A switch-case structure performs a complex decision in your code, similar to a cascade of if else-if else statements. The structure works like a comparison as a whole, acting upon single values or variables. But its construction need not lack expressions.
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The solution this month’s Exercise isn’t that complex, but it was handy in disproving a theory.
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In last week’s Lesson, I lamented that C lacks a function to compare two floating point values based on a significant number of digits. Being a C programmer, I resolved this issue by writing a function that accomplishes this suddenly necessary task.
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I enjoy playing number games. I’m not good at it, but I enjoy playing them. Recently such a game piqued my curiosity enough to consider it for my monthly C For Dummies exercise: 21
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From last week’s Lesson, I plowed into a BASIC programming book I worked on 35 years ago. (Yes, I’m old.) In it, substitute code was offered for commands not available in every version of BASIC. To appreciate this necessity, understand that back in those days computers weren’t file-to-file compatible, so translating programming language dialects was part of the job.
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The first part of my writing career began by updating a computer book bestseller, The BASIC Handbook. This tome served as a lexicon for the various BASIC programming language dialects, allowing users from one version of BASIC to translate and use code from another version.
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Every so often I scour C library references, looking for fun or unusual functions. When I find one I’m unfamiliar with or something I’ve seldom used, I write about. After all, the functions do practical things that might be worthy of exploration. A recent example is gettimeofday().
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This month’s Exercise wasn’t astronomically difficult, but I did spend some time devising a solution. My goal was to try to avoid writing a nested loop. This goal proved unattainable.
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Things were stable back in the old days. When I first coded C, a char was 8-bits (a byte), and an int was 16-bits. The short was also 16-bits and the long, it was truly long at 32-bits. Today, things aren’t as consistent.
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After a few intermediate to advanced Exercises, I decided to try something that’s a little easier this month. Still, even if you’re a pro, it helps to pull back and try something basic just to see what you can do with it.
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