Perhaps the most complex and bizarre things you can format with printf() conversion characters are floating point numbers. The variety of the options can be overwhelming.
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The printf() function’s power lies in its formatting abilities, specifically the display of values. That power is vast, but the documentation showing how it works really sucks.
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The printf() function is most concerned with getting the number of conversion characters — the % placeholders — to match the number of variables specified. Beyond that, it’s rather ambivalent as to whether the types match properly.
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A variable in C is a myth. Oh, yeah, it’s a location in memory. That’s pretty much it. After declaring the variable, the compiler — and you, the programmer — pretty much rely upon faith that the variable works and can actually be useful.
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The C language is rather weak when it comes to array functions. In fact, as far as I know, the standard library doesn’t contain a single array function.
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Why present the current date as 8/31/2013 when you can express it as August 31, 2013? Because some things are easy to program and some are easy for the program’s user to read.
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What’s the point of using integers when you could simply code programs using floating-point values all the time to always get the best results? The reason is a good one, but it takes some explaining.
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The goal is to write code that generates random numbers, but never the same value twice. After all, if you’re coding a card game or generating lotto picks, it’s unrealistic to expect the same value appear multiple times.
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Last week’s Lesson discussed how to monitor random numbers by using an array: When a random value is drawn, it’s corresponding array element is incremented. By continuing that same thought, you can easily ensure that the same random number isn’t used when programming a card game. But first, the game itself!
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One of the most common questions I get from my For Dummies programming titles is regarding the lotto programs. That code demonstrates how you can randomly draw lotto balls without drawing the same ball twice.
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