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Computer Programming - Quick Guide

89-112 minutes

Introduction to Computer Program

Before getting into computer programming, let us first
understand computer programs and what they do.

A computer program is a sequence of instructions written

using a Computer Programming Language to perform a
specified task by the computer.

The two important terms that we have used in the above

definition are −

Sequence of instructions
Computer Programming Language

To understand these terms, consider a situation when

someone asks you about how to go to a nearby KFC. What
exactly do you do to tell him the way to go to KFC?

You will use Human Language to tell the way to go to KFC,

something as follows −

First go straight, after half kilometer, take left from the

red light and then drive around one kilometer and you will
find KFC at the right.

Here, you have used English Language to give several steps

to be taken to reach KFC. If they are followed in the
following sequence, then you will reach KFC −

1. Go straight
2. Drive half kilometer
3. Take left
4. Drive around one kilometer
5. Search for KFC at your right side

Now, try to map the situation with a computer program. The

above sequence of instructions is actually a Human
Program written in English Language, which instructs on
how to reach KFC from a given starting point. This same
sequence could have been given in Spanish, Hindi, Arabic,
or any other human language, provided the person seeking
direction knows any of these languages.

Now, let's go back and try to understand a computer

program, which is a sequence of instructions written in a
Computer Language to perform a specified task by the
computer. Following is a simple program written in Python
programming Language −

print "Hello, World!"

The above computer program instructs the computer to

print "Hello, World!" on the computer screen.

A computer program is also called a computer

software, which can range from two lines to millions of
lines of instructions.

Computer program instructions are also called program

source code and computer programming is also called
program coding.

A computer without a computer program is just a dump

box; it is programs that make computers active.

As we have developed so many languages to communicate

among ourselves, computer scientists have developed
several computer-programming languages to provide
instructions to the computer (i.e., to write computer
programs). We will see several computer programming
languages in the subsequent chapters.

Introduction to Computer
Programming
If you understood what a computer program is, then we will
say: the act of writing computer programs is called
computer programming.

As we mentioned earlier, there are hundreds of

programming languages, which can be used to write
computer programs and following are a few of them −

Java
C
C++
Python
PHP
Perl
Ruby

Uses of Computer Programs

Today computer programs are being used in almost every
field, household, agriculture, medical, entertainment,
defense, communication, etc. Listed below are a few
applications of computer programs −

MS Word, MS Excel, Adobe Photoshop, Internet

Explorer, Chrome, etc., are examples of computer
programs.
 Computer programs are being used to develop graphics
and special effects in movie making.

Computer programs are being used to perform

Ultrasounds, X-Rays, and other medical examinations.

Computer programs are being used in our mobile

phones for SMS, Chat, and voice communication.

Computer Programmer
Someone who can write computer programs or in other
words, someone who can do computer programming is
called a Computer Programmer.

Based on computer programming language expertise, we

can name a computer programmers as follows −

C Programmer
C++ Programmer
Java Programmer
Python Programmer
PHP Programmer
Perl Programmer
Ruby Programmer

Algorithm
From programming point of view, an algorithm is a step-by-
step procedure to resolve any problem. An algorithm is an
effective method expressed as a finite set of well-defined
instructions.

Thus, a computer programmer lists down all the steps

required to resolve a problem before writing the actual
code. Following is a simple example of an algorithm to find
out the largest number from a given list of numbers −

1. Get a list of numbers L1, L2, L3....LN

2. Assume L1 is the largest, Largest = L1
3. Take next number Li from the list and do
the following
4. If Largest is less than Li
5. Largest = Li
6. If Li is last number from the list then
7. Print value stored in Largest and come
out
8. Else repeat same process starting from
step 3

The above algorithm has been written in a crude way to

help beginners understand the concept. You will come
across more standardized ways of writing computer
algorithms as you move on to advanced levels of computer
programming.

We assume you are well aware of English Language, which

is a well-known Human Interface Language. English has a
predefined grammar, which needs to be followed to write
English statements in a correct way. Likewise, most of the
Human Interface Languages (Hindi, English, Spanish,
French, etc.) are made of several elements like verbs,
nouns, adjectives, adverbs, propositions, and conjunctions,
etc.

Similar to Human Interface Languages, Computer

Programming Languages are also made of several
elements. We will take you through the basics of those
elements and make you comfortable to use them in various
programming languages. These basic elements include −

Programming Environment
Basic Syntax
Data Types
 Variables
Keywords
Basic Operators
Decision Making
Loops
Numbers
Characters
Arrays
Strings
Functions
File I/O

We will explain all these elements in subsequent chapters

with examples using different programming languages.
First, we will try to understand the meaning of all these
terms in general and then, we will see how these terms can
be used in different programming languages.

This tutorial has been designed to give you an idea about

the following most popular programming languages −

C Programming
Java Programming
Python Programming

A major part of the tutorial has been explained by taking C

as programming language and then we have shown how
similar concepts work in Java and Python. So after
completion of this tutorial, you will be quite familiar with
these popular programming languages.

Though Environment Setup is not an element of any

Programming Language, it is the first step to be followed
before setting on to write a program.

When we say Environment Setup, it simply implies a base

on top of which we can do our programming. Thus, we
need to have the required software setup, i.e., installation
on our PC which will be used to write computer programs,
compile, and execute them. For example, if you need to
browse Internet, then you need the following setup on your
machine −

A working Internet connection to connect to the Internet

A Web browser such as Internet Explorer, Chrome,
Safari, etc.

If you are a PC user, then you will recognize the following

screenshot, which we have taken from the Internet Explorer
while browsing tutorialspoint.com.

Similarly, you will need the following setup to start with

programming using any programming language.

A text editor to create computer programs.

A compiler to compile the programs into binary format.
An interpreter to execute the programs directly.

In case you don’t have sufficient exposure to computers,

you will not be able to set up either of these software. So,
we suggest you take the help from any technical person
around you to set up the programming environment on your
machine from where you can start. But for you, it is
important to understand what these items are.

Text Editor
A text editor is a software that is used to write computer
programs. Your Windows machine must have a Notepad,
which can be used to type programs. You can launch it by
following these steps −

Start Icon → All Programs → Accessories →

Notepad → Mouse Click on Notepad

It will launch Notepad with the following window −

You can use this software to type your computer program

and save it in a file at any location. You can download and
install other good editors like Notepad++, which is freely
available.
If you are a Mac user, then you will have TextEdit or you can
install some other commercial editor like BBEdit to start
with.

Compiler?
You write your computer program using your favorite
programming language and save it in a text file called the
program file.

Now let us try to get a little more detail on how the

computer understands a program written by you using a
programming language. Actually, the computer cannot
understand your program directly given in the text format,
so we need to convert this program in a binary format,
which can be understood by the computer.

The conversion from text program to binary file is done by

another software called Compiler and this process of
conversion from text formatted program to binary format
file is called program compilation. Finally, you can execute
binary file to perform the programmed task.

We are not going into the details of a compiler and the

different phases of compilation.

The following flow diagram gives an illustration of the

process −
So, if you are going to write your program in any such
language, which needs compilation like C, C++, Java and
Pascal, etc., then you will need to install their compilers
before you start programming.

Interpreter
We just discussed about compilers and the compilation
process. Compilers are required in case you are going to
write your program in a programming language that needs
to be compiled into binary format before its execution.

There are other programming languages such as Python,

PHP, and Perl, which do not need any compilation into
binary format, rather an interpreter can be used to read
such programs line by line and execute them directly
without any further conversion.
So, if you are going to write your programs in PHP, Python,
Perl, Ruby, etc., then you will need to install their
interpreters before you start programming.

Online Compilation
If you are not able to set up any editor, compiler, or
interpreter on your machine, then tutorialspoint.com
provides a facility to compile and run almost all the
programs online with an ease of a single click.

So do not worry and let's proceed further to have a thrilling

experience to become a computer programmer in simple
and easy steps.

Let’s start with a little coding, which will really make you a
computer programmer. We are going to write a single-line
computer program to write Hello, World! on your screen.
Let’s see how it can be written using different programming
languages.

Hello World Program in C

Try the following example using our online compiler option
available at www.compileonline.com.

For most of the examples given in this tutorial, you will find
a Try it option in our website code sections at the top right
corner that will take you to the online compiler.

Try to change the content inside printf(), i.e., type anything

in place of Hello World! and then check its result. It just
prints whatever you keep inside the two double quotes.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
/* printf() function to write Hello,
World! */
printf( "Hello, World!" );
}

which produces the following result −

Hello, World!

This little Hello World program will help us understand

various basic concepts related to C Programming.

Program Entry Point

For now, just forget about the #include <stdio.h>

statement, but keep a note that you have to put this
statement at the top of a C program.

Every C program starts with main(), which is called the

main function, and then it is followed by a left curly brace.
The rest of the program instruction is written in between
and finally a right curly brace ends the program.

The coding part inside these two curly braces is called the
program body. The left curly brace can be in the same line
as main(){ or in the next line like it has been mentioned in
the above program.

Functions
Functions are small units of programs and they are used to
carry out a specific task. For example, the above program
makes use of two functions: main() and printf(). Here, the
function main() provides the entry point for the program
execution and the other function printf() is being used to
print an information on the computer screen.

