Control Structures I (Selection)

Objectives
In this chapter, you will:
Learn about control structures Examine relational and logical operators Explore how to form and evaluate logical (Boolean) expressions Discover how to use the selection control structures if, if...else, and switch in a program

Objectives (contd.)
Learn how to avoid bugs by avoiding partially understood concepts Learn to use the assert function to terminate a program

Control Structures
A computer can proceed:
In sequence Selectively (branch): making a choice Repetitively (iteratively): looping By calling a function

Two most common control structures:

Selection Repetition

Control Structures (contd.)

Relational Operators
Conditional statements: only executed if certain conditions are met Condition: represented by a logical (Boolean) expression that evaluates to a logical (Boolean) value of true or false Relational operators:
Allow comparisons Require two operands (binary) Evaluate to true or false

Relational Operators (contd.)

Relational Operators and Simple Data Types

Relational operators can be used with all three simple data types:
8 < 15 evaluates to true 6 != 6 evaluates to false 2.5 > 5.8 evaluates to false 5.9 <= 7.5 evaluates to true

Comparing Characters
Expression of char values with relational operators
Result depends on machines collating sequence ASCII character set

Logical (Boolean) expressions

Expressions such as 4 < 6 and 'R' > 'T Returns an integer value of 1 if the logical expression evaluates to true Returns an integer value of 0 otherwise

Relational Operators and the string Type

Relational operators can be applied to strings
Strings are compared character by character, starting with the first character Comparison continues until either a mismatch is found or all characters are found equal If two strings of different lengths are compared and the comparison is equal to the last character of the shorter string
The shorter string is less than the larger string

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Relational Operators and the string Type (contd.)

Suppose we have the following declarations:
string string string string string str1 str2 str3 str4 str4 = = = = = "Hello"; "Hi"; "Air"; "Bill"; "Big";

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Relational Operators and the string Type (contd.)

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Relational Operators and the string Type (contd.)

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Relational Operators and the string Type (contd.)

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Logical (Boolean) Operators and Logical Expressions

Logical (Boolean) operators: enable you to combine logical expressions

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Logical (Boolean) Operators and Logical Expressions (contd.)

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Logical (Boolean) Operators and Logical Expressions (contd.)

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Logical (Boolean) Operators and Logical Expressions (contd.)

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Order of Precedence
Relational and logical operators are evaluated from left to right
The associativity is left to right

Parentheses can override precedence

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Order of Precedence (contd.)

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Order of Precedence (contd.)

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Order of Precedence (contd.)

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Order of Precedence (contd.)

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The int Data Type and Logical (Boolean) Expressions

Earlier versions of C++ did not provide built-in data types that had Boolean values Logical expressions evaluate to either 1 or 0
Logical expression value was stored in a variable of the data type int

Can use the int data type to manipulate logical (Boolean) expressions

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The bool Data Type and Logical (Boolean) Expressions

The data type bool has logical (Boolean) values true and false bool, true, and false are reserved words The identifier true has the value 1 The identifier false has the value 0

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Selection: if and if...else

if and if...else statements can be used to create:
One-way selection Two-way selection Multiple selections

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One-Way Selection
One-way selection syntax:

Statement is executed if the value of the expression is true Statement is bypassed if the value is false; program goes to the next statement Expression is called a decision maker
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One-Way Selection (contd.)

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Two-Way Selection
Two-way selection syntax:

If expression is true, statement1 is executed; otherwise, statement2 is executed

statement1 and statement2 are any C++ statements

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Two-Way Selection (contd.)

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Compound (Block of) Statements

Compound statement (block of statements):

A compound statement functions like a single statement

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Compound (Block of) Statements (contd.)

if (age > { cout << cout << } else { cout << cout << } 18) "Eligible to vote." << endl; "No longer a minor." << endl;

"Not eligible to vote." << endl; "Still a minor." << endl;

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Multiple Selections: Nested if

Nesting: one control statement is located within another An else is associated with the most recent if that has not been paired with an else

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Multiple Selections: Nested if (contd.)

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Comparing ifelse Statements with a Series of if Statements

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Comparing ifelse Statements with if Statements (contd.)

