Part 1 - Variables - Developer Help

Variables - Developer Help
http://microchip.wikidot.com/tls2101:variables[6/21/2014 11:25:28 PM]

Fundament al s of t he C Pr ogr ammi ng Language
Var i abl es
Home Training Fundamentals of the C Programming Language Variables
Looking at the simple C program we saw two pages back, we can observe the three topics of this section in action.
Line 7 shows an example of a var i abl e declaration (actually two variable declarations). A
variable is simply a container for holding data, where the container occupies one or more
bytes in the microcontroller's memory (typically RAM).
A variable must be dec l ar ed before it can be used, as shown above. The declaration of a
variable consists of two parts:
1. A dat a t ype (or just simply a type) that serves two purposes:
Tells the compiler how to handle or manipulate the data stored in the
variable. In the example above, the word f l oat is one of several data types
we'll discuss later in this section.
Tells the linker how much memory to reserve to store the contents of the
variable.
2. An i dent i f i er (or name) that will be used to uniquely identify the variable whenever
we want to access or modify its contents. The words r adi us and ar ea in the example above are identifiers.
To the right is a visual representation of how three variables
might be stored in the 16-bit wide data memory of a PIC24 family
device (there wouldn't actually be gaps between them).
The first variable warp_factor is of type int which is defined as a
16-bit value in the MPLAB XC16 Compiler, so it takes one
Var i abl e
A variable is the combination of a data type and an identifier (name) that represents one or more memory locations used to hold
a program's data.
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#include <stdio.h>

#define PI 3.14159

i nt main(voi d)
{
f l oat radius, area;

