VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF HANOI

BASIC PROGRAMMING
Lecture 5: Array and String

Dr. NGUYEN Hoang Ha

Dr. NGUYEN Minh Huong
Dr. TONG Si Son

ĐO TẠO NGHIÊN ỨU SÁNG TO

1
Lecture 5:

▪ Array:
▪ Why and What?
▪ Declaring arrays
▪ Accessing Array Elements
▪ Arrays and Addresses
▪ Passing and returning arrays to/from functions
▪ String:
▪ String-array
▪ String library functions
2
Array

3
Why Array?

How to store a list of 10 students’ marks and compute the

average?
▪ Using Individual variables:
▪ Declaring 10 individual variables
▪ Computing from 10 individual variables
🡪 cumbersome, repetitive writing

4
Compute Average with
Individual Variables
#include <stdio.h>
int main(void){
int count = 10; /* Number of values to be read */
long sum = 0L; /* Sum of the numbers */
int mark1, mark2, mark3, mark4, mark5, mark6, mark7, mark8, mark9, mark10;
float average = 0.0f; /* Average of the numbers */

printf("\nEnter the 10 numbers:\n"); /* Prompt for the input */

scanf("%d", &mark1);
scanf("%d", &mark2);
...
scanf("%d", &mark10);

sum = mark1 + mark2 + mark3 + mark4 + mark5 + mark6 + mark7 + mark8 + mark9 + mark10;
average = (float)sum/count; /* Calculate the average
*/
printf("\nAverage of the ten numbers entered is: %f\n", average);
return 0;
}

5
What is an Array?

▪ Idea:
▪ A data structure to store consecutive individual variables
▪ manage as a collection

Number 1 Number 2 Number 3 Number 4 Number 5

▪ Definition of Array: a data structure storing a fixed-size

sequential collection of elements of the same type.

6
Declaring Arrays

▪ Array declaration:
▪ Data type of items
▪ Variable name
▪ Array size: number of items
▪ 1-D Arrays: 0 1 2 3 4

int A[5];
▪ 2-D Arrays: 0 1 2 3 4

int A[3][5]; 0

7
Initializing Arrays

▪ Initializing with array size

int A[5] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};

Number of elements matches array size

▪ If array size is omitted, an array just big enough to hold the

initialization is created
int A[] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};

8
Accessing Array Elements

▪ To access an element, you should point out:

▪ Array name
▪ The location of the element in the array

▪ One-dimensional arrays
// array declaration 0 1 2 3 4
int A[5] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5}; 1 2 3 4 5

for (int i =0; i<5; i++)

{
printf("Element %d in the array is %d \n", i, A[i]);
}

9
Accessing Array Elements

▪ 2-dimensional arrays
// array declaration
int A[2][5] = {{1,2,3,4,5}, {6,7,8,9,10}};
for (int i =0; i<2; i++)
{
for (int j =0; j<5; j++)
{
printf("%d \t", A[i][j]); 0 1 2 3 4
}
0 1 2 3 4 5
printf("\n");
} 1 6 7 8 9 10

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Accessing Array Elements

▪ 3-D arrays: for (int i =0; i<2; i++)

{
// array declaration printf("block %d \n",i);
int A[2][2][3] = { for (int j =0; j<2; j++)
{ {
for (int k = 0; k<3; k++)
{1,2,3},
{
{4,5,6}
printf("%d \t", A[i][j][k]);
},
}
{
printf("\n");
{7,8,9},
}
{10,11,12}
}
}
};

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Arrays and Address

▪ Array name is a pointer to the first element of the array

(detailed in the next session)
▪ 1-D array:
int A[5];

A[0] A[1] A[2] A[3] A[4]

1 2 3 4 5

Memory area
A

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Arrays and Address

▪ 2-D array:
int A[2][3];//2 rows, 3 columns

A[0][0] A[0][1] A[0][2] A[1][0] A[1][1] A[1][3]

1 2 3 4 5 6

A, A[0] A[1] Memory area

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Arrays and Address
▪ Print out address of array elements
int A[2][3] = {
{1,2,3},
{4,5,6}
};

for (int j =0; j<2; j++)

{
for (int k = 0; k<3; k++)
{
printf("%p \t", &A[j][k]);
}
printf("\n");
}

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Compute the Average using Array

