf("%.2f %.2f", b, d);
// output: 2.14 2.14
}
This is another way to solve that:
int main() {
int a;
float b, c, d;
a = 750;
b = a / 350.0; //if you use 'a / 350' here,
//then it is a division of integers,
//so the result will be an integer
c = 750;
d = c / 350;
printf("%.2f %.2f", b, d);
// output: 2.14 2.14
}
However, in both cases you are telling the compiler that 350 is a float, and not an integer. Consequently, the result of the division will be a float, and not an integer.

Answer 3

"a" is an integer, when divided with integer it gives you an integer. Then it is assigned to "b" as an integer and becomes a float.
You should do it like this
b = a / 350.0;

Answer 4

Specifically, this is not rounding your result, it's truncating toward zero. So if you divide -3/2, you'll get -1 and not -2. Welcome to integral math! Back before CPUs could do floating point operations or the advent of math co-processors, we did everything with integral math. Even though there were libraries for floating point math, they were too expensive (in CPU instructions) for general purpose, so we used a 16 bit value for the whole portion of a number and another 16 value for the fraction.
EDIT: my answer makes me think of the classic old man saying "when I was your age..."

Answer 5

Chapter and verse
6.5.5 Multiplicative operators
...
6 When integers are divided, the result of the / operator is the algebraic quotient with any
fractional part discarded.105) If the quotient a/b is representable, the expression
(a/b)*b + a%b shall equal a; otherwise, the behavior of both a/b and a%b is
undefined.
105) This is often called ‘‘truncation toward zero’’.
Dividing an integer by an integer gives an integer result. 1/2 yields 0; assigning this result to a floating-point variable gives 0.0. To get a floating-point result, at least one of the operands must be a floating-point type. b = a / 350.0f; should give you the result you want.

Answer 6

Probably the best reason is because 0xfffffffffffffff/15 would give you a horribly wrong answer...

Answer 7

Dividing two integers will result in an integer (whole number) result.
You need to cast one number as a float, or add a decimal to one of the numbers, like a/350.0.