//Calculate area of circle
radius =12.0;
area =PI * radius * radius;
pr i nt f ("Area =%f", area);
}
?
CONTENTS
Fundamentals of C Programming
Get Started Here
Sof t w ar e and Fi l es f or Lab
Ex er c i ses
C in an Embedded Environment
Comments
Variables
Var i abl es
Identifiers
ANSI Keywords
Data Types
Data Type Qualifiers
Variable Declarations and Definitions
Lab Ex er c i se 1: Var i abl es and
Dat a Types
The #include Directive
Literal Constants
Symbolic Constants
The printf() Function
Operators
Expressions and Statements
Decision Statements
Loops
Functions
Multi-File Projects & Storage Class
Specifiers
Arrays and Strings
Data Pointers
Function Pointers
Structures
Bit Fields
Unions
Enumerations
Preprocessor Macros with #define
Resources
Exit Tutorial
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complete word (two bytes) of data memory.
The second variable letter is of type char which is almost always
an 8-bit value - only compilers with Unicode support might define
it otherwise. So, it takes up one byte, or a half of a word of data
memory. If other char type variables were declared, a second one
would be packed into the same word as the first, so both bytes
would be occupied.
The third variable length is of type float which is usually a 32-bit
value with most compilers. It takes up two full words, or 4-bytes
of data memory. It's data is also encoded (not shown) in a
modified form of the IEEE-754 floating point format, so it needs to be handled differently from int and char type variables.
Rel at ed Pages
Constant Variables - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
Literal Constants - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
Identifiers - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
Variables - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
A Simple C Program - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
Fundamentals of the C Programming Language - Training
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I dent i f i er s
Home Training Fundamentals of the C Programming Language Identifiers
Identifiers in C must be strings of characters from the valid C character set, which includes all the letters of the English alphabet (both upper and
lower case), the numbers 0-9, and the underscore. The first character of an identifier must NOT be a number and under no circumstances may
an identifier contain a space.
All identifiers are case sensitive, so you can have two identical identifiers except for the case of the first character and they will be considered two
completely different identifiers.
Also, according to the ANSI C standard, only the first 31 characters of an identifier are significant. So, if you had two 32 character identifiers
differing only in the last character, some compilers would not recognize them as being different. With that said, most modern compilers far exceed
the limit of 31 characters, allowing very long identifiers with many more significant characters.
Rel at ed Pages
I dent i f i er
An identifier is a name given to a program element such as a variable, function, or array. This name may be used to refer to the
program element without knowing its specific location in memory.
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i nt myVar; // This variable...
i nt MyVar; // is NOT the same as this variable
?
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i nt abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz01234X; // This variable...
i nt abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz01234Y; // ...might be indistinguishable from this one
?
CONTENTS
Get Started Here
Ex er c i ses
Comments
Variables
Variables
I dent i f i er s
ANSI Keywords
Data Types
Dat a Types
Literal Constants
Symbolic Constants
Operators
Decision Statements
Loops
Functions
Specifiers
Arrays and Strings
Data Pointers
Function Pointers
Structures
Bit Fields
Unions
Enumerations
Resources
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Variable Declarations and Definitions - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
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PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR PURPOSE. Microchip disclaims all liability arising from this information and its use. Use of Microchip devices in life support and/or safety applications is entirely at the buyer's risk, and the buyer agrees to
defend, indemnify and hold harmless Microchip from any and all damages, claims, suits, or expenses resulting from such use. No licenses are conveyed, implicitly or otherwise, under any Microchip intellectual property rights.
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auto
break
case
char
const
continue
default
do
double
else
enum
extern
float
for
goto
if
int
long
register
return
short
signed
sizeof
static
struct
switch
typedef
union
unsigned
void
volatile
while
Keyw or ds
Home Training Get Started with MPLAB X IDE and Microchip Tools Keywords
While we have extensive leeway with respect to the names we can use for identifiers, there are some words that cannot under any circumstances
be used as identifiers. These are known as k eyw or ds.
ANSI C Keyw or ds
These 32 keywords have specific meanings in ANSI C and as such, may not be used for anything other than their intended purpose. In any ANSI
C implementation, these keywords will have the exact same meanings which we will explore throughout the rest of this class. However, some
compilers deviate from the standard ANSI implementation resulting in potential differences in the behavior of some keywords.
Some compiler implementations may define additional keywords. While these extra keywords are not part of the ANSI C standard, they will have
the same restrictions as the ANSI keywords in their compiler tool chain. The Microchip MPLAB XC16 compiler, for example, defines 12
additional keywords. These and any other compiler specific keywords will be covered in the compiler classes.
Rel at ed Pages
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Keyw or d
Keywords are words that have special meaning to the compiler and may not be used as identifiers.
CONTENTS
Get Started Here
Ex er c i ses
Comments
Variables
Variables
Identifiers
ANSI Keyw or ds
Data Types
Dat a Types
Literal Constants
Symbolic Constants
Operators
Decision Statements
Loops
Functions
Specifiers
Arrays and Strings
Data Pointers
Function Pointers
Structures
Bit Fields
Unions
Enumerations
Resources
Exit Tutorial
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Dat a Types
Home Training Fundamentals of the C Programming Language Data Types
When you create variables, the compiler needs to know how much memory should be allocated for storage and how the data should be handled
in arithmetic and logical operations. There are four fundamental data types. Two of them handle integer type data while the other two handle
floating point data.
Type Desc r i pt i on Si ze (bi t s)
c har Single Character 8
i nt Integer 16
f l oat Single Precision Floating Point Number 32
doubl e Double Precision Floating Point Number 64
The size of these types is not standardized, though the sizes presented here are very common. The i nt data type is the most variable from one
compiler to another since it is typically sized to be the same width as the ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit) / data memory word. So on a 16-bit
microcontroller, an i nt would be 16-bits, while on a 32-bit microcontroller an i nt would be 32-bits. This is almost always true, but frequently
breaks down in the 8-bit world. Many 8-bit compilers define i nt as 16-bits, while some define it as 8-bits. So, before you start writing code, make
sure you read your compiler's user manual to find out how big an i nt is.
Even c har , which in the past was almost always implemented with 8-bits to accommodate 7-bit ASCII encoding of characters, can now be 16-
bits on some compilers that support Unicode encoding.
There are two more data types: voi d and enum which will be discussed later in the class due to their special applications.
Rel at ed Pages
Literal Qualifiers - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
Literal Constants - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
Variable Declarations and Definitions - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
A Simple C Program - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
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Dat a Type
A data type defines the storage requirements, handling requirements, and behavior of variables and function parameters.
CONTENTS
Get Started Here
Ex er c i ses
Comments
Variables
Variables
Identifiers
ANSI Keywords
Dat a Types
Dat a Types
Literal Constants
Symbolic Constants
Operators
Decision Statements
Loops
Functions
Specifiers
Arrays and Strings
Data Pointers
Function Pointers
Structures
Bit Fields
Unions
Enumerations
Resources
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Data Type Qualifiers - Developer Help
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Dat a Type Qual i f i er s
Home Training Fundamentals of the C Programming Language Data Type Qualifiers
The fundamental data types may be modified by the prefixes si gned, unsi gned, shor t , and l ong. These modifications change the range of
values that can be represented by the fundamental data type.
Modi f i ed I nt eger Types
Qual i f i ed Type Mi n Max Si ze (Bi t s)
unsi gned c har 0 255 8
c har , si gned c har -128 127 8
unsi gned shor t int 0 65535 16
shor t int, si gned shor t int -32768 32767 16
unsi gned int 0 65535 16
i nt , si gned int -32768 32767 16
unsi gned l ong int 0 2 -1 32
l ong int, si gned l ong int -2 2 -1 32
unsi gned l ong l ong int 0 2 -1 64
l ong l ong int, si gned l ong l ong int -2 2 -1 64
The keyword i nt is optional when it is modified (shown in italics in table above). For example, an unsi gned i nt could be specified more simpy
as unsi gned. The only time i nt must appear is when used by itself.
Also note that the fundamental data types are all si gned by default. So i nt and si gned i nt mean exactly the same thing. si gned is not
required, but often used when one wants to make their code explicitly clear.
Some compilers, such as the legacy MPLAB C18 compiler, support the apparently contradictory shor t l ong which is typically defined to be 24-
bits. This data type is usually found on compilers that support digital signal processors where 24-bit data is used in high-end audio applications.
As with the fundamental data types, the sizes shown in the table above may vary from one compiler to the next. For example, the shor t modifier
has no effect on i nt with the MPLAB XC16 compiler, while the MPLAB XC32 compiler defines a shor t as 16-bits versus the full i nt as 32-bits.
Modi f i ed Fl oat i ng Poi nt Types
On the floating point side of data types the only valid qualifier is l ong and it is typically used only with doubl e.
CONTENTS
Get Started Here
Ex er c i ses
Comments
Variables
Variables
Identifiers
ANSI Keywords
Data Types
Dat a Type Qual i f i er s
Dat a Types
Literal Constants
Symbolic Constants
Operators
Decision Statements
Loops
Functions
Specifiers
Arrays and Strings
Data Pointers
Function Pointers
Structures
Bit Fields
Unions
Enumerations
Resources
Exit Tutorial
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Qual i f i ed Type Absol ut e Mi n Absol ut e Max Si ze (Bi t s)
f l oat ~10 ~10 32
doubl e ~10 ~10 32
l ong doubl e ~10 ~10 64
Most compilers define f l oat and doubl e as shown in the table above, while some allow l ong to be applied to f l oat and doubl e. The data
above is representative of the MPLAB XC16 compiler, but should be similar for all IEEE-754 format floating point implementations.
Some compilers provide a setting or command line switch that will force doubl e to behave as l ong doubl e in the table.
Rel at ed Pages
Literal Qualifiers - Fundamentals of the C Programming Language
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Variable Declarations and Definitions - Developer Help
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Var i abl e Dec l ar at i ons and Def i ni t i ons
Home Training Fundamentals of the C Programming Language Variable Declarations and Definitions
In the C programming language, variables must be declared before they can be used. This tells the compiler how to work with the variable and
tells the linker how much space needs to be allocated for it.
Var i abl e Dec l ar at i ons
To declare a variable, you need to provide its type and an identifier (name). The general form for dec l ar i ng variables is:
This means you can declare one or more variables of the same type by starting with the type, followed by a comma separated list of identifiers
with a semicolon at the very end. Variables of the same type don't need to be declared together. You could also split them up into multiple
declarations of a single variable, each on its own line. In fact, this is a more common practice as it makes it easier to add a comment after each
variable to describe its purpose.
Here are a few examples of variable declarations:
Var i abl e Dec l ar at i ons w i t h Def i ni t i ons
Sometimes, you will want to ensure that a variable has an initial value for its first use. Conveniently, this can be done as part of the variable's
declaration. The general form to both dec l ar e and def i ne a variable in one step looks like this:
Var i abl e Dec l ar at i on
A variable declaration is when you specify a type and an identifier, but have not yet assigned a value to the variable.

