Lecture Handout
Introduction
to Programming
Lecture No. 9
Reading Material
Deitel
& Deitel – C++ How to Program chapter
2
3.1,
3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5,
3.6
Summary
Functions
Structure
of a Function
Declaration
and Definition of a Function
Sample
Program 1
Sample
Program 2
Sample
Program 3
Summary
Tips
Introduction
Now
our toolkit is almost complete. The basic constructs of programming are
sequence,
decision
making and loops. You have learnt all these techniques. Now we can write
almost
all kinds of programs. There are more techniques to further refine the
programs.
One
of the major programming constructs is Functions. C is a function-oriented
language.
Every
program is written in different functions.
In our daily life, we divide our tasks into
sub tasks. Consider the making of a laboratory
stool.
It
has a seat and three legs. Now we need to make a seat and three legs out of
wood. The
major
task is to make a stool. Sub tasks are, make a seat and then fabricate three
legs. The
legs
should be identical. We can fashion one leg and then re-using this prototype,
we
have
to build two more identical legs. The last task is to assemble all these to
make a
stool.
We have a slightly difficult task and have broken down it into simpler pieces.
This
is
the concept of functional design or top-down designing. In top design, we look
at the
problem
from top i.e. identification of the problem. What we have to solve? Then refine
it
and
divide it into smaller pieces. We refine it again and divide it into smaller
pieces. We
keep
on doing it as long as we get easily manageable task. Let's consider an example
like
home
construction. From the top level, we have to construct a home. Then we say that
we
need
design of the home according to which the building will be constructed. We need
to
construct
rooms. How can we construct a room? We need bricks, cement, doors,
windows
etc. Procurement of all of these things is tasks. Once we come down to the
level
where
a task is easily manageable and doable, we stop doing further refinement. When
we
break up a task into smaller sub tasks, we stop at a reasonable level. Top-down
designing
mechanism is based on the principle of 'divide and conquer' i.e. we divide a
big
task
into smaller tasks and then accomplish them.
Let's
have a look at a simple example to understand the process of dividing big task
into
simple
ones. Suppose we want to know how many
students are currently logged in the
LMS
(Learning Management System) of VU. This task will be handed over to the
network
administrator to find out the number of students currently logged in LMS of the
university.
The network administrator will check the network activity or get this
information
from the database and get the list of students currently logged in. The
number
of students is counted from that list and the result is given back to us. What
has
happened
in this whole process? There was a simple request to find the number of
students
currently logged in LMS. This request is delegated to the network
administrator.
The
network administrator performs this task and we get the result. In the mean time, we
can
do some other task as we are not interested in the names or list of students.
We only
want
the number of students. This technique is known as parallel processing. In
terms of
programming,
network administrator has performed a function i.e. calculation of the
number
of students. During this process, the network administrator also gets the list
of
students
which is hidden from us. So the information hiding is also a part of the
function.
Some
information is given to the network administrator (i.e. the request to
calculate the
number
of students currently logged in the LMS) while some information is provided
back
to us (i.e. the number of students).
Functions
The
functions are like subtasks. They receive some information, do some process and
provide
a result. Functions are invoked through a calling program. Calling program does
not
need to know what the function is doing and how it is performing its task.
There is a
specific
function-calling methodology. The calling program calls a function by giving it
some
information and receives the result.
We
have a main ( ) in every C program. ‘main ( )’ is also a function. When we
write a
function,
it must start with a name, parentheses, and surrounding braces just like with
main
( ). Functions are very important in code reusing.
There
are two categories of functions:
1.
Functions that return a value
2.
Functions that do not return a value
Suppose,
we have a function that calculates the square of an integer such that function
will
return the square of the integer. Similarly we may have a function which
displays
some
information on the screen so this function is not supposed to return any value
to the
calling
program.
Structure
of a Function
The
declaration syntax of a function is as follows:
return-value-type
function-name( argument-list )
{
declarations and
statements
}
The
first line is the function header and the declaration and statement part is the
body of
the
function.
return-value_type:
Function
may or may not return a value. If a function returns a value, that must be of a
valid
data type. This can only be one data type that means if a function returns an
int data
type
than it can only return int and not char or float. Return type may be int,
float, char or
any
other valid data type. How can we return some value from a function? The
keyword
is
return
which is used to return some value from the function. It does two things,
returns
some
value to the calling program and also exits from the function. We can only
return a
value
(a variable or an expression which evaluates to some value) from a function.
The
data
type of the returning variable should match return_value_type data
type.
There
may be some functions which do not return any value. For such functions, the
return_value_type is void.
‘void’ is a keyword of ‘C’ language. The default
return_value_type is of int data type i.e. if we do not
mention any return_value_type with
a
function, it will return an int value.
Function-name:
The
same rules of variable naming conventions are applied to functions name.
Function
name
should be self-explanatory like square, squareRoot, circleArea etc.
argument-list:
Argument
list contains the information which we pass to the function. Some function
does
not need any information to perform the task. In this case, the argument list
for such
functions
will be empty. Arguments to a function
are of valid data type like int number,
double
radius etc.
