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CProgrammingDataTypes

CProgrammingDataTypes
In this tutorial, you will learn about data types and how to declare a variable in C
programming.

InCprogramming,variablesormemorylocationsshouldbedeclaredbeforeitcanbeused.
Similarly,afunctionalsoneedstobedeclaredbeforeuse.
Datatypessimplyreferstothetypeandsizeofdataassociatedwithvariablesandfunctions.

DatatypesinC
1.FundamentalDataTypes
Integertypes
Floatingtype
Charactertype
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2.DerivedDataTypes
Arrays
Pointers
Structures
Enumeration
Thistutorialwillfocusonfundamentaldatatypes.Tolearnaboutderiveddatatypes,visitthe
correspondingtutorial.

Integerdatatypes
Integersarewholenumbersthatcanhavebothpositiveandnegativevalues,butnodecimal
values.Example:0,5,10
InCprogramming,keywordintisusedfordeclaringintegervariable.Forexample:
intid;

Here,idisavariableoftypeinteger.
YoucandeclaremultiplevariableatonceinCprogramming.Forexample:
intid,age;

Thesizeofintiseither2bytes(InolderPC's)or4bytes.Ifyouconsideranintegerhaving
sizeof4byte(equalto32bits),itcantake2 32distinctstatesas:2 31,2 31+1,...,2,1,0,
1,2,...,2 312,2 311
Similarly,intof2bytes,itcantake2 16distinctstatesfrom2 15to2 151.Ifyoutrytostore
largernumberthan2 311,i.e,+2147483647andsmallernumberthan2 31,i.e,
2147483648,programwillnotruncorrectly.

Floatingtypes
Floatingtypevariablescanholdrealnumberssuchas:2.34,9.382,5.0etc.Youcandeclare
afloatingpointvariableinCbyusingeitherfloatordoublekeyword.Forexample:
floataccountBalance;
doublebookPrice;

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Here,bothaccountBalanceandbookPricearefloatingtypevariables.
InC,floatingvaluescanberepresentedinexponentialformaswell.Forexample:
floatnormalizationFactor=22.442e2;

Differencebetweenfloatanddouble
Thesizeoffloat(singleprecisionfloatdatatype)is4bytes.Andthesizeofdouble(double
precisionfloatdatatype)is8bytes.Floatingpointvariableshasaprecisionof6digits
whereastheprecisionofdoubleis14digits.

Charactertypes
Keywordcharisusedfordeclaringcharactertypevariables.Forexample:
chartest='h'

Here,testisacharactervariable.Thevalueoftestis'h'.
Thesizeofcharactervariableis1byte.

CQualifiers
Qualifiersaltersthemeaningofbasedatatypestoyieldanewdatatype.

Sizequalifiers
Sizequalifiersaltersthesizeofabasictype.Therearetwosizequalifiers,longandshort.
Forexample:
longdoublei;

Thesizeoffloatis8bytes.However,whenlongkeywordisused,thatvariablebecomes10
bytes.
LearnmoreaboutlongkeywordinCprogramming.
Ifyouknowthatthevalueofavariablewillnotbelarge,shortcanbeused.

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CProgrammingDataTypes

Signqualifiers
Integersandfloatingpointvariablescanholdbothnegativeandpositivevalues.However,ifa
variableneedstoholdpositivevalueonly,unsigneddatatypesareused.Forexample:
//unsignedvariablescannotholdnegativevalue
unsignedintpositiveInteger;

Thereisanotherqualifiersignedwhichcanholdbothnegativeandpositiveonly.However,it
isnotnecessarytodefinevariablesignedsinceavariableissignedbydefault.
Anintegervariableof4bytescanholddatafrom231to2 311.However,ifthevariableis
definedasunsigned,itcanholddatafrom0to2 321.
Itisimportanttonotethat,signqualifierscanbeappliedtointandchartypesonly.

Constantqualifiers
Anidentifiercanbedeclaredasaconstant.Todosoconstkeywordisused.
constintcost=20;

Thevalueofcostcannotbechangedintheprogram.

Volatilequalifiers
Avariableshouldbedeclaredvolatilewheneveritsvaluecanbechangedbysomeexternal
sourcesoutsidetheprogram.Keywordvolatileisusedforcreatingvolatilevariables.

Checkouttheseexamplestolearnmore:
CProgramtoPrintanIntegerEnteredbytheUser
CProgramtoAddTwoIntegers
CProgramtoMultiplytwoFloatingPointNumbers

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