Writing a C Program to Display Positive Numbers Between -10 to 10 Using a While Loop

When starting your journey in programming, one of the fundamental tasks you may encounter is creating a program to display specific number ranges. In this article, we will guide you through how to write a C program to display all the positive numbers between -10 to 10 using a while loop. This is a beginner-friendly topic and can be easily implemented even if you are new to C programming. We will provide code examples and explanations to ensure you understand the process.

Understanding the Problem Statement

The problem is to write a C program to display all positive numbers within the range of -10 to 10. A positive number is any number greater than zero. In this case, the numbers we are interested in are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Choosing the Right Loop Structure

A while loop is a control flow statement that allows code to be executed repeatedly based on a given boolean condition. In this scenario, a while loop is the most suitable structure because we want to continue displaying positive numbers until we reach 10.

Solution Using a while Loop

The provided code snippet has a few mistakes and needs some corrections to achieve the desired output. Here is the corrected version:

#include iostreamusing namespace std;int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {    int x  -1;    while (x  11) {        if (x  0) {            cout  x  endl;        }        x  ;    }    return 0;}

Explanation:

The variable x is initialized to -1 to ensure that the first condition in the loop evaluated as true and the loop body is entered. The loop continues as long as x is less than 11. This sets the upper limit of the range. Within the loop, the if statement checks if x is greater than or equal to 0. This discriminates and displays only the positive numbers. After processing the condition, x is incremented by 1 in each iteration of the loop to move towards the upper limit of the range.

Alternative Solution

Here is another way to achieve the same result using a slightly different approach:

#include iostreamusing namespace std;int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {    for (int i  -10; i  10; i  ) {        if (i  0) {            cout  i  endl;        }    }    return 0;}

Explanation:

The loop now initializes i to -10 to include the range starting from -10, and the condition i 10 ensures that all numbers up to 10 are checked. The body of the loop remains the same as in the previous example, checking if the current number is non-negative and displaying it if true. The increment operation i is automatically handled by the for loop, so it is not needed to be explicitly written.

Compilation and Execution

To compile and execute this code, you can use a command-line interface or an online compiler for C/C . Here's a step-by-step guide:

Save the code in a file, e.g., display_positive.c. Open a terminal and navigate to the directory where the file is saved. Use the g compiler to compile the code with the command: g display_positive.c -o display_positive To run the compiled program: ./display_positive

Make sure to install the necessary compiler on your system if you don't have it installed.

Key Points to Remember

Initialization, condition, and update steps are crucial in a while loop. Use if statements to filter and display only the desired numbers. Increment/decrement operations are necessary to move through the range. Consider different loop structures (like for loop) to achieve the same functionality.

Conclusion

By following the examples and explanations provided here, you can write a C program to display positive numbers between -10 to 10 using a while loop. Understanding and executing such simple programs will help you build a strong foundation in C and prepare you for more complex programming challenges.