You can write your own functions which we will see in a

separate chapter, but C programming itself provides
various built-in functions like main(), printf(), etc., which we
can use in our programs based on our requirement.

Some of the programming languages use the word sub-

routine instead of function, but their functionality is more
or less the same.

Comments

A C program can have statements enclosed inside /*.....*/.

Such statements are called comments and these
comments are used to make the programs user friendly
and easy to understand. The good thing about comments
is that they are completely ignored by compilers and
interpreters. So you can use whatever language you want
to write your comments.

Whitespaces

When we write a program using any programming

language, we use various printable characters to prepare
programming statements. These printable characters are a,
b, c,......z, A, B, C,.....Z, 1, 2, 3,...... 0, !, @, #, $, %, ^, &, *, (, ),
-, _, +, =, \, |, {, }, [, ], :, ;, <, >, ?, /, \, ~. `. ", '. Hope I'm not
missing any printable characters from your keyboard.

Apart from these characters, there are some characters

which we use very frequently but they are invisible in your
program and these characters are spaces, tabs (\t), new
lines(\n). These characters are called whitespaces.

These three important whitespace characters are common

in all the programming languages and they remain invisible
in your text document −

Whitespace Explanation Representation

New Line To create a new line \n
Tab To create a tab. \t
Space To create a space. empty space
A line containing only whitespace, possibly with a
comment, is known as a blank line, and a C compiler totally
ignores it. Whitespace is the term used in C to describe
blanks, tabs, newline characters, and comments. So you
can write printf("Hello, World!" ); as shown below. Here all
the created spaces around "Hello, World!" are useless and
the compiler will ignore them at the time of compilation.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

/* printf() function to write Hello,

World! */

printf( "Hello, World!" );

which produces the following result −

Hello, World!

If we make all these whitespace characters visible, then the

above program will look like this and you will not be able to
compile it −

#include <stdio.h>\n
\n
int main()\n
{
\n
\t/* printf() function to write Hello,
World! */
\n
\tprintf(\t"Hello, World!"\t);\n
\n
}\n

Semicolons

Every individual statement in a C Program must be ended

with a semicolon (;), for example, if you want to write
"Hello, World!" twice, then it will be written as follows −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
/* printf() function to write Hello,
World! */
printf( "Hello, World!\n" );
printf( "Hello, World!" );
}

This program will produce the following result −

Hello, World!
Hello, World!

Here, we are using a new line character \n in the first

printf() function to create a new line. Let us see what
happens if we do not use this new line character −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
/* printf() function to write Hello,
World! */
printf( "Hello, World!" );
 printf( "Hello, World!" );
}

This program will produce the following result −

Hello, World! Hello, World!

We will learn identifiers and keywords in next few chapters.

Program Explanation

Let us understand how the above C program works. First of

all, the above program is converted into a binary format
using C compiler. So let’s put this code in test.c file and
compile it as follows −

$gcc test.c -o demo

If there is any grammatical error (Syntax errors in computer

terminologies), then we fix it before converting it into binary
format. If everything goes fine, then it produces a binary file
called demo. Finally, we execute the produced binary demo
as follows −

$./demo

which produces the following result −

Hello, World!

Here, when we execute the binary a.out file, the computer

enters inside the program starting from main() and
encounters a printf() statement. Keep a note that the line
inside /*....*/ is a comment and it is filtered at the time of
compilation. So printf() function instructs the computer to
print the given line at the computer screen. Finally, it
encounters a right curly brace which indicates the end of
main() function and exits the program.
Syntax Error
If you do not follow the rules defined by the programing
language, then at the time of compilation, you will get
syntax errors and the program will not be compiled. From
syntax point of view, even a single dot or comma or a single
semicolon matters and you should take care of such small
syntax as well. In the following example, we have skipped a
semicolon, let's try to compile the program −

#include <stdio.h>

main() {
printf("Hello, World!")
}

This program will produce the following result −

main.c: In function 'main':

main.c:7:1: error: expected ';' before '}'
token
}
^

So the bottom-line is that if you are not following proper

syntax defined by the programming language in your
program, then you will get syntax errors. Before attempting
another compilation, you will need to fix them and then
proceed.

Hello World Program in Java

Following is the equivalent program written in Java. This
program will also produce the same result Hello, World!.

public class HelloWorld {

public static void main(String []args) {
/* println() function to write Hello,
World! */
 System.out.println("Hello, World!");
}
}

which produces the following result −

Hello, World!

Hello World Program in Python

Following is the equivalent program written in Python. This
program will also produce the same result Hello, World!.

# print function to write Hello, World! */

print "Hello, World!"

which produces the following result −

Hello, World!

Hope you noted that for C and Java examples, first we are
compiling the programs and then executing the produced
binaries, but in Python program, we are directly executing it.
As we explained in the previous chapter, Python is an
interpreted language and it does not need an intermediate
step called compilation.

Python does not require a semicolon (;) to terminate a

statement, rather a new line always means termination of
the statement.

Let's discuss about a very simple but very important

concept available in almost all the programming languages
which is called data types. As its name indicates, a data
type represents a type of the data which you can process
using your computer program. It can be numeric,
alphanumeric, decimal, etc.

Let’s keep Computer Programming aside for a while and

take an easy example of adding two whole numbers 10 &
20, which can be done simply as follows −

10 + 20

Let's take another problem where we want to add two

decimal numbers 10.50 & 20.50, which will be written as
follows −

10.50 + 20.50

The two examples are straightforward. Now let's take

another example where we want to record student
information in a notebook. Here we would like to record the
following information −

Name:
Class:
Section:
Age:
Sex:

Now, let's put one student record as per the given

requirement −

Name: Zara Ali

Class: 6th
Section: J
Age: 13
Sex: F

The first example dealt with whole numbers, the second

example added two decimal numbers, whereas the third
example is dealing with a mix of different data. Let's put it
as follows −

Student name "Zara Ali" is a sequence of characters

which is also called a string.

Student class "6th" has been represented by a mix of

 whole number and a string of two characters. Such a
mix is called alphanumeric.

Student section has been represented by a single

character which is 'J'.

Student age has been represented by a whole number

which is 13.

Student sex has been represented by a single character

which is 'F'.

This way, we realized that in our day-to-day life, we deal

with different types of data such as strings, characters,
whole numbers (integers), and decimal numbers (floating
point numbers).

Similarly, when we write a computer program to process

different types of data, we need to specify its type clearly;
otherwise the computer does not understand how different
operations can be performed on that given data. Different
programming languages use different keywords to specify
different data types. For example, C and Java programming
languages use int to specify integer data, whereas char
specifies a character data type.

Subsequent chapters will show you how to use different

data types in different situations. For now, let's check the
important data types available in C, Java, and Python and
the keywords we will use to specify those data types.

C and Java Data Types

C and Java support almost the same set of data types,
though Java supports additional data types. For now, we
are taking a few common data types supported by both the
programming languages −
 Value range which can be
Type Keyword
represented by this data type
Character char -128 to 127 or 0 to 255
-32,768 to 32,767 or -2,147,483,648
Number int
to 2,147,483,647
Small
short -32,768 to 32,767
Number
Long
long -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
Number
Decimal 1.2E-38 to 3.4E+38 till 6 decimal
float
Number places
These data types are called primitive data types and you
can use these data types to build more complex data types,
which are called user-defined data type, for example a
string will be a sequence of characters.

Python Data Types

Python has five standard data types but this programming
language does not make use of any keyword to specify a
particular data type, rather Python is intelligent enough to
understand a given data type automatically.

Numbers
String
List
Tuple
Dictionary

Here, Number specifies all types of numbers including

decimal numbers and string represents a sequence of
characters with a length of 1 or more characters. For now,
let's proceed with these two data types and skip List, Tuple,
and Dictionary, which are advanced data types in Python.

Variables are the names you give to computer memory

locations which are used to store values in a computer
program.

For example, assume you want to store two values 10 and

20 in your program and at a later stage, you want to use
these two values. Let's see how you will do it. Here are the
following three simple steps −

Create variables with appropriate names.

Store your values in those two variables.
Retrieve and use the stored values from the variables.

Creating variables
Creating variables is also called declaring variables in C
programming. Different programming languages have
different ways of creating variables inside a program. For
example, C programming has the following simple way of
creating variables −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int a;
int b;
}

The above program creates two variables to reserve two

memory locations with names a and b. We created these
variables using int keyword to specify variable data type
which means we want to store integer values in these two
variables. Similarly, you can create variables to store long,
float, char or any other data type. For example −

/* variable to store long value */

long a;

/* variable to store float value */

float b;
You can create variables of similar type by putting them in
a single line but separated by comma as follows −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int a, b;
}

Listed below are the key points about variables that you
need to keep in mind −

A variable name can hold a single type of value. For

example, if variable a has been defined int type, then it
can store only integer.

C programming language requires a variable creation,

i.e., declaration before its usage in your program. You
cannot use a variable name in your program without
creating it, though programming language like Python
allows you to use a variable name without creating it.

You can use a variable name only once inside your

program. For example, if a variable a has been defined
to store an integer value, then you cannot define a again
to store any other type of value.

