C Tutorial - Lesson Six - About Functions

In this example we'll call the function pow() in <math.h>. It calculates x^y where both x and y are doubles and x is positive. Create a project called ex6_1 or load the sample project ex6_1.

#include <math.h>
#include<stdio.h>
int main() {
double x=5.7;
double y=3;
double answer= pow(x,y) ;
printf("The result of %f to the power of %f is %f",x,y,answer) ;
return 0;
}
This outputs : The result of 5.700000 to the power of 3.000000 is 185.193000

Writing Functions

Functions divide a program into smaller manageable chunks. It's usual to group related functions into libraries and then use a header file to make public those functions. That way, other parts of your application can call them.

Return Type

All functions have a return type. If you omit it, then int is assumed. So you should always specify the return type.

A function can return nothing- just like a procedure in pascal. In C this is done with the void type. E.g.

void StartLogging() {
// Logging Code
}

Return Value

Other than in a void function, a value of the function's return type must be returned. This is done with the return statement. This also exits the function. For a void function, return by itself will do.

//ex6_11
#include <stdio.h>
int addtwonumbers(int a,int b) {
return a + b;
}

int main() {
int c = addtwonumbers(6,7) ;
printf("C= %i ",c) ;
return 0;
}

This adds two numbers and outputs C= 13.

On the next page : Learn about function parameters.