Declarations and Statements:
This
is the body of the function. It consists of declarations and statements. The
task of the
function
is performed in the body of the function.
Example:
//This
function calculates the square of a number and returns it.
int
square(int number)
{
int
result = 0;
result
= number * number;
return
result;
}
Calling Mechanism:
How
a program can use a function? It is very simple. The calling program just needs
to
write
the function name and provide its arguments (without data types). It is
important to
note
that while calling a function, we don’t write the return value data type or the
data
types
of arguments.
Example:
//This
program calculates the square of a given number
#include
<iostream.h>
main()
{
int number, result;
result
= 0;
number = 0;
//
Getting the input from the user
cout
<< “ Please enter the number to calculate the square ”;
cin
>> number;
//
Calling the function square(int number)
result
= square(number);
cout
<< “ The square of “ << number << “ is “ << result;
}
Declaration
and Definition of a Function
Declaration
and definition are two different things. Declaration is the prototype of the
function,
that includes the return type, name and argument list to the function and
definition
is the actual function code. Declaration of a function is also known as
signature
of
a function.
As
we declare a variable like int x; before
using it in our program, similarly we need to
declare
function before using it. Declaration and definition of a function can be
combined
together
if we write the complete function before the calling functions. Then we don’t
need
to declare it explicitly. If we have written all of our functions in a
different file and
we
call these functions from main( )
which is written in a different file. In this case, the
main( ) will not be compiled unless it knows about the functions declaration.
Therefore
we
write the declaration of functions before the main(
)
function. Function declaration is
a
one line statement in which we write the return type, name of the function and
the data
type
of arguments. Name of the arguments is not necessary. The definition of the
function
contains
the complete code of the function. It starts with the declaration
statement with
the
addition that in definition, we do write the names of the arguments. After
this, we
write
an opening brace and then all the statements, followed by a closing brace.
Example:
If
the function square is defined in a separate file or after the calling
function, then we
need to declare it:
Declaration:
int
square ( int );
Definition:
int
square ( int number)
{
return
(number * number ) ;
}
Here
is the complete code of the program:
//This
program calculates the square of a given number
#include
<iostream.h>
//
Function declarations.
int square(int);
main()
{
int
number, result;
result
= 0;
number = 0;
cout
<< “ Please enter the number to calculate the square ”;
cin
>> number;
//
Calling the function square(int number)
result
= square(number);
cout
<< “ The square of “ << number << “ is “ << result;
}
//
function to calculate the square of a number
int
square ( int number)
{
return
(number * number ) ;
}
A
function in a calling program can take place as a stand-alone statement, on
right- hand
side
of a statement. This can be a part of an assignment expression.
Considering
the above example, here are some more ways of function calling mechanism.
result
= 10 + square (5);
or
result
= square (number + 10);
or
result
= square (number) + square (number + 1) + square (3 * number);
or
cout
<< “ The square of “ <<
number << “ is “ << square (number);
In
the above statements, we see that functions are used in assignment statements.
In a
statement
result = square(5); The square(5) function is called and the value
which is
returned
from that function (i.e. the value returned within the function using the return
keyword)
is assigned to the variable result. In
this case, the square(5) will
return 25,
which
will be assigned to variable result.
There may be functions which do not return any
value.
These functions can't be used in assignment statements. These functions are
written
as stand-alone statements.
Sample
Program 1
C
is called function-oriented language. It is a very small language but there are
lots of
functions
in it. Function can be on a single line, a page or as complex as we want.
Problem statement:
Calculate
the integer power of some number (xn).
Solution:
We
want to get the power of some number. There is no operator for power function
in C.
We
need to write a function to calculate the power of x to n (i.e. xn).
How can we
calculate
the power of some number? To get the power of some number x to n, we need
to
multiply x with x up to n times. Now what will be the input (arguments) to the
function?
A number and power, as number can be a real number so we have to declare
number
as a double date type and the power is an integer value so we will declare the
power
as an integer. The power is an integer value so we will declare power as an
integer.
The
result will also be a real number so the return value type will be of double
data type.
The
function name should be descriptive, we can name this function as raiseToPow. The
declaration
of the function is:
double
raiseToPow ( double x, int power ) ;
To
calculate the power of x up to power
times, we need a loop which will be executed
power times. The definition of function is:
//
function to calculate the power of some number
double
raiseToPow ( double x , int power )
{
double
result ;
int
i ;
result
= 1.0 ;
for
( i = 1 ; i <= power ; i ++ )
{
result *= x ; // same as result
= result * x
}
return
( result ) ;
}
Here
is the program which is calling the above function.
//
This program is calling a function raiseToPow.
