• Variables
• Variable Names
• Global Variables
• External Variables
• Static Variables
• Constants

Variables

In C, a variable must be declared before it can be used. Variables can be declared at the start of any block of code, but most are found at the start of each function. Most local variables are created when the function is called, and are destroyed on return from that function.

A declaration begins with the type, followed by the name of one or more variables. For example,

int high, low, results[20];

Declarations can be spread out, allowing space for an explanatory comment. Variables can also be initialised when they are declared, this is done by adding an equals sign and the required value after the declaration.

C provides a wide range of types. The most common are

There are also several variants on these types.

All of the integer types plus the char are called the integral types. float and double are called the real types.

Variable Names

Every variable has a name and a value. The name identifies the variable, the value stores data. There is a limitation on what these names can be. Every variable name in C must start with a letter, the rest of the name can consist of letters, numbers and underscore characters. C recognises upper and lower case characters as being different. Finally, you cannot use any of C's keywords like main, while, switch etc as variable names.

Examples of legal variable names include

x          result          outfile          bestyet
x1         x2              out_file         best_yet
power      impetus         gamma            hi_score

It is conventional to avoid the use of capital letters in variable names. These are used for names of constants. Some old implementations of C only use the first 8 characters of a variable name. Most modern ones don't apply this limit though.

The rules governing variable names also apply to the names of functions. We shall meet functions later on in the course.

Global Variables

Local variables are declared within the body of a function, and can only be used within that function. This is usually no problem, since when another function is called, all required data is passed to it as arguments. Alternatively, a variable can be declared globally so it is available to all functions. Modern programming practice recommends against the excessive use of global variables. They can lead to poor program structure, and tend to clog up the available name space.

A global variable declaration looks normal, but is located outside any of the program's functions. This is usually done at the beginning of the program file, but after preprocessor directives. The variable is not declared again in the body of the functions which access it.

External Variables

Where a global variable is declared in one file, but used by functions from another, then the variable is called an external variable in these functions, and must be declared as such. The declaration must be preceeded by the word extern. The declaration is required so the compiler can find the type of the variable without having to search through several source files for the declaration.

Global and external variables can be of any legal type. They can be initialised, but the initialisation takes place when the program starts up, before entry to the main function.

Static Variables

Another class of local variable is the static type. A static can only be accessed from the function in which it was declared, like a local variable. The static variable is not destroyed on exit from the function, instead its value is preserved, and becomes available again when the function is next called. Static variables are declared as local variables, but the declaration is preceeded by the word static.

static int counter;

Static variables can be initialised as normal, the initialisation is performed once only, when the program starts up.

Constants

A C constant is usually just the written version of a number. For example 1, 0, 5.73, 12.5e9. We can specify our constants in octal or hexadecimal, or force them to be treated as long integers.

• Octal constants are written with a leading zero - 015.
• Hexadecimal constants are written with a leading 0x - 0x1ae.
• Long constants are written with a trailing L - 890L.

Character constants are usually just the character enclosed in single quotes; 'a', 'b', 'c'. Some characters can't be represented in this way, so we use a 2 character sequence.

In addition, a required bit pattern can be specified using its octal equivalent.

'\044' produces bit pattern 00100100.

Character constants are rarely used, since string constants are more convenient. A string constant is surrounded by double quotes eg "Brian and Dennis". The string is actually stored as an array of characters. The null character '\0' is automatically placed at the end of such a string to act as a string terminator.

A character is a different type to a single character string. This is important.

We will meet strings and characters again when we deal with the input / output functions in more detail.

Arrays

An array is a collection of variables of the same type. Individual array elements are identified by an integer index. In C the index begins at zero and is always written inside square brackets.

We have already met single dimensioned arrays which are declared like this

int results[20];

Arrays can have more dimensions, in which case they might be declared as

int results_2d[20][5];
int results_3d[20][5][3];

Each index has its own set of square brackets.

Where an array is declared in the main function it will usually have details of dimensions included. It is possible to use another type called a pointer in place of an array. This means that dimensions are not fixed immediately, but space can be allocated as required. This is an advanced technique which is only required in certain specialised programs.

When passed as an argument to a function, the receiving function need not know the size of the array. So for example if we have a function which sorts a list (represented by an array) then the function will be able to sort lists of different sizes. The drawback is that the function is unable to determine what size the list is, so this information will have to be passed as an additional argument.

As an example, here is a simple function to add up all of the integers in a single dimensioned array.

int add_array(int array[], int size)
{       int i;
      int total = 0;

      for(i = 0; i <>