There are programming languages like Python, PHP,

Perl, etc., which do not want you to specify data type at
the time of creating variables. So you can store integer,
float, or long without specifying their data type.

You can give any name to a variable like age, sex,

salary, year1990 or anything else you like to give, but
most of the programming languages allow to use only
limited characters in their variables names. For now, we
will suggest to use only a....z, A....Z, 0....9 in your
variable names and start their names using alphabets
 only instead of digits.

Almost none of the programming languages allow to

start their variable names with a digit, so 1990year will
not be a valid variable name whereas year1990 or
ye1990ar are valid variable names.

Every programming language provides more rules related

to variables and you will learn them when you will go in
further detail of that programming language.

Store Values in Variables

You have seen how we created variables in the previous
section. Now, let's store some values in those variables −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int a;
int b;

a = 10;
b = 20;
}

The above program has two additional statements where

we are storing 10 in variable a and 20 is being stored in
variable b. Almost all the programming languages have
similar way of storing values in variable where we keep
variable name in the left hand side of an equal sign = and
whatever value we want to store in the variable, we keep
that value in the right hand side.

Now, we have completed two steps, first we created two

variables and then we stored required values in those
variables. Now variable a has value 10 and variable b has
value 20. In other words we can say, when above program
is executed, the memory location named a will hold 10 and
memory location b will hold 20.

Access stored values in variables

If we do not use the stored values in the variables, then
there is no point in creating variables and storing values in
them. We know that the above program has two variables a
and b and they store the values 10 and 20, respectively. So
let's try to print the values stored in these two variables.
Following is a C program, which prints the values stored in
its variables −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int a;
int b;

a = 10;
b = 20;

printf( "Value of a = %d\n", a );

printf( "Value of b = %d\n", b );
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Value of a = 10
Value of b = 20

You must have seen printf() function in the previous

chapter where we had used it to print "Hello, World!". This
time, we are using it to print the values of variables. We are
making use of %d, which will be replaced with the values of
the given variable in printf() statements. We can print both
the values using a single printf() statement as follows −
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int a;
int b;

a = 10;
b = 20;

printf( "Value of a = %d and value of b

= %d\n", a, b );
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Value of a = 10 and value of b = 20

If you want to use float variable in C programming, then you

will have to use %f instead of %d, and if you want to print a
character value, then you will have to use %c. Similarly,
different data types can be printed using different % and
characters.

Variables in Java
Following is the equivalent program written in Java
programming language. This program will create two
variables a and b and very similar to C programming, it will
assign 10 and 20 in these variables and finally print the
values of the two variables in two ways −

public class DemoJava {

public static void main(String []args) {
int a;
int b;

a = 10;
b = 20;
 System.out.println("Value of a = " +
a);
System.out.println("Value of b = " +
b);
System.out.println("Value of a = " +
a + " and value of b = " + b);
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Value of a = 10
Value of b = 20
Value of a = 10 and value of b = 20

Variables in Python
Following is the equivalent program written in Python. This
program will create two variables a and b and at the same
time, assign 10 and 20 in those variables.

Python does not want you to specify the data type at the
time of variable creation and there is no need to create
variables in advance.

a = 10
b = 20

print "Value of a = ", a

print "Value of b = ", b
print "Value of a = ", a, " and value of b
= ", b

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Value of a = 10
Value of b = 20
Value of a = 10 and value of b = 20
You can use the following syntax in C and Java
programming to declare variables and assign values at the
same time −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int a = 10;
int b = 20;

printf( "Value of a = %d and value of b

= %d\n", a, b );
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Value of a = 10 and value of b = 20

So far, we have covered two important concepts called

variables and their data types. We discussed how to use
int, long, and float to specify different data types. We also
learnt how to name the variables to store different values.

Though this chapter is not required separately because

reserved keywords are a part of basic programming syntax,
we kept it separate to explain it right after data types and
variables to make it easy to understand.

Like int, long, and float, there are many other keywords
supported by C programming language which we will use
for different purpose. Different programming languages
provide different set of reserved keywords, but there is one
important & common rule in all the programming
languages that we cannot use a reserved keyword to name
our variables, which means we cannot name our variable
like int or float rather these keywords can only be used to
specify a variable data type.
For example, if you will try to use any reserved keyword for
the purpose of variable name, then you will get a syntax
error.

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int float;
float = 10;

printf( "Value of float = %d\n", float);

}

When you compile the above program, it produces the

following error −

main.c: In function 'main':

main.c:5:8: error: two or more data types
in declaration specifiers
int float;
......

Let's now give a proper name to our integer variable, then

the above program should compile and execute
successfully −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int count;
count = 10;

printf( "Value of count = %d\n", count);

}

C Programming Reserved Keywords

Here is a table having almost all the keywords supported by
C Programming language −
auto else long switch
break enum register typedef
case extern return union
char float short unsigned
const for signed void
continue goto sizeof volatile
default if static while
do int struct _Packed
double

Java Programming Reserved

Keywords
Here is a table having almost all the keywords supported by
Java Programming language −

abstract assert boolean break

byte case catch char
class const continue default
do double else enum
extends final finally float
for goto if implements
import instanceof int interface
long native new package
private protected public return
short static strictfp super
switch synchronized this throw
throws transient try void
volatile while

Python Programming Reserved

Keywords
Here is a table having almost all the keywords supported by
Python Programming language −
and exec not
assert finally or
break for pass
class from print
continue global raise
def if return
del import try
elif in while
else is with
except lambda yield
We know you cannot memorize all these keywords, but we
have listed them down for your reference purpose and to
explain the concept of reserved keywords. So just be
careful while giving a name to your variable, you should not
use any reserved keyword for that programming language.

An operator in a programming language is a symbol that

tells the compiler or interpreter to perform specific
mathematical, relational or logical operation and produce
final result. This chapter will explain the concept of
operators and it will take you through the important
arithmetic and relational operators available in C, Java, and
Python.

Arithmetic Operators
Computer programs are widely used for mathematical
calculations. We can write a computer program which can
do simple calculation like adding two numbers (2 + 3) and
we can also write a program, which can solve a complex
equation like P(x) = x4 + 7x3 - 5x + 9. If you have been even
a poor student, you must be aware that in first expression 2
and 3 are operands and + is an operator. Similar concepts
exist in Computer Programming.

Take a look at the following two examples −

2 + 3

P(x) = x4 + 7x3 - 5x + 9.

These two statements are called arithmetic expressions in

a programming language and plus, minus used in these
expressions are called arithmetic operators and the values
used in these expressions like 2, 3 and x, etc., are called
operands. In their simplest form, such expressions produce
numerical results.

Similarly, a programming language provides various

arithmetic operators. The following table lists down a few
of the important arithmetic operators available in C
programming language. Assume variable A holds 10 and
variable B holds 20, then −

Operator Description Example

A + B will give
+ Adds two operands
30
Subtracts second operand from A - B will give
-
the first -10
A * B will give
* Multiplies both operands
200
Divides numerator by de-
/ B / A will give 2
numerator
This gives remainder of an B % A will give
%
integer division 0
Following is a simple example of C Programming to
understand the above mathematical operators −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int a, b, c;

a = 10;
b = 20;
 c = a + b;
printf( "Value of c = %d\n", c);

c = a - b;
printf( "Value of c = %d\n", c);

c = a * b;
printf( "Value of c = %d\n", c);

c = b / a;
printf( "Value of c = %d\n", c);

c = b % a;
printf( "Value of c = %d\n", c);
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Value of c = 30
Value of c = -10
Value of c = 200
Value of c = 2
Value of c = 0

Relational Operators
Consider a situation where we create two variables and
assign them some values as follows −

A = 20
B = 10

Here, it is obvious that variable A is greater than B in

values. So, we need the help of some symbols to write such
expressions which are called relational expressions. If we
use C programming language, then it will be written as
follows −

(A > B)
Here, we used a symbol > and it is called a relational
operator and in their simplest form, they produce Boolean
results which means the result will be either true or false.
Similarly, a programming language provides various
relational operators. The following table lists down a few of
the important relational operators available in C
programming language. Assume variable A holds 10 and
variable B holds 20, then −

Operator Description Example

Checks if the values of two operands
(A == B) is
== are equal or not, if yes then condition
not true.
becomes true.
Checks if the values of two operands
(A != B) is
!= are equal or not, if values are not
true.
equal then condition becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is
greater than the value of right (A > B) is
>
operand, if yes then condition not true.
becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is
(A < B) is
< less than the value of right operand, if
true.
yes then condition becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is
greater than or equal to the value of (A >= B) is
>=
right operand, if yes then condition not true.
becomes true.
Checks if the value of left operand is
less than or equal to the value of right (A <= B) is
<=
operand, if yes then condition true.
becomes true.
Here, we will show you one example of C Programming
which makes use of if conditional statement. Though this
statement will be discussed later in a separate chapter, but
in short, we use if statement to check a condition and if the
condition is true, then the body of if statement is executed,
otherwise the body of if statement is skipped.
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int a, b;

a = 10;
b = 20;

/* Here we check whether a is equal to

10 or not */
if( a == 10 ) {

/* if a is equal to 10 then this body

will be executed */
printf( "a is equal to 10\n");
}

/* Here we check whether b is equal to

10 or not */
if( b == 10 ) {

/* if b is equal to 10 then this body

will be executed */
printf( "b is equal to 10\n");
}

/* Here we check if a is less b than or

not */
if( a < b ) {

/* if a is less than b then this body

will be executed */
printf( "a is less than b\n");
}

/* Here we check whether a and b are not

equal */
if( a != b ) {

/* if a is not equal to b then this

body will be executed */
printf( "a is not equal to b\n");
 }
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

a is equal to 10
a is less than b
a is not equal to b

Logical Operators
Logical operators are very important in any programming
language and they help us take decisions based on certain
conditions. Suppose we want to combine the result of two
conditions, then logical AND and OR logical operators help
us in producing the final result.

