Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering

Chapter 4: Selection Statements

Introduction to Computer Programming

(C language)

Phạm Hoàng Anh

(anhpham@hcmut.edu.vn)

2020 – 2021, Semester 1

Course Content
p C.1. Introduction to Computers and
Programming
p C.2. C Program Structure and its
Components
p C.3. Variables and Basic Data Types
p C.4. Selection Statements
p C.5. Repetition Statements
p C.6. Functions
p C.7. Arrays
p C.8. Pointers
p C.9. File Processing 2
References

p [1] “C: How to Program”, 7th Ed. – Paul

Deitel and Harvey Deitel, Prentice Hall, 2012.
p [2] “The C Programming Language”, 2nd Ed.
– Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie,
Prentice Hall, 1988
p and others, especially those on the Internet

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Content

p Introduction

p if.. statements
p if..else.. statements
p Nested if../if..else.. statements
p switch..case.. statements
p Summary

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Introduction
p Recall
n Statement
p ended with a semicolon (;)
p stretched on multiple lines with a backslash \ at the end
p able to be grouped in the brackets {}
p not consider spaces
n Block
p specified by {} with no semicolon after the right brace
p contains as many statements as required
p is a compound statement, syntactically equivalent to a
single statement
à Sequentially processed from the beginning to the
end of a function 5
 Introduction
p Given a void main() {
double positiveNumber[10] = {2, 1, 3, 10, 8, 3, 4, 5, 9, 12};
set of n
int n = 10;
positive double minNumber = positiveNumber[0];
int iteration = 1;
numbers,
while (iteration < n) {
find the if (minNumber <= positiveNumber[iteration])
Single
iteration = iteration + 1; statement
smallest
else {
one. minNumber = positiveNumber[iteration];
Block
iteration = iteration + 1;
(Chapter 1 –
}

Real code in C) }
}
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Introduction
p Control statements in C
n Sequence
p Assignment
p Function calling
p …
n Selection
p if
p if..else..
p switch..case..
n Repetition
p for..
p while..
p do..while..
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 Introduction
p Given a void main() {
double positiveNumber[10] = {2, 1, 3, 10, 8, 3, 4, 5, 9, 12};
set of n
int n = 10;
positive double minNumber = positiveNumber[0];
int iteration = 1;
numbers,
while (iteration < n) {
find the if (minNumber <= positiveNumber[iteration])
iteration = iteration + 1;
smallest
else {
one. minNumber = positiveNumber[iteration];
iteration = iteration + 1;
(Chapter 1 –
} Control Statements for Selection
Real code in C) }
}
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if.. statements
if (<Condition>) <Statement>

false (0)
<Condition>

if (<Condition> )
{ true ( 0)
<Statements>
}
<Statements>

<Statements> is performed (selected)

if <Condition> is true.
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Otherwise, ignored.
if.. statements

false (0)
grade>=5.0

true ( 0)

printf(“Passed”);

Print “Passed” if grade >= 5.0.

Otherwise, ignored.
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if..else.. statements
if (<Condition>) <Statement T>
else <Statement F>

if (<Condition>) <Statement T> false (0)

else <Condition>
{
<Statements F>
}
true ( 0)
if (<Condition> )
{
<Statements T> <Statements T> <Statements F>
}
else <Statement F>

if (<Condition> )
{
<Statements T>
}
else <Statements T> is performed (selected)
{
<Statements F> if <Condition> is true.
} Otherwise, <Statements F> is performed.11
if..else.. statements

false (0)
grade >= 5.0

true ( 0)

printf(“Passed”); printf(“Failed”);

Print “Passed” if grade >= 5.0.

Otherwise, print “Failed”.
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if..else.. statements
p Conditional expression:

<condition>?<expression T>:<expression F>

can be regarded as:

if (<condition>) <expression T>;

else <expression F>;

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if..else.. statements
Which one do you prefer:
conditional expressions or
if..else.. statements?

