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Types of C Tokens Explained

The smallest individual units in a C program are called tokens. There are six types of tokens in C: keywords, identifiers, constants, strings, special symbols, and operators. Keywords are reserved words that serve as building blocks for program statements. Identifiers are user-defined names for variables, functions, and arrays. Constants represent fixed values that do not change during program execution. Strings are arrays of characters ended by a null character. Special symbols have predefined meanings, like brackets and braces. Operators perform logical and mathematical operations.

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557 views10 pages

Types of C Tokens Explained

The smallest individual units in a C program are called tokens. There are six types of tokens in C: keywords, identifiers, constants, strings, special symbols, and operators. Keywords are reserved words that serve as building blocks for program statements. Identifiers are user-defined names for variables, functions, and arrays. Constants represent fixed values that do not change during program execution. Strings are arrays of characters ended by a null character. Special symbols have predefined meanings, like brackets and braces. Operators perform logical and mathematical operations.

Uploaded by

ABHISHEK KUMAR
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Introduction to C Tokens
  • Types of C Tokens
  • Keywords
  • Identifiers
  • Constants
  • Strings
  • Special Symbols
  • Operators
  • Conclusion

smallest individual units of Program

In a passage of text, individual words and punctuation


marks are called tokens. Similarly, in C programming the
smallest individual units are known as C tokens.

C language has six types of tokens, and programs are


written using these tokens and the syntax of the
language.
Special
Keywords Identifiers Constants Strings Symbols Operators
Keywords serves as the building blocks for a program statements. All
keywords have a fixed meaning and cannot be changed.

 Keywords cannot be used as normal identifier names.

Few Examples of keywords used in C are listed below


 int
 break
 goto
 char
 switch
 void
Identifier refers to the name of variables, functions and arrays. These are
user defined names and consists of a sequence of letters and digits.

 Both uppercase and lowercase letters can be used, and c language is case
sensitive. A special symbol underscore ( _ ) is also permitted.

Rules For Identifiers


 First character must be an alphabet.
 must consist of only letters, digits or underscore.
 Should not be a keyword and should not have any blank space.

 Example:- int num;


char name;
Where num and name are identifier names.
Constants refers to fixed values that do not change during the execution of
a program.

Basic types of C constants are shown in the flowchart

Constants

Numeric Character
Constants Constants

Integer Real Single String


Constants Constants character constants
constants
Strings are nothing but array of characters ended with null character (‘\0’).
This null character indicates the end of the string.

Strings are always enclosed by double quotes. Whereas, character is


enclosed by single quotes in C.

 Example :- char name[10];


In this example the variable name can store up to 10 bytes.
The following special symbols are used in C having some special meaning
and thus, cannot be used for some other purpose.
[] () {} , ; : * … = #

Braces{}: These opening and ending curly braces marks the start and end of
a block of code containing more than one executable statement.

Parentheses(): These special symbols are used to indicate function calls and
function parameters.

Brackets[]: Opening and closing brackets are used as array element


reference. These indicate single and multidimensional subscripts.
The symbols which are used to perform logical and mathematical
operations in a C program are called C operators.

Operators used in C program are


 Arithmetic operators
 Assignment operators
 Relational operators
 Logical operators
 Bit wise operators
 Conditional operators (ternary operators)
 Increment/decrement operators
 Special Operators

smallest individual units of Program
In a passage of text, individual words and punctuation marks are called tokens. Similarly, in C programming the smallest
Keywords Identifiers Constants Strings Special Symbols Operators
Keywords serves as the building blocks for a program statements. All keywords have a fixed meaning and cannot be changed.
Identifier refers to the name of variables, functions and arrays. These are user defined names and consists of a sequence
Constants refers to fixed values that do not change during the execution of a program. Basic types of C constants are sho
Strings are nothing but array of characters ended with null character (‘0’). This null character indicates the end of the
The following special symbols are used in C having some special meaning and thus, cannot be used for some other purpose. [
The symbols which are used to perform logical and mathematical operations in a C program are called C operators. Operator

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