#include <stdio.h>
int main(void){
int numbers[10]; /* Array storing 10 values */
int count = 10; /* Number of values to be read */
long sum = 0L; /* Sum of the numbers */
float average = 0.0f; /* Average of the numbers */
printf("\nEnter the 10 numbers:\n"); /* Prompt for the input */

/* Read the ten numbers to be averaged */

for(int i = 0; i < count; i++)
{
printf("%2d> ",i+1);
scanf("%d", &numbers[i]); /* Read a number */
sum += numbers[i]; /* Add it to sum */
}

average = (float)sum/count; /* Calculate the average*/

printf("\nAverage of the ten numbers entered is: %f\n", average);
return 0; 15
}
Passing Arrays to Functions

▪ As an unknown-size array
▪ 1-D array: void myfunction(int a[], int size)
▪ 2-D array: void myfunction(int a[][3], int row)
▪ As a fixed size array
▪ 1-D array: void myfunction(int a[5])
▪ 2-D array: void myfunction(int a[5][3])
▪ As a pointer
▪ 1-D array: void myfunction(int *a)
▪ 2-D array: void myfunction(int **a)

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Passing Arrays to Functions
Compute_average.h Main.c
#include <stdio.h>
float compute_average (int numbers[], int size)
#include "compute_average.h"
{
int main(void){
float sum = 0L; /* Sum of the numbers */ int numbers[10]; /* Array storing 10 values */
float avg = 0.0f; /* Average of the numbers */ int count = 10; /* Number of values to be read */

for(int i = 0; i < size; i ++) long sum = 0L; /* Sum of the numbers */

sum += numbers[i]; float average = 0.0f; /* Average of the numbers */

printf("\nEnter the 10 numbers:\n"); /* Prompt for the input */

if(size >0)

avg = (float)sum/size; /* Read the ten numbers to be averaged */

else for(int i = 0; i < count; i ++)

avg = -1;//can't compute the average {

return avg; printf("%2d> ",i+1);

scanf("%d", &numbers[i]); /* Read a number */

}
}

average = compute_average (numbers, count);

printf("\nAverage of these numbers entered is: %f\n", average);

return 0;

}
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Returning Arrays from Functions

int* increase_elements(int arr[], int size)

{
for (int i =0;i<size;i++)
{
arr[i] = arr[i] + 1;
}
return arr;
}

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String

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String Concept

▪ A string:
▪ Sequence of characters
▪ Is stored in an array of type char

H E L L O

W H A T ’ S A B E A U T I F U L D A Y !

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Eg: String as an Array char

#include <stdio.h>
int main(void){
char gretting[] = "Hello";//compiler will automatically
create sufficient space fo hold all characters declared*/

int size = 5;
for (int i =0;i<size;i++)
{
printf("The charactor #%d is %c\n", i+1, gretting[i]);
}
return 0;
}

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Array of strings

#include <stdio.h>
int main(void){
char subject_names[5][30] = {"Linear Algebra", "Calculus", "Physics", "Com
puter Architecture", "Basic Programming"};

int size = 5;
for (int i =0;i<size;i++)
{
printf("The subject #%d is %s\n", i+1, subject_names[i]);
}
return 0;
}

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Standard Functions for Strings

▪ Declared in <string.h>
▪ Common functions

Function Uses
strlen() computes string's length
strcpy() copies a string to another
strcat() Concatenates (joins) two strings
strcmp() compares two strings
strlwr() converts string to lowercase
strupr() converts string to uppercase
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Practical time

▪ Average of an array of numbers

▪ List of students

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Declaring and Initializing Arrays
Manage the daily sales figures for a week.

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Declaring and Initializing Arrays
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

// Declare and initialize an array to hold sales for 7 days

float dailySales[7] = {250.50, 310.00, 190.75, 450.00, 500.25, 600.00, 200.50};

printf("Sales for the week:\n");

// Days are often 1-7, but array indices are 0-6

printf("Day 1 (Mon): %.2f\n", dailySales[0]);

printf("Day 5 (Fri): %.2f\n", dailySales[4]);

return 0;

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Accessing Array Elements
Practical Task: Find the total sales and the best sales day of the week.