#include
<iostream.h>
//Function
declaration
double
raiseToPow ( double , int )
main
( )
{
double
x ;
int
i ;
cout
<< “ Please enter the number “ ;
cin
>> x ;
cout
<< “ Please enter the integer power that you want this number raised to “ ;
cin
>> i ;
cout
<< x << “ raise to power “
<< i << “ is equal to “ << raiseToPow ( x , i ) ;
}
Now
we have to consider what will happen to the values of arguments that are passed
to
the
function? As in the above program, we are passing x and i to the raiseToPow
function.
Actually nothing is happening to the values of x and i. These values are
unchanged.
A copy of values x and i are passed to the function and the values in the
calling
program are unchanged. Such function calls are known as 'call by value'. There
is
another
way to call a function in which the function can change the values of variables
that
are passed as arguments, of calling program. Such function call is known as
call by
reference.
Sample
Program 2
Problem statement:
Calculate
the area of a ring.
Solution:
We
know that a ring consists of a small circle and a big circle. To calculate the
area of a
ring,
we have to subtract the area of small circle from the area of big circle. Area
of any
circle
is calculated as Pi * r2. We write a function to calculate the area of a circle and use
this
function to calculate the area of small circle and big circle.
Following
is the code of the function circleArea:
//
Definition of the circleArea function.
double
circleArea ( double radius )
{
//
the value of Pi = 3.1415926
return
( 3.1415926 * radius * radius ) ;
}
Here
is the complete code of the calling program.
//
This program calculates the area of a ring
#include
<iostream.h>
//
function declaration.
double
circleArea ( double);
void
main ( )
{
double
rad1 ;
double
rad2 ;
double
ringArea ;
cout
<< “ Please enter the outer radius value: ” ;
cin
>> rad1 ;
cout
<< “ Please enter the radius of the inner circle: “ ;
cin
>> rad2 ;
ringArea
= circleArea ( rad1 ) – circleArea (rad2 ) ;
cout<<
“ Area of the ring having inner raduis “ << rad2 << “ and the outer
radius “ <<
rad1
<< “ is “ << ringArea ;
}
double
circleArea ( double radius )
{
//
the value of Pi = 3.1415926
return ( 3.1415926 * radius * radius ) ;
}
Sample
Program 3
There
are some other kinds of functions which are used to test some condition. Such
functions
return true or false. These functions are very
important and used a lot in
programming.
In C condition statements, the value zero (0) is considered as false and any
value
other than zero is considered as true. So the return type of such functions is int. We
usually
return 1 when we want the function to return true and return 0 when we want the
function
to return 0. Here is a sample program to elaborate this.
Problem statement:
Write
a function which tests that a given number is even or not? It should return
true if
the
number is even, otherwise return false.
Solution:
We
already know the method of deciding whether a number is even or not. The name
of
the
function is isEven. Its
return type will be int. It will take an int as
an argument. So the
declaration
of the function should be as below;
int
isEven ( int ) ;
We
can also use a function in the conditional statements like:
if
( isEven ( number ) )
If
the number is even, the function will return none zero value (i.e. usually 1)
and the if
statement will be evaluated as true. However, if the number is odd, the function
will
return
a zero value and the if statement is
evaluated as false.
Here is a complete program.
//
This program is calling a function to test the given number is even or not
#include
<iostream.h>
//
function declaration.
int
isEven(int);
void
main ( )
{
int
number;
cout
<< " Please enter the number: " ;
cin >> number ;
if
( isEven ( number ) )
{
cout
<< " The number entered is even " << endl;
}
else
{
cout
<< " The number entered is odd " << endl;
}
}
int
isEven ( int number )
{
if
( 2 * ( number / 2 ) == number )
{
return
1;
}
else
{
return
0;
}
}
Summary
Functions
are very good tools for code reuse. We have seen in the above example that the
area
of two circles has been calculated without rewriting the code. This means that
the
code
has been reused. We can reuse the circleArea
function to find the area of any circle.
A
function performs a specific task. Functions also provide encapsulation. The
calling
program
does not know how the function is performing its task. So we can build up
modular
form from small building blocks and build up more and more complex
programs.
If
we are going to use a function in our program and the definition of the
function is after
the
calling program. The calling program needs to know how to call the function, what
the
arguments are and what it will return. So its declaration must occur before
usage. If
we
do not declare a function before using, the compiler will give an error. If we
define a
function
before the calling program, then we do not need a separate declaration. The
function
declaration is also known as function prototype or function signature.
Whenever,
we
need to build something, first of all we build a prototype of that thing and
then later
on
we build it. Similarly the function declaration is used as a prototype. We are
following
the
top- down methodology. We break the program into smaller modules and just
declare
the
functions and later on we can define these.
Exercise:
1.
Modify the raise
to power function so that it can handle negative power of x, zero
and
positive power of x.
2.
Modify the area
of ring function put in error checking mechanism.
Tips
• We used functions for breaking complex
problems into smaller pieces,
which
is a top-down structured approach.
• Each function should be a small module,
self-contained. It should solve a
well
defined problem.
• Variable names and function names should be
self- explanatory.
• Always comment the code.
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