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Nested if../if..else.. statements
if (<condition 1>) if (<condition 1>)
{ {
… …
if (<condition 2>) … if (<condition 2>) …
… …
} }
else
{
…
if (<condition 3>) …
…
}
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Nested if../if..else.. statements

16
Nested if../if..else.. statements

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Nested if../if..else.. statements
A multi-way decision if (<condition 1>) <statements T1>
else if (<condition 2>) <statements T2>
else if (<condition 3>) <statements T3>
…
else if (<condition k>) <statements Tk>
else <statements Fk>

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Nested if../if..else.. statements
Be careful with specifying “else” for “which if”:
if (<condition 1>)
if (<condition 2>) <statements T2>
else <statements F>
should be:
if (<condition 1>) {
d = ? 5? 10? 20?
if (<condition 2>) <statements T2>
}
else <statements F1>
or:
if (<condition 1>) {
if (<condition 2>) <statements T2>
else <statements F2>
d = ? 5? 10? 20?
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}
 switch..case.. statements
false (0) false (0) false (0)
<case 1> <case 2> <case N>
true ( 0) true ( 0) true ( 0)

<Statements 1> <Statements 2> <Statements N> <Default>

switch (<expression>) { a multi-way decision

case <case 1>: <Statements 1>; break; that tests whether an
case <case 2>: <Statements 2>; break;
expression matches one
…
of a number of constant
case <case N>: <Statements N>; break;
integer values, and
[default: <Default>]
branches accordingly
} 20
switch..case.. statements
switch (<expression>) {
case <case 1>: <Statements 1>; break;
case <case 2>: <Statements 2>; break;
…
case <case N>: <Statements N>; break;
[default: <Default>]
}

can be regarded as:

if (<expression> == <case 1>) <Statements 1>

else if (<expression> == <case 2>) <Statements 2>
…
else if (<expression> == <case N>) <Statements N>
[else <Default>]
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switch..case.. statements
p <expression> has a type of integer numbers,
enumerated data, characters.
p <case 1>, …, <case N> are constants of one
of the aforementioned types.
n Cases serve as labels.
p [default: <Default>] is optional.
p “fall-through” property of switch..case..
n After the code for one case is done, execution falls
through to the next unless an explicit action is
taken to escape.
p break (return) statement 22
switch..case.. statements
false (0) false (0) false (0)
aChar==‘a’ aChar==‘b’ …
true ( 0) true ( 0) true ( 0)
printf ‘a’; printf ‘b’; printf
…
break; break; default;

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switch..case.. statements
false (0) false (0) false (0)
<case 1> <case 2> <case N>
true ( 0) true ( 0) true ( 0)

<Statements 1> <Statements 2> <Statements N> <Default>

switch..case.. statement with “fall-through” property

switch (<expression>) {
case <case 1>: <Statements 1>
case <case 2>: <Statements 2>
…
case <case N>: <Statements N>
[default: <Default>]
} 24
 switch..case.. statements
switch..case.. statement with “fall-through” property
can be regarded as:
if (<expression> == <case 1>) {
switch (<expression>) { <Statements 1>
case <case 1>: <Statements 1> <Statements 2>
case <case 2>: <Statements 2> …
… <Default>
case <case N>: <Statements N> }
[default: <Default>] else if (<expression> == <case 2>) {
} <Statements 2>
…
<Default>
}
…
else if (<expression> == <case N>) {
<Statements N>
<Default>
}
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[else <Default>]
switch..case.. statements
false (0) false (0) false (0)
aChar==‘a’ aChar==‘b’ …
true ( 0) true ( 0) true ( 0)
printf
printf ‘a’; printf ‘b’; …
default;

switch..case.. statement with “fall-through” property

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Put them all together
p Given a problem: build your timetable in a
week. Input a day in a week and output its
corresponding activities.
p string.h: a standard library file for strings
n Compare two strings
p int strcmp(const char *str1, const char *str2)
§ < 0 if str1 < str2 (less than)
§ > 0 if str1 > str2 (greater than)
§ = 0 if str1 = str2 (equal)

n Copy a string to another one

p char *strcpy(char *destination, const char *source)
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Add more codes to make such an input valid (?!)

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Summary
p Control statements for selection
n if.. statements
n if..else.. statements
n switch..case.. statements

p Statements can be selected for execution

according to a “TRUE” ( 0) value of a
condition (expression).
p Selection statements play an important role
in programming.
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Chapter 4: Selection Statements

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