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Accessing Array Elements
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
float dailySales[7] = {250.50, 310.00, 190.75, 450.00, 500.25, 600.00, 200.50};
float totalSales = 0.0;
float maxSales = dailySales[0];
int bestDay = 1;

// Use a loop to access each element

for (int i = 0; i < 7; i++) {
// Accumulate total
totalSales += dailySales[i];

// Find the best day

if (dailySales[i] > maxSales) {
maxSales = dailySales[i];
bestDay = i + 1; // +1 to convert index to day number
}
}

printf("Total weekly sales: %.2f\n", totalSales);

printf("Best sales day was Day %d with %.2f\n", bestDay, maxSales);

return 0;
}

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Arrays and Addresses
Practical Task: Show that the array name points to the first element and that elements are stored contiguously.

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Arrays and Addresses
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
int grades[5] = {88, 92, 75, 98, 85};

// 'grades' itself holds the address of the first element

printf("Address of the whole array (grades): %p\n"
, grades);

// '&grades[0]' explicitly gets the address of the first element

printf("Address of the first element (&grades[0]): %p\n\n"
, &grades[0]);

printf("Addresses of each element:\n");

for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
// &grades[i] gets the address of the i-th element
printf(" Address of grades[%d]: %p\n", i, &grades[i]);
}
// You will notice the addresses increase by 4 bytes each time (for int)

return 0;
}

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Passing Arrays to Functions
Practical Task: Create a reusable function to print any integer array, promoting modular code.

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Passing Arrays to Functions
#include <stdio.h>

// A function that takes an array and its size as input

// Note: 'int arr[]' is the preferred way to show it's an array
void print_array(int arr[], int size) {
printf("[");
for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
printf("%d", arr[i]);
if (i < size - 1) {
printf(", "); // Add comma, but not for the last element
}
}
printf("]\n");
}

int main() {
int studentScores[5] = {88, 92, 75, 98, 85};
int sensorReadings[3] = {102, 105, 99};

printf("Student Scores: ");

print_array(studentScores, 5); // Pass the first array

printf("Sensor Readings: ");

print_array(sensorReadings, 3); // Reuse the function for a different array

return 0;
}

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Returning Arrays from Functions
Practical Task: A function that generates a sequence of numbers (e.g., the first 5 even numbers) and returns it.

Note: In C, you return a pointer to an array. For this to be safe, the array must exist after the function returns. The best way is to
use dynamic memory allocation (malloc ).

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Returning Arrays from Functions
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h> // Needed for malloc

// This function returns a pointer to an integer array (int*)

int* generate_evens(int n) {
// Allocate memory on the heap so it persists after the function returns
int* evens_array = (int*)malloc(n * sizeof(int));

if (evens_array == NULL) return NULL; // Safety check

for (int i = 0; i < n; i++) {

evens_array[i] = (i + 1) * 2; // Generate even numbers: 2, 4, 6...
}

return evens_array;
}

int main() {
int count = 5;
int* myEvens = generate_evens(count);

if (myEvens != NULL) {
printf("First %d even numbers: ", count);
for (int i = 0; i < count; i++) {
printf("%d ", myEvens[i]);
}
printf("\n");

// IMPORTANT: Free the memory when you are done with it!
free(myEvens);
}

return 0;
} 34
String as a Character Array
Practical Task: Get a user's name and greet them.

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String as a Character Array
#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
char userName[30]; // Declare a char array to hold the string

printf("Please enter your name: ");

// scanf reads a string into the char array

// No '&' is needed for string arrays with scanf
scanf("%s", userName);

printf("Hello, %s! Welcome to the program.\n"

, userName);

return 0;
}

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String Library Functions
Practical Task: A simple username/password validation program.

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String Library Functions
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h> // Include the string library

int main() {
char saved_password[] = "Secret123";
char user_input[50];

printf("Enter password: ");

scanf("%s", user_input);

// Use strcmp() to compare strings

// strcmp returns 0 if the strings are identical
if (strcmp(user_input, saved_password) == 0) {
printf("Access Granted.\n");

// Use strlen() to get the length

printf("Your password is %zu characters long.\n"
, strlen(user_input));
} else {
printf("Access Denied. Incorrect password.\n"
);
}

return 0;
}

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2D Array for a Tic-Tac-Toe Board
Concept: Accessing and modifying elements in a 2D array.