Var i abl e Def i ni t i on
A variable definition is when you assign a value to a variable, typically with the assignment operator =.
type identifier , identifier , identifier ;
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i nt x, y, z;
f l oat warpFactor;
c har text_buffer[10]; // This is an array variable - will discuss later in class
unsi gned index; // int is optional when modified - this is an unsigned int
?
type identifier = value , identifier = value , identifier = value ;
CONTENTS
Get Started Here
Ex er c i ses
Comments
Variables
Variables
Identifiers
ANSI Keywords
Data Types
Var i abl e Dec l ar at i ons and
Def i ni t i ons
Dat a Types
Literal Constants
Symbolic Constants
Operators
Decision Statements
Loops
Functions
Specifiers
Arrays and Strings
Data Pointers
Function Pointers
Structures
Bit Fields
Unions
Enumerations
Resources
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While initializing variables like this can be very convenient, there is a price to pay in terms of startup time. The C Runtime Environment startup
code initializes these variables before your main() function is called. The initial values are stored along with program code in the non-volatile flash
memory. When the device powers on, the startup code will loop through all the initialized variables and copy their initial values from flash into the
variable's RAM location.
Here are a few examples showing the various ways variables can be declared alone or declared and defined together:
Rel at ed Pages
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unsi gned i nt x;
unsi gned y = 12;
i nt a, b, c;
l ong i nt myVar = 0x12345678;
l ong z;
c har first = 'a' , second, third = 'c'; // first and third initialized, second not
f l oat big_number = 6.02e+23;
?
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Fundamentals of the C Programming Language

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