Input/Output

C programming has several in-build library functions to perform input and output tasks.

Two commonly used functions for I/O (Input/Output) are printf() and scanf().

The scanf() function reads formatted input from standard input (keyboard) whereas the printf() function sends formatted output to the standard output (screen).

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Example #1: C Output

#include <stdio.h>      //This is needed to run printf() function.
int main()
{
    printf("C Programming");  //displays the content inside quotation
    return 0;
}

Output :

C Programming

How this program works?

• All valid C program must contain the main() function. The code execution begins from the start of main() function.
• The printf() is a library function to send formatted output to the screen. The printf() function is declared in "stdio.h" header file.
• Here, stdio.h is a header file (standard input output header file) and #include is a preprocessor directive to paste the code from the header file when necessary. When the compiler encounters printf() function and doesn't find stdio.h header file, compiler shows error.
• The return 0; statement is the "Exit status" of the program. In simple terms, program ends.

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#2: C Integer Output

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
    int testInteger = 5;
    printf("Number = %d", testInteger);
    return 0;
}

Output

Number = 5

Inside the quotation of printf() function, there is a format string "%d" (for integer). If the format string matches the argument (testInteger in this case), it is displayed on the screen.

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Example #3: C Integer Input/Output

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
    int testInteger;
    printf("Enter an integer: ");
    scanf("%d",&testInteger);  
    printf("Number = %d",testInteger);
    return 0;
}

Output

Enter an integer: 4
Number = 4

The scanf() function reads formatted input from the keyboard. When user enters an integer, it is stored in variable testInteger. Note the '&' sign before testInteger; &testInteger gets the address of testInteger and the value is stored in that address

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Example #4: C Floats Input/Output

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
    float f;
    printf("Enter a number: ");   // %f format string is used in case of floats
    scanf("%f",&f);
    printf("Value = %f", f);
    return 0;
}

Output

Enter a number: 23.45
Value = 23.450000

The format string "%f" is used to read and display formatted in case of floats.

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Example #5: C Character I/O

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
    char var1;
    printf("Enter a character: ");
    scanf("%c",&var1);     
    printf("You entered %c.",var1);  
    return 0;
} 

Output

Enter a character: g
You entered g.

Format string %c is used in case of character types.

Little bit on ASCII code

When a character is entered in the above program, the character itself is not stored. Instead a numeric value(ASCII value) is stored. And when we displayed that value using "%c" text format, the entered character is displayed.

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Example #6: C ASCII Code

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
    char var1;
    printf("Enter a character: ");
    scanf("%c",&var1);     

    // When %c text format is used, character is displayed in case of character types
    printf("You entered %c.\n",var1);  

    // When %d text format is used, integer is displayed in case of character types
    printf("ASCII value of %c is %d.", var1, var1);  
    return 0;
}

Output

Enter a character: g
You entered g.
ASCII value of g is 103.

You can display a character if you know ASCII code of that character. This is shown by following example.

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Example #7: C ASCII Code

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
    int var1 = 69;
    printf("Character having ASCII value 69 is %c.",var1);
    return 0;
} 

Output

Character having ASCII value 69 is E.

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