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Short-Circuit Evaluation
Short-circuit evaluation: evaluation of a logical expression stops as soon as the value of the expression is known Example:
(age >= 21) || ( x == 5) (grade == 'A') && (x >= 7) //Line 1 //Line 2

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Comparing Floating-Point Numbers for Equality: A Precaution

Comparison of floating-point numbers for equality may not behave as you would expect
Example:
1.0 == 3.0/7.0 + 2.0/7.0 + 2.0/7.0 evaluates to false Why? 3.0/7.0 + 2.0/7.0 + 2.0/7.0 = 0.99999999999999989

Solution: use a tolerance value

Example: if fabs(x y) < 0.000001

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Associativity of Relational Operators: A Precaution

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Associativity of Relational Operators: A Precaution (contd.)

num = 5

num = 20

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Avoiding Bugs by Avoiding Partially Understood Concepts and Techniques

Must use concepts and techniques correctly
Otherwise solution will be either incorrect or deficient

If you do not understand a concept or technique completely

Dont use it Save yourself an enormous amount of debugging time

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Input Failure and the if Statement

If input stream enters a fail state
All subsequent input statements associated with that stream are ignored Program continues to execute May produce erroneous results

Can use if statements to check status of input stream If stream enters the fail state, include instructions that stop program execution
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Confusion Between the Equality (==) and Assignment (=) Operators

C++ allows you to use any expression that can be evaluated to either true or false as an expression in the if statement:
if (x = 5) cout << "The value is five." << endl;

The appearance of = in place of == resembles a silent killer

It is not a syntax error It is a logical error

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Conditional Operator (?:)

Conditional operator (?:)
Ternary operator: takes 3 arguments

Syntax for the conditional operator:

expression1 ? expression2 : expression3

If expression1 is true, the result of the conditional expression is expression2

Otherwise, the result is expression3

Example: max = (a >= b) ? a : b;

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Program Style and Form (Revisited): Indentation

A properly indented program:
Helps you spot and fix errors quickly Shows the natural grouping of statements

Insert a blank line between statements that are naturally separate Two commonly used styles for placing braces
On a line by themselves Or left brace is placed after the expression, and the right brace is on a line by itself

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Using Pseudocode to Develop, Test, and Debug a Program

Pseudocode, or just pseudo
Informal mixture of C++ and ordinary language Helps you quickly develop the correct structure of the program and avoid making common errors

Use a wide range of values in a walk-through to evaluate the program

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switch Structures
switch structure: alternate to if-else switch (integral) expression is evaluated first Value of the expression determines which corresponding action is taken Expression is sometimes called the selector

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switch Structures (contd.)

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switch Structures (contd.)

One or more statements may follow a case label Braces are not needed to turn multiple statements into a single compound statement When a case value is matched, all statements after it execute until a break is encountered The break statement may or may not appear after each statement switch, case, break, and default are reserved words
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switch Structures (contd.)

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Avoiding Bugs: Revisited

To output results correctly
Consider whether the switch structure must include a break statement after each cout statement

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Terminating a Program with the assert Function

Certain types of errors are very difficult to catch
Example: division by zero

assert function: useful in stopping program execution when certain elusive errors occur

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The assert Function (contd.)

Syntax:
expression is any logical expression

If expression evaluates to true, the next statement executes If expression evaluates to false, the program terminates and indicates where in the program the error occurred To use assert, include cassert header file

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The assert Function (contd.)

assert is useful for enforcing programming constraints during program development After developing and testing a program, remove or disable assert statements The preprocessor directive #define NDEBUG must be placed before the directive #include <cassert> to disable the assert statement

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Summary
Control structures alter normal control flow Most common control structures are selection and repetition Relational operators: ==, <, <=, >, >=, != Logical expressions evaluate to 1 (true) or 0 (false) Logical operators: ! (not), && (and), || (or)

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Summary (contd.)
Two selection structures: one-way selection and twoway selection The expression in an if or if...else structure is usually a logical expression No stand-alone else statement in C++
Every else has a related if

A sequence of statements enclosed between braces, { and }, is called a compound statement or block of statements
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Summary (contd.)
Using assignment in place of the equality operator creates a semantic error switch structure handles multiway selection break statement ends switch statement Use assert to terminate a program if certain conditions are not met

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