CS1010E Programming Methodology

Functions

Get this job done for me!

Lecture Overview

Top Down Approach to Problem Solving

Functions

basic idea
execution flow
prototype and declaration
scoping rules

C Standard Library

Math Library

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Top Down Approach

When solving large problems, it is hard to

come up with a detailed solution right away
A common approach is:

Specify the major steps of the algorithm

Review each major step and break it down into
smaller steps (step-wise refinement)
Repeat this process if needed until the steps are
well defined

This is known as Top Down Approach to

problem solving

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Example 1

One way to calculate the PI constant:

4 4 4 4 4
= + + .........
1 3 5 7 9

When you compute the term using the

sequence above:
1. PI starts as 4/1

(PI 4/1)

2. Subtract 4/3 from PI (PI PI 4/3)

3. Add 4/5 to PI

(PI PI + 4/5)

4. Subtract 4/7 from PI

(PI PI 4/7)

5.
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Example 1(contd)
even terms are
negative

4 4 4 4 4
= + + .........
1 3 5 7 9

Denominator increases
by 2 every term

odd terms are

positive

A more general algorithm:

1. Initialize PI 4
2. Denom 3
3. nTerm 2
4. while nTerm is <= 1000
i. Calculate new term
ii. Update PI
iii. nTerm nTerm + 1
5. Show PI
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PI Algorithm
1. Initialize PI 4
2. Denom 3
3. nTerm 2
4. while nTerm is <= 1000
i. Calculate new term
ii. Update PI
iii. nTerm nTerm + 1
5. Show PI

First draft with only the major steps

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a. Term 4 / Denom

a. If nTerm is even
PI PI Term
b. If nTerm is odd
PI PI + Term

refines

Major steps are further broken

down

Example 2: Anagrams

Two phrases are anagrams if one is formed

by rearranging the letters of the other,
disregarding spaces and punctuation marks.

Debit card = Bad credit

The eyes = They see
Astronomer = Moon starer
A telescope = To see place
A decimal point = Im a dot in place

How do you determine if two words X and Y

are anagrams?
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Example: Anagram Algorithm

One possible solution using sorting

1. Read two words w1 and w2 from user

2. len1 = length of w1, len2 = length of w2

Steps to calculate the

length

3. if len1 not equal len2

print "Not Anagrams" and stop
4. Sort w1 and w2 by alphabetical order

Steps to sort a word

into alphabetical
order

5. From position 0 to len1 - 1

If w1position not equal w2position
print "Not Anagrams" and stop
6. print They are Anagrams" and Stop
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Guidelines on Top Down Approach

As you learn more about C, you can see

clearer whether an algorithm step is
expressible in C with simple statement(s)

If it is not possible, break it down further to simpler

sub-problems

To learn a programming language is to know:

The expressive power of the language
The limitations of the syntax
Such that high level algorithms can be translated
effectively

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Functions
Using the top down approach:

1.

A major step may correspond to many smaller

steps after refinement
If we place all the statements in one place, the
actual major step may no longer be obvious
Large chunks of statements are hard to understand

Duplicated coding:

2.

Some computations may be needed multiple times

in an algorithm
Error prone and wasteful to repeat the coding

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Problem: A plate with 3 holes

Given the following plate, what is the area of

the shaded region after we drill 3 holes into
it?
a
b
c

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Given:
R = radius of the plate
Ra, Rb and Rc = radii
of the circles a, b and
c respectively
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Algorithm: A plate with 3 holes

A simple algorithm could be:

1. Read R, Ra, Rb and Rc from user
2. Calculate Area = R2
3. Calculate Areaa = Ra2
4. Calculate Areab =

Rb2

Duplicate coding!

5. Calculate Areac = Rc2

6. Calculate Areashaded = Area Areaa- Areab - Areac
7. Show Areashaded

Step 1 is also another source of duplicated

coding

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Functions: The basic idea

A function in C:

A program unit that performs a well defined task

May take input and produces output

Visualization:
input

Function

output

Example:
3
9

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sum

12

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Function: Syntax
function header

result_datatype function_name( [input parameters] )

SYNTAX

{
[0 or more declaration statements]
[0 or more other statements]
[return statement]
}

function body

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Function Header

Function header indicates:

Input (if any)

Data type of output result (if any)
3
9
sum takes two
integer inputs

sum

12
sum gives
integer result

int sum( int x, int y )

Function Name is an identifier

The usual identifier naming rule applies

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Function Header: Input Parameters

The syntax for input parameters is similar to

declaration statements:
Note that the data type is required before every
identifier

SYNTAX

datatype id1, datatype id2, ...

If the function does not take in any input

You can leave the input parameters blank

OR, you can use void
void is a special data type that means "Nothing"

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Function Header: Output Data Type

You need to specify the type of values that a

function will produce

If the function does not return anything, you must

use a void to indicate that

A function can return at most 1 result directly

Examples of function headers:

double areaOfCircle( double radius )
void print_info( )
void print_info( void )
void something( int x, double y, int z )

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Function Body: Statements

The statements in a function body:

Follow the rules we have learned so far

Additional variables can be declared
Computation can be expressed by statements

The input parameters:

Work as variables declared in this function

Only difference is that their values are initialized
at the point of function call (more on this later)

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Some Functions:
int sum( int x, int y )
{
additional variable
int result;
result = x + y;

x and y will have well defined values

return result;

return the calculated result

void print_info( )
{
printf("Take a 4-digit number X\n");
printf("Rearrange the digits to get Y\n");
printf("Subtract and get R\n");

return;
}
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Print instructions for the

user to follow

no need to return anything

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Functions in a Program
//Preprocessor directive not shown

int sum( int x, int y )

{
int result;
result = x + y;
return result;

Any number of functions, complete

with header and body can be
placed before the main()

int main( )
{
int input1, input2;
//read input1 and input2 from user
//use sum() to add the two inputs

Only restriction: You must

have the function declared
before its point of usage

}
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Function Calls and Execution Flow

int sum( int x, int y )
{

3.

int result;
result = x + y;
return result;

4.

int main( )
{
int input1, input2, output;
1.