The following table shows all the logical operators

supported by the C language. Assume variable A holds 1
and variable B holds 0, then −

Operator Description Example

Called Logical AND operator. If both
(A && B)
&& the operands are non-zero, then
is false.
condition becomes true.
Called Logical OR Operator. If any of
(A || B) is
|| the two operands is non-zero, then
true.
condition becomes true.
Called Logical NOT Operator. Use to
reverses the logical state of its !(A && B)
!
operand. If a condition is true then is true.
Logical NOT operator will make false.
Try the following example to understand all the logical
operators available in C programming language −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
 int a = 1;
int b = 0;

if ( a && b ) {

printf("This will never print because

condition is false\n" );
}
if ( a || b ) {

printf("This will be printed print

because condition is true\n" );
}
if ( !(a && b) ) {

printf("This will be printed print

because condition is true\n" );
}
}

When you compile and execute the above program, it

produces the following result −

This will be printed print because

condition is true
This will be printed print because
condition is true

Operators in Java
Following is the equivalent program written in Java. C
programming and Java provide almost identical set of
operators and conditional statements. This program will
create two variables a and b, very similar to C
programming, then we assign 10 and 20 in these variables
and finally, we will use different arithmetic and relational
operators −

You can try to execute the following program to see the

output, which must be identical to the result generated by
the above example.

public class DemoJava {

public static void main(String []args) {
int a, b, c;

a = 10;
b = 20;

c = a + b;
System.out.println("Value of c = " +
c );

c = a - b;
System.out.println("Value of c = " +
c );

c = a * b;
System.out.println("Value of c = " +
c );

c = b / a;
System.out.println("Value of c = " +
c );

c = b % a;
System.out.println("Value of c = " +
c );

if( a == 10 ) {

System.out.println("a is equal to
10" );
}
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Value of c = 30
Value of c = -10
Value of c = 200
Value of c = 2
Value of c = 0
a is equal to 10

Operators in Python
Following is the equivalent program written in Python. This
program will create two variables a and b and at the same
time, assign 10 and 20 in those variables. Fortunately, C
programming and Python programming languages provide
almost identical set of operators. This program will create
two variables a and b, very similar to C programming, then
we assign 10 and 20 in these variables and finally, we will
use different arithmetic and relational operators.

You can try to execute the following program to see the

output, which must be identical to the result generated by
the above example.

a = 10
b = 20

c = a + b
print "Value of c = ", c

c = a - b
print "Value of c = ", c

c = a * b
print "Value of c = ", c

c = a / b
print "Value of c = ", c

c = a % b
print "Value of c = ", c

if( a == 10 ):
print "a is equal to 10"
When the above program is executed, it produces the
following result −

Value of c = 30
Value of c = -10
Value of c = 200
Value of c = 0
Value of c = 10
a is equal to 10

Decision making is critical to computer programming.

There will be many situations when you will be given two or
more options and you will have to select an option based
on the given conditions. For example, we want to print a
remark about a student based on his secured marks.
Following is the situation −

Assume given marks are x for a student:

If given marks are more than 95, then

Student is brilliant

If given marks are less than 30, then

Student is poor

If given marks are less than 95 and more

than 30, then
Student is average

Now, the question is how to write a programming code to

handle such situations. Almost all the programming
languages provide conditional statements that work based
on the following flow diagram −
Let's write a C program with the help of if conditional
statements to convert the above given situation into a
programming code −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int x = 45;

if( x > 95) {

printf( "Student is brilliant\n");

}
if( x < 30) {

printf( "Student is poor\n");

}
if( x < 95 && x > 30 ) {

printf( "Student is average\n");

}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Student is average

The above program uses if conditional statements. Here,

the first if statement checks whether the given condition
i.e., variable x is greater than 95 or not and if it finds the
condition is true, then the conditional body is entered to
execute the given statements. Here we have only one
printf() statement to print a remark about the student.

Similarly, the second if statement works. Finally, the third if

statement is executed, here we have the following two
conditions −

First condition is x > 95

Second condition is x < 30

The computer evaluates both the given conditions and

then, the overall result is combined with the help of the
binary operator &&. If the final result is true, then the
conditional statement will be executed, otherwise no
statement will be executed.

This tutorial will give you a basic idea on various forms of if

statements and an introduction to switch statements
available in C programming language. Different
programming languages provide different types of
decision-making statements, but the basic concept
remains the same as explained in this tutorial.

if...else statement
An if statement can be followed by an optional else
statement, which executes when the Boolean expression is
false. The syntax of an if...else statement in C
programming language is −

if(boolean_expression) {

/* Statement(s) will execute if the

boolean expression is true */
} else {

/* Statement(s) will execute if the

boolean expression is false */
}
The above syntax can be represented in the form of a flow
diagram as shown below −

An if...else statement is useful when we have to take a

decision out of two options. For example, if a student
secures more marks than 95, then the student is brilliant,
otherwise no such situation can be coded, as follows −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int x = 45;

if( x > 95) {

printf( "Student is brilliant\n");

} else {
printf( "Student is not
brilliant\n");
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Student is not brilliant

if...elseif...else statement
An if statement can be followed by an optional else if...else
statement, which is very useful to test various conditions.

While using if, else if, else statements, there are a few
points to keep in mind −

An if can have zero or one else's and it must come after

an else if.

An if can have zero to many else…if's and they must

come before the else.

Once an else…if succeeds, none of the remaining else…

if's or else's will be tested.

The syntax of an if...else if...else statement in C

programming language is −

if(boolean_expression 1) {

/* Executes when the boolean expression

1 is true */
}
else if( boolean_expression 2) {

/* Executes when the boolean expression

2 is true */
}
else if( boolean_expression 3) {

/* Executes when the boolean expression

3 is true */
} else {

/* Executes when the none of the above

condition is true */
}
Now with the help of if...elseif...else statement, the very
first program can be coded as follows −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int x = 45;

if( x > 95) {

printf( "Student is brilliant\n");
}
else if( x < 30) {
printf( "Student is poor\n");
}
else if( x < 95 && x > 30 ) {
printf( "Student is average\n");
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Student is average

The Switch Statement

A switch statement is an alternative of if statements which
allows a variable to be tested for equality against a list of
values. Each value is called a case, and the variable being
switched on is checked for each switch case. It has the
following syntax −

switch(expression){
case ONE :
statement(s);
break;
case TWO:
statement(s);
break;
......
 default :
statement(s);
}

The expression used in a switch statement must give an

integer value, which will be compared for equality with
different cases given. Wherever an expression value
matches with a case value, the body of that case will be
executed and finally, the switch will be terminated using a
break statement. If no break statements are provided, then
the computer continues executing other statements
available below to the matched case. If none of the cases
matches, then the default case body is executed.

The above syntax can be represented in the form of a flow

diagram as shown below −

Now, let's consider another example where we want to

write the equivalent English word for a given number. Then,
it can be coded as follows −
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int x = 2;

switch( x ){
case 1 :
printf( "One\n");
break;
case 2 :
printf( "Two\n");
break;
case 3 :
printf( "Three\n");
break;
case 4 :
printf( "Four\n");
break;
default :
printf( "None of the above...\n");
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Two

Decisions in Java
Following is the equivalent program written in Java which
too supports if, if...else, if...elseif...else, and switch
statements.

You can try to execute the following program to see the

output, which must be identical to the result generated by
the above C example.

public class DemoJava {

public static void main(String []args) {
 int x = 45;

if( x > 95) {

System.out.println( "Student is
brilliant");
}
else if( x < 30) {
System.out.println( "Student is
poor");
}
else if( x < 95 && x > 30 ) {
System.out.println( "Student is
average");
}
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Student is average

Decisions in Python
Following is the equivalent program written in Python.
Python provides if, if...else, if...elif...else, and switch
statements. Here, you must note that Python does not
make use of curly braces for conditional body, instead it
simply identifies the body of the block using indentation of
the statements.

You can try to execute the following program to see the

output −

x = 45

if x > 95:
print "Student is brilliant"
elif x < 30:
print "Student is poor"
elif x < 95 and x > 30:
print "Student is average"

print "The end"

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Student is average
The end

Let's consider a situation when you want to print Hello,

World! five times. Here is a simple C program to do the
same −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
printf( "Hello, World!\n");
printf( "Hello, World!\n");
printf( "Hello, World!\n");
printf( "Hello, World!\n");
printf( "Hello, World!\n");
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!