Task: Create and display a Tic-Tac-Toe board, then let a player make a move.

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2D Array for a Tic-Tac-Toe Board
#include <stdio.h>

void print_board(char board[3][3]) {

printf("\n");
for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
printf(" %c | %c | %c \n", board[i][0], board[i][1], board[i][2]);
if (i < 2) {
printf("---|---|---\n");
}
}
printf("\n");
}

int main() {
// Initialize the board with empty spaces
char board[3][3] = {
{' ', ' ', ' '},
{' ', ' ', ' '},
{' ', ' ', ' '}
};

printf("Initial Tic-Tac-Toe Board:");

print_board(board);

// Player X makes a move at row 1, column 2 (indices 0, 1)

board[0][1] = 'X';

// Player O makes a move at the center (indices 1, 1)

board[1][1] = 'O';

printf("Board after a few moves:");

print_board(board);

return 0; 40
}
Passing Array to a Function for
Modification
Concept: Arrays are passed "by reference" (as pointers), so functions can modify the original array.

Task: Write a function that doubles every element in an integer array.

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Passing Array to a Function for
Modification
#include <stdio.h>

void double_elements(int arr[], int size) {

for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
// This modification affects the ORIGINAL array in main()
arr[i] = arr[i] * 2;
}
}

void print_array(int arr[], int size) {

for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {
printf("%d ", arr[i]);
}
printf("\n");
}

int main() {
int my_numbers[5] = {1, 5, 10, 15, 20};

printf("Original array: ");

print_array(my_numbers, 5);

// Pass the array to the function that modifies it

double_elements(my_numbers, 5);

printf("Array after doubling: ");

print_array(my_numbers, 5); // The original array has changed!

return 0;
}

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Array of Strings for a Simple
Database
Concept: Using a 2D char array to store a list of strings, like a simple in-memory database.

Task: Store a list of student names and implement a simple search function.

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Array of Strings for a Simple
Database
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h> // For strcmp()

int main() {
// An array of 4 strings, each can be up to 29 chars + null terminator
char students[4][30] = {
"Nguyen Van An",
"Tran Thi Binh",
"Le Hoang Cuong",
"Pham My Duyen"
};

char search_name[30];
int found = 0; // 0 means false

printf("Enter name to search: ");

// fgets is safer than scanf for names with spaces
fgets(search_name, 30, stdin);
// Remove the newline character that fgets adds
search_name[strcspn(search_name, "\n")] = 0;

// Iterate through the array of strings

for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++) {
if (strcmp(students[i], search_name) == 0) {
printf("Found '%s' at index %d.\n", search_name, i);
found = 1;
break;
}
}

if (!found) {
printf("Student '%s' not found.\n", search_name);
}
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return 0;
}
String Manipulation with Library
Functions
Concept: Using <string.h> to build a new string from parts of others.

Task: Create a full name by combining a first name and a last name, separated by a space.

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String Manipulation with Library
Functions
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h> // For strcpy, strcat

int main() {
char first_name[] = "Minh";
char last_name[] = "Nguyen";

// Allocate enough space for both names, a space, and the null terminator
char full_name[50];

// 1. Copy the first name into full_name

strcpy(full_name, first_name); // full_name is now "Minh"

// 2. Concatenate (append) a space

strcat(full_name, " "); // full_name is now "Minh "

// 3. Concatenate the last name

strcat(full_name, last_name); // full_name is now "Minh Nguyen"

printf("First Name: %s\n", first_name);

printf("Last Name: %s\n", last_name);
printf("Full Name: %s\n", full_name);

return 0;
}

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Using an Array to Count Frequencies
Concept: A powerful technique where the index of an array represents a value, and the content at that index represents its count.

Task: Count the frequency of each digit (0-9) in a long number given as a string.