//read inputs

2.
5.

output = sum( input1, input2 );

printf("Sum is %d\n", output);

6.

}
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Function Calls: Parameters and Arguments

formal parameter

int sum( int x, int y )

{
............
}

sum( 3, 9 );

Effectively:
int x = 3;
int y = 9;

//a function call

actual arguments

Actual arguments in a function call have a

1-to-1 correspondence with the formal
parameters declared in function header

The effect is just like a variable declaration with

initialization in that function

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Function Calls: Returned Result

The result returned by a function:

is a single value
essentially replaces the function call and can be
used in normal arithmetic operations and
assignment

result = sum( 3, 9 ) + sum( 5, 2 );

result = 12 + sum( 5, 2 );

result = 12 + 7;

result = 19;
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Problem: A plate with 3 holes

#include <stdio.h>
#define PI 3.14159
double circleArea( double radius )
{
double area = PI * radius * radius;
return area;
}
int main( )
{
double rPlate, rA, rB, rC;
double areaPlate;
//read rPlate, rA, rB, rC not shown
//calculate area of plate

areaPlate = circleArea( rPlate ) circleArea( rA )

circleArea( rB ) circleArea( rC );
//print areaPlate not shown
return 0;
}
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Functions: Scoping Rules

It is important to realise:

Variables declared in a function are only visible

within the function

int function( int x )

{
int y;
... ...
}

int main( )
{
int x, y;
}
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These variables are totally

independent of each other.

A common misunderstanding is that by

changing a variable, it can directly affect
another variable of the same name. This
is NOT true.
You can only pass information into a
function through the actual arguments
in a function call.
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Functions: Prototype and Definition

User of a function only needs to know:

Function name
Number of input parameter and data type
Output data type
Description of function

Actual coding (the function body) is not essential

to the user

C Programming Language uses function

prototype

to provide the essential information of a function

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SYNTAX

rDatatype fname( [parameters datatype] );

Example

Function Prototype: Syntax and Usage

int sum( int, int );

Note:

Similar to function header

Semicolon at the end
Identifier of parameters optional

Usage:

Ensure the prototype is declared before any actual

function call in the program

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Function Definition

Function definition is:

the full coding of the function

what we have seen so far

Separation of function prototype and definition

allows:

Portability:

You only need to show user the prototypes, not the full
coding

Ease of Maintenance:

Function definition can be placed in a separate source

code file
Not covered in this course

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Function Prototype: Example

prototype
int sum( int, int );
// sum() takes two integer X, Y
// and return the sum of X + Y
int main( )
{
.........
output = sum( input1, input2 );
.........

function call

}
int sum( int x, int y )
{

definition

int result;
result = x + y;
return result;

}
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Example

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Function Design: Guidelines

A good function should:

Rely only on its inputs to produce the output

Perform one task only
be reusable in your program and across programs

Use a function when:

You need to represent a complicated but well

defined step in the algorithm

Program Abstraction

You have found a generally useful task that

can/will be reused

Reusability and Ease of Maintenance

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Programming Style: Prototypes!

In this course, you need to:

Supply prototypes before the main() function

Supply definitions after the main() function

Additionally, you need to give a simple

comment to describe the function:

What are the inputs (if any)?

What is the purpose?
What is the output (if any)?
A clear but simple description is needed

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Programming Style: Modularity

You need to break your program into

reasonable modules (i.e. functions)

known as modularity

Use of functions will be evaluated:

Is everything in main() ?

Is function useful in your program?

Is the design of function meaningful?

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C Library

Useful predefined functions

C Standard Library

Library:

A collection of functions
Prototypes are organized into a header file (XXXX.h)
Provides great portability and reusability:

User only needs to include XXXX.h in their program to use

those functions

C Standard Library:

A set of libraries specified by C specification

All compliant compilers must support them
Provides commonly used functionalities:

Input / Output
Mathematical Functions
others ( more later )

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Learning to use C Standard Library

As a user, we only need to know information

specified by the function prototype to use it

Our usage of printf(), scanf() are good

examples

We highlight a few useful mathematical

functions here

Learn more by browsing the online C reference

http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/webmonkeys/book/c_guide/

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Compilation

Example

Prototype

HEADER

Square Root Function

#include <math.h>

double sqrt( double x);

//return the square root of x

double result;
result = sqrt( 4.0 );

//result = 2.0

gcc yourFile.c -lm

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Example

Prototype

HEADER

Power Function
#include <math.h>

double pow( double base, double exp );

//return the baseexp

double result;
result = pow( 2.0, 4.0 );

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//result = 16.0

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A lot more

Trigonometry functions:

sine, cosine, etc.

Logarithm functions:

log10, loge, exponential, etc.

Ceiling, Floor, Absolution value etc.

Reminder:

Learn to make use of standard library

Dont reinvent the wheel

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Some Math Library Functions

Some Useful Math Library Functions (compiled with lm option)
function abs(x) from <stdlib.h>; the rest from <math.h>

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Programming Style

C Elements

Summary
Function
- Header and Body
- Function call
- Prototype and Definition
Library
- Introduction to Math Library

Separate Function Prototype and Definition

Give function description in comment
Modularity

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Reference

Problem Solving and Program Design in C

Jeri R.Hanly & Elliot B.Koffman, 6th Edition,
Pearson

Chapter 3

Online C reference:
http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/webmonkeys/book/c_guide/

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