It was simple, but again, let's consider another situation

when you want to write Hello, World! a thousand times. We
can certainly not write printf() statements a thousand
times. Almost all the programming languages provide a
concept called loop, which helps in executing one or more
statements up to a desired number of times. All high-level
programming languages provide various forms of loops,
which can be used to execute one or more statements
repeatedly.

Let's write the above C program with the help of a while

loop and later, we will discuss how this loop works

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int i = 0;

while ( i < 5 ) {
printf( "Hello, World!\n");
i = i + 1;
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!

The above program makes use of a while loop, which is

being used to execute a set of programming statements
enclosed within {....}. Here, the computer first checks
whether the given condition, i.e., variable "a" is less than 5
or not and if it finds the condition is true, then the loop body
is entered to execute the given statements. Here, we have
the following two statements in the loop body −

First statement is printf() function, which prints Hello

World!

Second statement is i = i + 1, which is used to increase

the value of variable i
After executing all the statements given in the loop body,
the computer goes back to while( i < 5) and the given
condition, (i < 5), is checked again, and the loop is executed
again if the condition holds true. This process repeats till
the given condition remains true which means variable "a"
has a value less than 5.

To conclude, a loop statement allows us to execute a

statement or group of statements multiple times. Given
below is the general form of a loop statement in most of
the programming languages −

This tutorial has been designed to present programming's

basic concepts to non-programmers, so let's discuss the
two most important loops available in C programming
language. Once you are clear about these two loops, then
you can pick-up C programming tutorial or a reference book
and check other loops available in C and the way they work.

The while Loop

A while loop available in C Programming language has the
following syntax −
while ( condition ) {
/*....while loop body ....*/
}

The above code can be represented in the form of a flow

diagram as shown below −

The following important points are to be noted about a

while loop −

A while loop starts with a keyword while followed by a

condition enclosed in ( ).

Further to the while() statement, you will have the body

of the loop enclosed in curly braces {...}.

A while loop body can have one or more lines of source

code to be executed repeatedly.

If the body of a while loop has just one line, then its
optional to use curly braces {...}.

A while loop keeps executing its body till a given

 condition holds true. As soon as the condition becomes
false, the while loop comes out and continues executing
from the immediate next statement after the while loop
body.

A condition is usually a relational statement, which is

evaluated to either true or false. A value equal to zero is
treated as false and any non-zero value works like true.

The do...while Loop

A while loop checks a given condition before it executes
any statements given in the body part. C programming
provides another form of loop, called do...while that allows
to execute a loop body before checking a given condition. It
has the following syntax −

do {
/*....do...while loop body ....*/
}
while ( condition );

The above code can be represented in the form of a flow

diagram as shown below −
If you will write the above example using do...while loop,
then Hello, World will produce the same result −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int i = 0;

do {
printf( "Hello, World!\n");
i = i + 1;
}
while ( i < 5 );
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!

The break statement

When the break statement is encountered inside a loop, the
loop is immediately terminated and the program control
resumes at the next statement following the loop. The
syntax for a break statement in C is as follows −

break;

A break statement can be represented in the form of a flow

diagram as shown below −
Following is a variant of the above program, but it will come
out after printing Hello World! only three times −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int i = 0;
do {
printf( "Hello, World!\n");
i = i + 1;

if( i == 3 ) {
break;
}
}
while ( i < 5 );
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!

The continue statement

The continue statement in C programming language works
somewhat like the break statement. Instead of forcing
termination, continue forces the next iteration of the loop
to take place, skipping any code in between. The syntax for
a continue statement in C is as follows −

continue;

A continue statement can be represented in the form of a

flow diagram as shown below −

Following is a variant of the above program, but it will skip

printing when the variable has a value equal to 3 −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int i = 0;
do {
if( i == 3 ) {
i = i + 1;
continue;
}
printf( "Hello, World!\n");
i = i + 1;
}
while ( i < 5 );
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!

Loops in Java
Following is the equivalent program written in Java that too
supports while and do...while loops. The following program
prints Hello, World! five times as we did in the case of C
Programming −

You can try to execute the following program to see the

output, which must be identical to the result generated by
the above example.

public class DemoJava {

public static void main(String []args) {
int i = 0;

while ( i < 5 ) {
System.out.println("Hello,
World!");
i = i + 1;
}
}
}

The break and continue statements in Java programming

work quite the same way as they work in C programming.

Loops in Python
Following is the equivalent program written in Python.
Python too supports while and do...while loops. The
following program prints Hello, World! five times as we did
in case of C Programming. Here you must note that Python
does not make use of curly braces for the loop body,
instead it simply identifies the body of the loop using
indentation of the statements.

You can try to execute the following program to see the

output. To show the difference, we have used one more
print statement, which will be executed when the loop will
be over.

i = 0

while (i < 5):

print "Hello, World!"
i = i + 1
print "Loop ends"

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Hello, World!
Loop ends

The break and continue statements in Python work quite

the same way as they do in C programming.

Every programming language provides support for

manipulating different types of numbers such as simple
whole integers and floating point numbers. C, Java, and
Python categorize these numbers in several categories
based on their nature.

Let's go back and check the data types chapter, where we

listed down the core data types related to numbers −

Value range which can be

Type Keyword
represented by this data type
-32,768 to 32,767 or -2,147,483,648
Number int
to 2,147,483,647
Small
short -32,768 to 32,767
Number
Long
long -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
Number
Decimal 1.2E-38 to 3.4E+38 till 6 decimal
float
Number places
These data types are called primitive data types and you
can use these data types to build more data types, which
are called user-defined data types.

We have seen various mathematical and logical operations

on numbers during a discussion on operators. So we know
how to add numbers, subtract numbers, divide numbers,
etc.

First let's see how to print various types of numbers

available in C programming language −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
short s;
int i;
long l;
float f;
double d;

s = 10;
i = 1000;
l = 1000000;
f = 230.47;
d = 30949.374;

printf( "s: %d\n", s);

printf( "i: %d\n", i);
printf( "l: %ld\n", l);
printf( "f: %.3f\n", f);
printf( "d: %.3f\n", d);
}
Rest of the coding is very obvious, but we used %.3f to print
float and double, which indicates the number of digits after
the decimal to be printed. When the above program is
executed, it produces the following result −

s: 10
i: 1000
l: 1000000
f: 230.470
d: 30949.374

Math Operations on Numbers

The following table lists down various useful built-in
mathematical functions available in C programming
language which can be used for various important
mathematical calculations.

For example, if you want to calculate the square root of a

number, for example, 2304, then you have a built-in function
available to calculate the square root.

Sr.No. Function & Purpose

double cos(double);

1 This function takes an angle (as a double) and

returns the cosine.

double sin(double);

2 This function takes an angle (as a double) and

returns the sine.

double tan(double);

3 This function takes an angle (as a double) and

returns the tangent.
 double log(double);

4 This function takes a number and returns the

natural log of that number.

double pow(double, double);

5 The first is a number you wish to raise and the

second is the power you wish to raise it to.

double hypot(double, double);

If you pass this function the length of two sides of a

6
right triangle, it will return the length of the
hypotenuse.

double sqrt(double);

7 You pass this function a number and it returns its

square root.

int abs(int);

8 This function returns the absolute value of an

integer that is passed to it.

double fabs(double);

9 This function returns the absolute value of any

decimal number passed to it.

double floor(double);

10 Finds the integer which is less than or equal to the

argument passed to it.

Following is a simple example to show a few mathematical

operations. To utilize these functions, you need to include
the math header file <math.h> in your program in the same
way you included stdio.h −

#include <stdio.h>
#include <math.h>

int main() {
short s;
int i;
long l;
float f;
double d;

printf( "sin(s): %f\n", sin(10));

printf( "abs(i): %f\n", abs(1000));
printf( "floor(f): %f\n",
floor(230.47));
printf( "sqrt(l): %f\n", sqrt(1000000));
printf( "pow(d, 2): %f\n", pow(2.374,
2));
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

sin(s): -0.544021
abs(i): -0.544021
floor(f): 230.000000
sqrt(l): 1000.000000
pow(d, 2): 5.635876

Besides the above usage, you will use numbers in loop

counting, flag representation, true or false values in C
programming.

Numbers in Java
Following is the equivalent program written in Java. Java
provides almost all the numeric data types available in C
programming.
You can try to execute the following program to see the
output, which is identical to the result generated by the
above C example.

public class DemoJava {

public static void main(String []args) {
short s;
int i;
long l;
float f;
double d;

s = 10;
i = 1000;
l = 1000000L;
f = 230.47f;
d = 30949.374;

System.out.format( "s: %d\n", s);

System.out.format( "i: %d\n", i);
System.out.format( "l: %d\n", l);
System.out.format( "f: %f\n", f);
System.out.format( "d: %f\n", d);
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

s: 10
i: 1000
l: 1000000
f: 230.470001
d: 30949.374000

Java also provides a full range of built-in functions for

mathematical calculation and you can use them in the
same way as you did in C programming.