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Using an Array to Count Frequencies
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

int main() {
char number_string[] = "9870981239870";

// An array to store counts for digits 0 through 9

// All elements are initialized to 0
int frequency[10] = {0};

// Iterate through the string

for (int i = 0; i < strlen(number_string); i++) {
char current_char = number_string[i];

// Convert the character '0'-'9' to an integer 0-9

int digit = current_char - '0';

// Increment the count at that digit's index

if (digit >= 0 && digit <= 9) {
frequency[digit]++;
}
}

// Print the results

printf("Frequency of each digit in '%s':\n", number_string);
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
printf("Digit %d appeared %d times.\n", i, frequency[i]);
}

48
Scalar Multiplication
Linear Algebra Concept: Multiplying a matrix by a single number (a scalar). Every element in the matrix is multiplied by that
number.

C Programming Concept: A function that takes a 2D array and modifies it in place.

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Scalar Multiplication
#include <stdio.h> int main() {
int matrix[ROWS][COLS] = {
#define ROWS 2 {1, 2, 3},
#define COLS 3 {4, 5, 6}
};
// Function to print a matrix
void print_matrix(int matrix[ROWS][COLS]) { int scalar = 3;
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < COLS; j++) { printf("Original Matrix:\n");
printf("%4d ", matrix[i][j]); // %4d print_matrix(matrix);
for better alignment
} // Call the function to modify the matrix
printf("\n"); scalar_multiply(matrix, scalar);
}
} printf("\nMatrix after multiplying by %d:\n"
,
scalar);
// Function to perform scalar multiplication print_matrix(matrix);
// It modifies the original matrix passed to it
void scalar_multiply(int matrix[ROWS][COLS], int return 0;
scalar) { }
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++) {
for (int j = 0; j < COLS; j++) {
matrix[i][j] = matrix[i][j] * scalar;
}
}
}

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Dot Product of Two Vectors
Linear Algebra Concept: The dot product (or scalar product) of two vectors is a fundamental operation. For vectors
A=[a1,a2,…,an] and B=[b1,b2,…,bn], the dot product is …

C Programming Concept: A function that takes two 1D arrays, performs a calculation, and returns a single value.

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Dot Product of Two Vectors
#include <stdio.h>

#define SIZE 4

// Function to calculate the dot product of two vectors

// It returns a single value (the dot product)
float dot_product(float vec1[], float vec2[], int size) {
float result = 0.0;

for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {

result += vec1[i] * vec2[i];
}

return result;
}

int main() {
float vectorA[SIZE] = {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0};
float vectorB[SIZE] = {5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0};

// Dot Product = (1*5) + (2*6) + (3*7) + (4*8) = 5 + 12 + 21 + 32 = 70

float result = dot_product(vectorA, vectorB, SIZE);

printf("Vector A: [1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0]\n"

);
printf("Vector B: [5.0, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0]\n"
);
printf("Dot Product of A and B is: %.2f\n", result);

return 0;
}

52
Matrix-Vector Multiplication
Linear Algebra Concept: Multiplying a matrix by a vector. If
A is an m×n matrix and v n×1 vector, the result is an m×1 vector. Each element of the result is the dot product of a row from the
matrix and the vector.

C Programming Concept: Combining all previous concepts: 2D arrays, 1D arrays, and functions.

53
Matrix-Vector Multiplication
#include <stdio.h> int main() {
int matrix[ROWS][COLS] = {
#define ROWS 2 {1, 2, 3}, // Row 0
#define COLS 3 {4, 5, 6} // Row 1
};
// Function to perform Matrix-Vector
multiplication int vector[COLS] = {10, 20, 30};
// It takes a matrix, a vector, and stores the
result in another vector int result_vector[ROWS];
void matrix_vector_mult(int matrix[ROWS][COLS],
int vector[COLS], int result_vector[ROWS]) { // Call the function to perform the
calculation
for (int i = 0; i < ROWS; i++) { matrix_vector_mult(matrix, vector,
result_vector[i] = 0; // Initialize result_vector);
result for this row to 0
// Result[0] = (1*10) + (2*20) + (3*30) = 10
for (int j = 0; j < COLS; j++) { + 40 + 90 = 140
// This is essentially a dot product // Result[1] = (4*10) + (5*20) + (6*30) = 40
of a matrix row and the vector + 100 + 180 = 320
result_vector[i] += matrix[i][j] *
vector[j]; printf("Result of Matrix * Vector is:\n");
} printf("[%d]\n", result_vector[0]);
} printf("[%d]\n", result_vector[1]);
}
return 0;
}

54