#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x = 4, y, z;
y = --x;
z = x--;
printf("%d %d %d", x, y, z);
}
Output: 2 3 3
Can anyone explain this?
And what does i =+ j
mean (suppose i = 1
and j = 2
)?
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x = 4, y, z;
y = --x;
z = x--;
printf("%d %d %d", x, y, z);
}
Output: 2 3 3
Can anyone explain this?
And what does i =+ j
mean (suppose i = 1
and j = 2
)?
simple explanation:
--x or ++x : Value will be modified after.
x-- or x++ : Value will be modified before
Detailed explanation:
--x or ++x: pre-decrement/increment: will first do the operation of decrementing or incrementing first, then it will assign x.
x-- or x++: post:decrement/increment: will first assign the value of x and then it will do the operation of decrementing or incrementing after.
lets write your code in a nicer format and go through your code step by step and annotate it to show you visually what happens:
main() {
//We declare the variables x, y and z, only x is given a value of 4.
int x=4,y,z;
//--x will decrement var x by 1 first THEN it will assign the value of x to y.
//so: x = 3, y = 3 and z = nothing yet.
y = --x;
//x-- will assign the value of x to z first, then var x will be decremented by 1 after.
//so: x = 2, y=3 and z = 3
z = x--;
printf ("\n %d %d %d", x,y,z);
}
y = --x
means "decrease x by one, then store the result in y"
z = x--
means "save a temp of x. Decrease x by one. Store the temp value in z"
Hence:
The postfix decrement operator (x--) returns the value of the variable before it was decremented.
You have to understand the notions of post-decrement and pre-decrement operator.
Both will decrement your variable, but one of them will return the original value (x--
) and one of them will return the decremented value (--x
).
Postfix decrement (x--) is different from prefix decrement (--x). The former return the value x, then decrements it; the latter decrements and then returns the value.
And if you thing how a postfix is written at low level, you'll find that it is a liiiitle slower than the prefix... :)
y = --x;
X is decremented, then Y is assigned with the value of X (3)
z = x--;
Z is assigned with the value of X (3), the X is decremented (2)
Yes:
x = 4
y = pre-decrement x (basically decrement by 1 and then assign, i.e. y = x-1 = 3
x =3
z = post-decrement x (decrement by 1 after assigning the value, i.e. z = x = 3, then x = x - 1
x = 2
So x = 2, y = 3, z = 3, exactly what you saw.
If the operator is a prefix the incrementation happens before the assignment, if the operator is a postfix the incrementation happens after the assignment.
let **
be an increment/decrement operator. **e
means apply **
to e
and evaluate the result whereas e**
means evaluate e
and then apply **
to it.
Ergo, if decrementation and evaluation are seperated, the code reads as:
int x=4,y,z;
x-=1;//3
y = x;//3
z = x;//3
x-=1;//2
which gives you the ouput you have ;)
Here is what happens (roughly) in your example :
int x=4,y,z; // declare x=4, y=0, z=0
y = --x; // decrement x then assign it to y (pre decrement) (y=x=3)
z = x--; // assign x to z then decrement x (post decrement) (z=3 and x=2)
printf ("\n %d %d %d", x,y,z); // output 2 3 3
A pre increment/decrement looks like this in pseudocode
read value
increment/decrement value
write value
assign value
and a post increment/decrement looks like this
read value
assign value
increment/decrement value
write value
#include<stdio.h>
main ()
{
int x=4,y,z;
y = --x;
z = x--;
printf ("\n %d %d %d", x,y,z);
}
output 2,3,3.................................first time x=4 fine. y=--x, means value of x is decremented by 1 and stored in y, thus now y=3 and x is also 3. then z=x-- means value of x is stored in z( z=3) and then x is decremented i.e now x=2 but z=3. when u r printing the value, then printf() prints 2 3 3
Talking about what i=+j;
means(given i=1 and j=2)
i=+j;
is equivalent to i=i+j;
so your expression becomes i=1+2
i.e. i=3