Numbers in Python
Python is a little different from C and Java; it categorizes
numbers in int, long, float and complex. Here are some
examples of numbers in Python −

int long float complex

10 51924361L 0.0 3.14j
100 -0x19323L 15.20 45.j
-786 0122L -21.9 9.322e-36j
080 0xDEFABCECBDAECBFBAEl 32.3+e18 .876j
-0490 535633629843L -90. -.6545+0J
-0x260 -052318172735L -32.54e100 3e+26J
0x69 -4721885298529L 70.2-E12 4.53e-7j
Following is the equivalent program written in Python −

s = 10
i = 1000
l = 1000000
f = 230.47
d = 30949.374

print "s: ", s

print "i: ", i
print "l: ", l
print "f: ", f
print "d: ", d

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

s: 10
i: 1000
l: 1000000
f: 230.47
d: 30949.374

Python also provides a full range of built-in functions for

mathematical calculations and you can use them in the
same way you have used them in C programming.

If it was easy to work with numbers in computer

programming, it would be even easier to work with
characters. Characters are simple alphabets like a, b, c, d....,
A, B, C, D,....., but with an exception. In computer
programming, any single digit number like 0, 1, 2,....and
special characters like $, %, +, -.... etc., are also treated as
characters and to assign them in a character type variable,
you simply need to put them inside single quotes. For
example, the following statement defines a character type
variable ch and we assign a value 'a' to it −

char ch = 'a';

Here, ch is a variable of character type which can hold a

character of the implementation's character set and 'a' is
called a character literal or a character constant. Not only
a, b, c,.... but when any number like 1, 2, 3.... or any special
character like !, @, #, #, $,.... is kept inside single quotes,
then they will be treated as a character literal and can be
assigned to a variable of character type, so the following is
a valid statement −

char ch = '1';

A character data type consumes 8 bits of memory which

means you can store anything in a character whose ASCII
value lies in between -127 to 127, so it can hold any of the
256 different values. A character data type can store any of
the characters available on your keyboard including special
characters like !, @, #, #, $, %, ^, &, *, (, ), _, +, {, }, etc.

Note that you can keep only a single alphabet or a single

digit number inside single quotes and more than one
alphabets or digits are not allowed inside single quotes. So
the following statements are invalid in C programming −

char ch1 = 'ab';

char ch2 = '10';
Given below is a simple example, which shows how to
define, assign, and print characters in C Programming
language −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
char ch1;
char ch2;
char ch3;
char ch4;

ch1 = 'a';
ch2 = '1';
ch3 = '$';
ch4 = '+';

printf( "ch1: %c\n", ch1);

printf( "ch2: %c\n", ch2);
printf( "ch3: %c\n", ch3);
printf( "ch4: %c\n", ch4);
}

Here, we used %c to print a character data type. When the

above program is executed, it produces the following result
−

ch1: a
ch2: 1
ch3: $
ch4: +

Escape Sequences
Many programming languages support a concept called
Escape Sequence. When a character is preceded by a
backslash (\), it is called an escape sequence and it has a
special meaning to the compiler. For example, \n in the
following statement is a valid character and it is called a
new line character −
char ch = '\n';

Here, character n has been preceded by a backslash (\), it

has special meaning which is a new line but keep in mind
that backslash (\) has special meaning with a few
characters only. The following statement will not convey
any meaning in C programming and it will be assumed as
an invalid statement −

char ch = '\1';

The following table lists the escape sequences available in

C programming language −

Escape
Description
Sequence
\t Inserts a tab in the text at this point.
Inserts a backspace in the text at this
\b
point.
\n Inserts a newline in the text at this point.
Inserts a carriage return in the text at this
\r
point.
\f Inserts a form feed in the text at this point.
Inserts a single quote character in the text
\'
at this point.
Inserts a double quote character in the
\"
text at this point.
Inserts a backslash character in the text at
\\
this point.
The following example shows how the compiler interprets
an escape sequence in a print statement −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
char ch1;
char ch2;
char ch3;
char ch4;
 ch1 = '\t';
ch2 = '\n';

printf( "Test for tabspace %c and a

newline %c will start here", ch1, ch2);
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Test for tabspace and a newline

will start here

Characters in Java
Following is the equivalent program written in Java. Java
handles character data types much in the same way as we
have seen in C programming. However, Java provides
additional support for character manipulation.

You can try to execute the following program to see the

output, which must be identical to the result generated by
the above C example.

public class DemoJava {

public static void main(String []args) {
char ch1;
char ch2;
char ch3;
char ch4;

ch1 = 'a';
ch2 = '1';
ch3 = '$';
ch4 = '+';

System.out.format( "ch1: %c\n", ch1);

System.out.format( "ch2: %c\n", ch2);
System.out.format( "ch3: %c\n", ch3);
 System.out.format( "ch4: %c\n", ch4);
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

ch1: a
ch2: 1
ch3: $
ch4: +

Java also supports escape sequence in the same way you

have used them in C programming.

Characters in Python
Python does not support any character data type but all the
characters are treated as string, which is a sequence of
characters. We will study strings in a separate chapter. You
do not need to have any special arrangement while using a
single character in Python.

Following is the equivalent program written in Python −

ch1 = 'a';
ch2 = '1';
ch3 = '$';
ch4 = '+';

print "ch1: ", ch1

print "ch2: ", ch2
print "ch3: ", ch3
print "ch4: ", ch4

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

ch1: a
ch2: 1
ch3: $
ch4: +

Python supports escape sequences in the same way as

you have used them in C programming.

Consider a situation where we need to store five integer

numbers. If we use programming's simple variable and
data type concepts, then we need five variables of int data
type and the program will be as follows −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int number1;
int number2;
int number3;
int number4;
int number5;

number1 = 10;
number2 = 20;
number3 = 30;
number4 = 40;
number5 = 50;

printf( "number1: %d\n", number1);

printf( "number2: %d\n", number2);
printf( "number3: %d\n", number3);
printf( "number4: %d\n", number4);
printf( "number5: %d\n", number5);
}

It was simple, because we had to store just five integer

numbers. Now let's assume we have to store 5000 integer
numbers. Are we going to use 5000 variables?

To handle such situations, almost all the programming

languages provide a concept called array. An array is a
data structure, which can store a fixed-size collection of
elements of the same data type. An array is used to store a
collection of data, but it is often more useful to think of an
array as a collection of variables of the same type.

Instead of declaring individual variables, such as number1,

number2, ..., number99, you just declare one array variable
number of integer type and use number1[0], number1[1],
and ..., number1[99] to represent individual variables. Here,
0, 1, 2, .....99 are index associated with var variable and
they are being used to represent individual elements
available in the array.

All arrays consist of contiguous memory locations. The

lowest address corresponds to the first element and the
highest address to the last element.

Create Arrays
To create an array variable in C, a programmer specifies the
type of the elements and the number of elements to be
stored in that array. Given below is a simple syntax to
create an array in C programming −

type arrayName [ arraySize ];

This is called a single-dimensional array. The arraySize

must be an integer constant greater than zero and type can
be any valid C data type. For example, now to declare a 10-
element array called number of type int, use this statement
−

int number[10];
Here, number is a variable array, which is sufficient to hold
up to 10 integer numbers.

Initializing Arrays
You can initialize an array in C either one by one or using a
single statement as follows −

int number[5] = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};

The number of values between braces { } cannot be larger

than the number of elements that we declare for the array
between square brackets [ ].

If you omit the size of the array, an array just big enough to
hold the initialization is created. Therefore, if you write −

int number[] = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};

You will create exactly the same array as you did in the
previous example. Following is an example to assign a
single element of the array −

number[4] = 50;

The above statement assigns element number 5th in the

array with a value of 50. All arrays have 0 as the index of
their first element which is also called the base index and
the last index of an array will be the total size of the array
minus 1. The following image shows the pictorial
representation of the array we discussed above −

Accessing Array Elements

An element is accessed by indexing the array name. This is
done by placing the index of the element within square
brackets after the name of the array. For example −

int var = number[9];

The above statement will take the 10th element from the
array and assign the value to var variable. The following
example uses all the above-mentioned three concepts viz.
creation, assignment, and accessing arrays −

#include <stdio.h>

int main () {
int number[10]; /* number is an array of
10 integers */
int i = 0;

/* Initialize elements of array n to 0

*/
while( i < 10 ) {

/* Set element at location i to i +

100 */
number[ i ] = i + 100;
i = i + 1;
}

/* Output each array element's value */

i = 0;
while( i < 10 ) {

printf("number[%d] = %d\n", i,
number[i] );
i = i + 1;
}

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it

produces the following result −

number[0] = 100
number[1] = 101
number[2] = 102
number[3] = 103
number[4] = 104
number[5] = 105
number[6] = 106
number[7] = 107
number[8] = 108
number[9] = 109

Arrays in Java
Following is the equivalent program written in Java. Java
supports arrays, but there is a little difference in the way
they are created in Java using the new operator.

You can try to execute the following program to see the

output, which must be identical to the result generated by
the above C example.

public class DemoJava {

public static void main(String []args) {
int[] number = new int[10];
int i = 0;

while( i < 10 ) {

number[ i ] = i + 100;
i = i + 1;
}

i = 0;
while( i < 10 ) {
System.out.format( "number[%d] =
%d\n", i, number[i] );
i = i + 1;
}
 }
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

number[0] = 100
number[1] = 101
number[2] = 102
number[3] = 103
number[4] = 104
number[5] = 105
number[6] = 106
number[7] = 107
number[8] = 108
number[9] = 109

Arrays (Lists) in Python

Python does not have a concept of Array, instead Python
provides another data structure called list, which provides
similar functionality as arrays in any other language.

