Variables
Lesson 6Author : Afrixi
Last Updated : January, 2023
In C, a variable is a named storage location in memory that is used to store a value that can be changed during the execution of a program.
Variables can be declared using the syntax:
data_type variable_name;
Where data_type
is the type of data that the variable can hold, and variable_name
is the name given to the variable.
For example, to declare an integer variable named x, we can use the following statement:
int x;
This tells the compiler to allocate memory to store an integer value and to give it the name x
. The variable can then be assigned a value using the assignment operator =
:
x = 42;
Or, we can declare and initialize a variable in a single statement like this:
int x = 42;
C has several built-in data types, including:
- int: used to hold integer values
- float: used to hold floating-point values with single-precision
- double: used to hold floating-point values with double-precision
- char: used to hold single characters
- bool: used to hold Boolean values (true or false)
Variables can also be modified using arithmetic and assignment operators, for example:
x = x + 1; // increment x by 1
x += 1; // equivalent to x = x + 1
x++; // increment x by 1 (shortcut for x = x + 1)
It’s important to note that variables have a scope, which is the part of the program where the variable is visible and can be accessed. The scope of a variable is determined by where it is declared, and it can be local to a function or global to the entire program.