DAY3 C Language Operators and Explicit Type Conversion

C Language Operators and Explicit Type Conversion

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Ⅰ. Explicit Type Conversion (Type Casting)

When a programmer determines that it’s necessary to convert one data type to another, explicit type conversion (type casting) is used.

Syntax

(type) constant
(type) variable
(type) expression

Notes

1. Precision loss may occur after conversion;

2. The original variable remains unchanged — only the result of the expression is converted;

3. Example:

   int a = 3.14;     // a = 3, fractional part is discarded
   float b = 5;      // b = 5.0, fractional part filled with 0
   

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Ⅱ. Arithmetic Operators

Operator	Meaning	Example
+	Addition	1 + 2, a + b, a + 1
-	Subtraction	1 - 2, a - b, a - 1
*	Multiplication	1 * 2, a * b
/	Division	1 / 2, a / b, a / 2
%	Modulus (remainder)	10 % 3, a % 3
++	Increment by 1	a++ or ++a
--	Decrement by 1	a-- or --a

Important Notes

• The divisor cannot be 0, otherwise you’ll get:

  Floating point exception (core dumped)
  

• % (modulus) can only be used with integers (int, short, char, long) — not with floating-point numbers.

• For increment and decrement:

  int a = 10;
  a++;   // Post-increment: use first, then add 1
  ++a;   // Pre-increment: add first, then use
  

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Ⅲ. Assignment Operators

Operator	Meaning	Example
=	Assignment	a = b + 1;
+=	Add and assign	a += 5;
-=	Subtract and assign	a -= 5;
*=	Multiply and assign	a *= 2;
/=	Divide and assign	a /= 2;
%=	Modulus and assign	a %= 3;

Concept

The = operator copies the value from the right-hand side (Rvalue) into the left-hand side (Lvalue) memory location.

• Lvalue: A variable that can be assigned a value.
• Rvalue: A value or expression that can appear on the right side of an assignment.

Valid Example

a = b + 1;

Invalid Example

a + 1 = 20;   // Left-hand side is not a variable

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Ⅳ. Type Matching and Compatibility Rules

1. Float → Integer: fractional part is truncated.

2. Integer → Float: fractional part filled with .0.

3. Same-size type copy:

   • Assigning an unsigned short to a short may cause sign changes.

4. Smaller type → Larger type:

   • Positive numbers: extra bits are filled with 0;
   • Negative numbers: extra bits are filled with 1 (sign extension).

5. Larger type → Smaller type:

   • Higher bits are truncated (e.g., short → char).

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Ⅴ. Comma Operator

Expressions connected by commas (,) form a comma expression.

• Evaluation order: from left to right.
• The final value of the expression is the value of the last expression.

Example:

int a, b, c, num;
num = (a + b, b + c, a - c, b - c);
printf("%d\n", num);  // Output: result of (b - c)

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Ⅵ. sizeof() Operator

Used to obtain the number of bytes a variable, data type, or expression occupies in memory.

Usage

sizeof(variable);
sizeof(type);
sizeof(expression);

Example:

int a;
printf("%lu\n", sizeof(a));       // Output: 4
printf("%lu\n", sizeof(int));     // Output: 4
printf("%lu\n", sizeof(3.14));    // Output: 8

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Ⅶ. Operator Associativity

Most C operators have left-to-right associativity,
but assignment operators (=, +=, -= etc.) are right-to-left associative.

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Ⅷ. Example: Assignment and Type Conversion

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)
{
    short a = 0;
    a = 10;

    unsigned short b = 49152;
    a = b;  // Different types, but compatible

    printf("a = %d\n", a);
    return 0;
}

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Memory Visualization