Following is the equivalent program written in Python −

# Following defines an empty list.

number = []
i = 0

while i < 10:

# Appending elements in the list
number.append(i + 100)
i = i + 1

i = 0
while i < 10:
# Accessing elements from the list
print "number[", i, "] = ", number[ i ]
i = i + 1

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

number[ 0 ] = 100
number[ 1 ] = 101
number[ 2 ] = 102
number[ 3 ] = 103
number[ 4 ] = 104
number[ 5 ] = 105
number[ 6 ] = 106
number[ 7 ] = 107
number[ 8 ] = 108
number[ 9 ] = 109

During our discussion about characters, we learnt that

character data type deals with a single character and you
can assign any character from your keyboard to a character
type variable.

Now, let's move a little bit ahead and consider a situation

where we need to store more than one character in a
variable. We have seen that C programming does not allow
to store more than one character in a character type
variable. So the following statements are invalid in C
programming and produce syntax errors −

char ch1 = 'ab';

char ch2 = '10';

We have also seen how to use the concept of arrays to

store more than one value of similar data type in a variable.
Here is the syntax to store and print five numbers in an
array of int type −

#include <stdio.h>

main() {
int number[5] = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};
int i = 0;

while( i < 5 ) {
 printf("number[%d] = %d\n", i,
number[i] );
i = i + 1;
}
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it

produces the following result −

number[0] = 10
number[1] = 20
number[2] = 30
number[3] = 40
number[4] = 50

Now, let's define an array of five characters in the same

way as we did for numbers and try to print them −

#include <stdio.h>

main() {
char ch[5] = {'H', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o'};
int i = 0;

while( i < 5 ) {
printf("ch[%d] = %c\n", i, ch[i] );
i = i + 1;
}
}

Here, we used %c to print character value. When the above

code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result −

ch[0] = H
ch[1] = e
ch[2] = l
ch[3] = l
ch[4] = o

If you are done with the above example, then I think you
understood how strings work in C programming, because
strings in C are represented as arrays of characters. C
programming simplified the assignment and printing of
strings. Let's check the same example once again with a
simplified syntax −

#include <stdio.h>

main() {
char ch[5] = "Hello";
int i = 0;

/* Print as a complete string */

printf("String = %s\n", ch);

/* Print character by character */

while( i < 5 ) {
printf("ch[%d] = %c\n", i, ch[i] );
i = i + 1;
}
}

Here, we used %s to print the full string value using array

name ch, which is actually the beginning of the memory
address holding ch variable as shown below −

Although it's not visible from the above examples, a C

program internally assigns null character '\0' as the last
character of every string. It indicates the end of the string
and it means if you want to store a 5 character string in an
array, then you must define an array size of 6 as a good
practice, though C does not complain about it.

If the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the

following result −

String = Hello
ch[0] = H
ch[1] = e
ch[2] = l
ch[3] = l
ch[4] = o

Basic String Concepts

Based on the above discussion, we can conclude the
following important points about strings in C programming
language −

Strings in C are represented as arrays of characters.

We can constitute a string in C programming by

assigning character by character into an array of
characters.

We can constitute a string in C programming by

assigning a complete string enclosed in double quote.

We can print a string character by character using an

array subscript or a complete string by using an array
name without subscript.

The last character of every string is a null character, i.e.,

‘\0’.

Most of the programming languages provide built-in

functions to manipulate strings, i.e., you can
concatenate strings, you can search from a string, you
can extract sub-strings from a string, etc. For more, you
can check our detailed tutorial on C programming or
 any other programming language.

Strings in Java
Though you can use character arrays to store strings, but
Java is an advanced programming language and its
designers tried to provide additional functionality. Java
provides strings as a built-in data type like any other data
type. It means you can define strings directly instead of
defining them as array of characters.

Following is the equivalent program written in Java. Java

makes use of the new operator to create string variables as
shown in the following program.

You can try to execute the following program to see the

output −

public class DemoJava {

public static void main(String []args) {
String str = new String("Hello");
System.out.println( "String = " + str
);
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

String = Hello

Strings in Python
Creating strings in Python is as simple as assigning a
string into a Python variable using single or double quotes.

Given below is a simple program that creates two strings

and prints them using print() function −
var1 = 'Hello World!'
var2 = "Python Programming"

print "var1 = ", var1

print "var2 = ", var2

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

var1 = Hello World!

var2 = Python Programming

Python does not support character type; these are treated

as strings of length one, thus also considered a substring.

To access substrings, use the square brackets for slicing

along with the index or indices to obtain your substring.
Take a look at the following code segment −

var1 = 'Hello World!'

var2 = "Python Programming"

print "var1[0]: ", var1[0]

print "var2[1:5]: ", var2[1:5]

When the above code is executed, it produces the following

result −

var1[0]: H
var2[1:5]: ytho

A function is a block of organized, reusable code that is

used to perform a single, related action. Functions provide
better modularity for your application and a high degree of
code reusing. You have already seen various functions like
printf() and main(). These are called built-in functions
provided by the language itself, but we can write our own
functions as well and this tutorial will teach you how to
write and use those functions in C programming language.
Good thing about functions is that they are famous with
several names. Different programming languages name
them differently, for example, functions, methods, sub-
routines, procedures, etc. If you come across any such
terminology, then just imagine about the same concept,
which we are going to discuss in this tutorial.

Let's start with a program where we will define two arrays

of numbers and then from each array, we will find the
biggest number. Given below are the steps to find out the
maximum number from a given set of numbers −

1. Get a list of numbers L1, L2, L3....LN

2. Assume L1 is the largest, Set max = L1
3. Take next number Li from the list and do
the following
4. If max is less than Li
5. Set max = Li
6. If Li is last number from the list
then
7. Print value stored in max and come
out
8. Else prepeat same process starting from
step 3

Let's translate the above program in C programming

language −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int set1[5] = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};
int set2[5] = {101, 201, 301, 401, 501};
int i, max;

/* Process first set of numbers

available in set1[] */
max = set1[0];
i = 1;
while( i < 5 ) {
 if( max < set1[i] ) {
max = set1[i];
}
i = i + 1;
}

printf("Max in first set = %d\n", max );

/* Now process second set of numbers

available in set2[] */
max = set2[0];
i = 1;
while( i < 5 ) {
if( max < set2[i] ) {
max = set2[i];
}
i = i + 1;
}
printf("Max in second set = %d\n", max
);
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it

produces the following result −

Max in first set = 50

Max in second set = 501

If you are clear about the above example, then it will

become easy to understand why we need a function. In the
above example, there are only two sets of numbers, set1
and set2, but consider a situation where we have 10 or
more similar sets of numbers to find out the maximum
numbers from each set. In such a situation, we will have to
repeat, processing 10 or more times and ultimately, the
program will become too large with repeated code. To
handle such situation, we write our functions where we try
to keep the source code which will be used again and again
in our programming.
Now, let's see how to define a function in C programming
language and then in the subsequent sections, we will
explain how to use them.

Defining a Function
The general form of a function definition in C programming
language is as follows −

return_type function_name( parameter list )

{
body of the function

return [expression];
}

A function definition in C programming consists of a

function header and a function body. Here are all the parts
of a function −

Return Type − A function may return a value. The

return_type is the data type of the value the function
returns. Some functions perform the desired operations
without returning a value. In this case, the return_type is
the keyword void.

Function Name − This is the actual name of the

function. The function name and the parameter list
together constitute the function signature.

Parameter List − A parameter is like a placeholder.

When a function is invoked, you pass a value as a
parameter. This value is referred to as the actual
parameter or argument. The parameter list refers to the
type, order, and number of the parameters of a function.
Parameters are optional; that is, a function may contain
no parameters.
 Function Body − The function body contains a
collection of statements that defines what the function
does.

Calling a Function
While creating a C function, you give a definition of what
the function has to do. To use a function, you will have to
call that function to perform a defined task.

Now, let's write the above example with the help of a

function −

#include <stdio.h>

int getMax( int set[] ) {

int i, max;

max = set[0];
i = 1;
while( i < 5 ) {
if( max < set[i] ) {
max = set[i];
}
i = i + 1;
}
return max;
}
main() {
int set1[5] = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};
int set2[5] = {101, 201, 301, 401, 501};
int max;

/* Process first set of numbers

available in set1[] */
max = getMax(set1);
printf("Max in first set = %d\n", max );

/* Now process second set of numbers

available in set2[] */
 max = getMax(set2);
printf("Max in second set = %d\n", max
);
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it

produces the following result −

Max in first set = 50

Max in second set = 501

Functions in Java
If you are clear about functions in C programming, then it is
easy to understand them in Java as well. Java
programming names them as methods, but the rest of the
concepts remain more or less same.

Following is the equivalent program written in Java. You

can try to execute it to see the output −

public class DemoJava {

public static void main(String []args) {
int[] set1 = {10, 20, 30, 40, 50};
int[] set2 = {101, 201, 301, 401,
501};
int max;

/* Process first set of numbers

available in set1[] */
max = getMax(set1);
System.out.format("Max in first set =
%d\n", max );

/* Now process second set of numbers

available in set2[] */
max = getMax(set2);
System.out.format("Max in second set
= %d\n", max );
}
 public static int getMax( int set[] ) {
int i, max;
max = set[0];
i = 1;

while( i < 5 ) {
if( max < set[i] ) {
max = set[i];
}
i = i + 1;
}
return max;
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

Max in first set = 50

Max in second set = 501

Functions in Python
Once again, if you know the concept of functions in C and
Java programming, then Python is not much different.
Given below is the basic syntax of defining a function in
Python −

def function_name( parameter list ):

body of the function

return [expression]

Using this syntax of function in Python, the above example

can be written as follows −

def getMax( set ):

max = set[0]
i = 1

while( i < 5 ):
 if( max < set[i] ):
max = set[i]

i = i + 1
return max

set1 = [10, 20, 30, 40, 50]

set2 = [101, 201, 301, 401, 501]

# Process first set of numbers available in

set1[]
max = getMax(set1)
print "Max in first set = ", max

# Now process second set of numbers

available in set2[]
max = getMax(set2)
print "Max in second set = ", max

When the above code is executed, it produces the following

result −

Max in first set = 50

Max in second set = 501

Computer Files
A computer file is used to store data in digital format like
plain text, image data, or any other content. Computer files
can be organized inside different directories. Files are used
to keep digital data, whereas directories are used to keep
files.

Computer files can be considered as the digital counterpart

of paper documents. While programming, you keep your
source code in text files with different extensions, for
example, C programming files end with the extension .c,
Java programming files with .java, and Python files with
.py.
File Input/Output
Usually, you create files using text editors such as notepad,
MS Word, MS Excel or MS Powerpoint, etc. However, many
times, we need to create files using computer programs as
well. We can modify an existing file using a computer
program.

File input means data that is written into a file and file
output means data that is read from a file. Actually, input
and output terms are more related to screen input and
output. When we display a result on the screen, it is called
output. Similarly, if we provide some input to our program
from the command prompt, then it is called input.

For now, it is enough to remember that writing into a file is

file input and reading something from a file is file output.

File Operation Modes

Before we start working with any file using a computer
program, either we need to create a new file if it does not
exist or open an already existing file. In either case, we can
open a file in the following modes −

Read-Only Mode − If you are going to just read an

existing file and you do not want to write any further
content in the file, then you will open the file in read-only
mode. Almost all the programming languages provide
syntax to open files in read-only mode.

Write-Only Mode − If you are going to write into either

an existing file or a newly created file but you do not
want to read any written content from that file, then you
will open the file in write-only mode. All the
programming languages provide syntax to open files in
write-only mode.
 Read & Write Mode − If you are going to read as well as
write into the same file, then you will open file in read &
write mode.

Append Mode − When you open a file for writing, it

allows you to start writing from the beginning of the file;
however it will overwrite existing content, if any.
Suppose we don’t want to overwrite any existing
content, then we open the file in append mode. Append
mode is ultimately a write mode, which allows content
to be appended at the end of the file. Almost all the
programming languages provide syntax to open files in
append mode.

In the following sections, we will learn how to open a fresh

new file, how to write into it, and later, how to read and
append more content into the same file.

Opening Files
You can use the fopen() function to create a new file or to
open an existing file. This call will initialize an object of the
type FILE, which contains all the information necessary to
control the stream. Here is the prototype, i.e., signature of
this function call −

FILE *fopen( const char * filename, const

char * mode );

Here, filename is string literal, which you will use to name

your file and access mode can have one of the following
values −

Sr.No Mode & Description

r
1
Opens an existing text file for reading purpose.
 w

Opens a text file for writing. If it does not exist, then

2
a new file is created. Here, your program will start
writing content from the beginning of the file.

Opens a text file for writing in appending mode. If it

3 does not exist, then a new file is created. Here, your
program will start appending content in the existing
file content.

r+
4
Opens a text file for reading and writing both.

w+

Opens a text file for both reading and writing. It first

5
truncates the file to zero length, if it exists; otherwise
creates the file if it does not exist.

a+

Opens a text file for both reading and writing. It

6 creates a file, if it does not exist. The reading will
start from the beginning, but writing can only be
appended.

Closing a File
To close a file, use the fclose( ) function. The prototype of
this function is −

int fclose( FILE *fp );

The fclose( ) function returns zero on success, or EOF,
special character, if there is an error in closing the file. This
function actually flushes any data still pending in the buffer
to the file, closes the file, and releases any memory used
for the file. The EOF is a constant defined in the header file
stdio.h.

There are various functions provided by C standard library

to read and write a file character by character or in the form
of a fixed length string. Let us see a few of them in the next
section.

Writing a File
Given below is the simplest function to write individual
characters to a stream −

int fputc( int c, FILE *fp );

The function fputc() writes the character value of the

argument c to the output stream referenced by fp. It returns
the written character written on success, otherwise EOF if
there is an error. You can use the following functions to
write a null-terminated string to a stream −

int fputs( const char *s, FILE *fp );

The function fputs() writes the string s into the file

referenced by fp. It returns a non-negative value on
success, otherwise EOF is returned in case of any error.
You can also use the function int fprintf(FILE *fp,const
char *format, ...) to write a string into a file. Try the
following example −

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
FILE *fp;
 fp = fopen("/tmp/test.txt", "w+");
fprintf(fp, "This is testing for
fprintf...\n");
fputs("This is testing for fputs...\n",
fp);
fclose(fp);
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it creates

a new file test.txt in /tmp directory and writes two lines
using two different functions. Let us read this file in the
next section.

Reading a File
Given below is the simplest function to read a text file
character by character −

int fgetc( FILE * fp );

The fgetc() function reads a character from the input file

referenced by fp. The return value is the character read; or
in case of any error, it returns EOF. The following function
allows you to read a string from a stream −

char *fgets( char *buf, int n, FILE *fp );

The function fgets() reads up to n - 1 characters from the

input stream referenced by fp. It copies the read string into
the buffer buf, appending a null character to terminate the
string.

If this function encounters a newline character '\n' or EOF

before they have read the maximum number of characters,
then it returns only the characters read up to that point
including the new line character. You can also use int
fscanf(FILE *fp, const char *format, ...) to read strings
from a file, but it stops reading after encountering the first
space character.

#include <stdio.h>

main() {

FILE *fp;
char buff[255];

fp = fopen("/tmp/test.txt", "r");
fscanf(fp, "%s", buff);
printf("1 : %s\n", buff );

fgets(buff, 255, (FILE*)fp);

printf("2: %s\n", buff );

fgets(buff, 255, (FILE*)fp);

printf("3: %s\n", buff );
fclose(fp);
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it reads

the file created in the previous section and produces the
following result −

1 : This
2 : is testing for fprintf...

3 : This is testing for fputs...

Let's analyze what happened here. First, the fscanf()

method reads This because after that, it encountered a
space. The second call is for fgets(), which reads the
remaining line till it encountered end of line. Finally, the last
call fgets() reads the second line completely.

File I/O in Java

Java provides even richer set of functions to handle File
I/O. For more on this topic, we suggest you to check our
Java Tutorials.

Here, we will see a simple Java program, which is

equivalent to the C program explained above. This program
will open a text file, write a few text lines into it, and close
the file. Finally, the same file is opened and then read from
an already created file. You can try to execute the following
program to see the output −

import java.io.*;

public class DemoJava {

public static void main(String []args)
throws IOException {
File file = new File("/tmp
/java.txt");

// Create a File
file.createNewFile();

// Creates a FileWriter Object using

file object
FileWriter writer = new
FileWriter(file);

// Writes the content to the file

writer.write("This is testing for
Java write...\n");
writer.write("This is second
line...\n");

// Flush the memory and close the

file
writer.flush();
writer.close();

// Creates a FileReader Object

FileReader reader = new
FileReader(file);
char [] a = new char[100];
 // Read file content in the array
reader.read(a);
System.out.println( a );

// Close the file

reader.close();
}
}

When the above program is executed, it produces the

following result −

This is testing for Java write...

This is second line...

File I/O in Python

The following program shows the same functionality to
open a new file, write some content into it, and finally, read
the same file −

# Create a new file

fo = open("/tmp/python.txt", "w")

# Writes the content to the file

fo.write( "This is testing for Python
write...\n");
fo.write( "This is second line...\n");

# Close the file

fo.close()

# Open existing file

fo = open("/tmp/python.txt", "r")

# Read file content in a variable

str = fo.read(100);
print str

# Close opened file

fo.close()
When the above code is executed, it produces the following
result −

This is testing for Python write...

This is second line...

We appreciate your patience for going through this tutorial.

We have tried to keep it concise but as this subject
contains several topics, we have shown a few examples in
detail.

If you have not understood any of the concepts, then we

recommend to go through the tutorial once again and once
you are comfortable with the concepts explained in this
tutorial, you can proceed further.

There are many other subjects related to computer

programming which we did not cover intentionally to avoid
any confusion, but we are sure those concepts will not be
difficult for you to understand as long as you make yourself
comfortable with the concepts explained in this tutorial.

At tutorialspoint, we have put lots of effort to prepare

comprehensive tutorials on C, Java, and Python
programming languages and we strongly recommend you
to start either of them, after having completed this tutorial.

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