Page 1 of 9
Home Whiteboard Online Compilers Practice Articles AI Assistant
SQL HTML CSS Javascript Python Java C C++ PHP Scala C#
Booleans in C
Unlike the int, char or float types, the ANSI C standard doesnt have a built-in or
primary Boolean type. A Boolean or bool data generally refers to the one that can hold
one of the two binary values: true or false (or yes/no, on/off, etc.). Even if the bool type
is not available in C, you can implement the behaviour of Booleans with the help of an
enum type.
The new versions of C compilers, complying with the C99 standard or later, support the
bool type, which has been defined in the header file stdbool.h.
Using enum to Implement Boolean Type in C
The enum type assigns user-defined identifiers to integral constants. We can define an
enumerated type with true and false as the identifiers with the values 1 and 0.
Example
1 or any other number that is not 0 represents true, whereas 0 represents false.
Open Compiler
#include <stdio.h>
int main (){
enum bool {false, true};
enum bool x = true;
enum bool y = false;
printf ("%d\n", x);
[Link] 1/9
Page 2 of 9
printf ("%d\n", y);
}
Output
Run the code and check its output −
1
0
typedef enum as BOOL
To make it more concise, we can use the typedef keyword to call enum bool by the
name BOOL.
Example 1
Take a look at the following example −
Open Compiler
#include <stdio.h>
int main(){
typedef enum {false, true} BOOL;
BOOL x = true;
BOOL y = false;
printf ("%d\n", x);
printf ("%d\n", y);
}
Here too, you will get the same output −
Output
[Link] 2/9
Page 3 of 9
1
0
Example 2
We can even use the enumerated constants in the decision-making or loop statements −
Open Compiler
#include <stdio.h>
int main(){
typedef enum {false, true} BOOL;
int i = 0;
while(true){
i++;
printf("%d\n", i);
if(i >= 5)
break;
}
return 0;
}
Output
When you run this code, it will produce the following output −
1
2
3
4
5
Boolean Values with #define
[Link] 3/9
Page 4 of 9
The #define preprocessor directive is used to define constants. We can use this to
define the Boolean constants, FALSE as 0 and TRUE as 1.
Example
Take a look at the following example −
Open Compiler
#include <stdio.h>
#define FALSE 0
#define TRUE 1
int main(){
printf("False: %d \n True: %d", FALSE, TRUE);
return 0;
}
Output
Run the code and check its output −
False: 0
True: 1
Boolean Type in stdbool.h
The C99 standard of C has introduced the stdbool.h header file. It contains the
definition of bool type, which actually is a typedef alias for _bool type. It also defines
the macros true which expands to 1, and false which expands to 0.
Example 1
We can use the bool type as follows −
Open Compiler
[Link] 4/9
Page 5 of 9
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
int main(){
bool a = true;
bool b = false;
printf("True: %d\n", a);
printf("False: %d", b);
return 0;
}
Output
On executing this code, you will get the following output −
True: 1
False: 0
Example 2
We can use bool type variables in logical expressions too, as shown in the following
example −
Open Compiler
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
int main(){
bool x;
x = 10 > 5;
if(x)
printf("x is True\n");
else
[Link] 5/9
Page 6 of 9
printf("x is False\n");
bool y;
int marks = 40;
y = marks > 50;
if(y)
printf("Result: Pass\n");
else
printf("Result: Fail\n");
}
Output
Run the code and check its output −
x is True
Result: Fail
Example 3
Let us implement a while loop with the help of a bool variable −
Open Compiler
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdbool.h>
int main(void){
bool loop = true;
int i = 0;
while(loop){
i++;
printf("i: %d \n", i);
if (i >= 5)
loop = false;
[Link] 6/9
Page 7 of 9
}
printf("Loop stopped!\n");
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
Output
When you run this code, it will produce the following output −
i: 1
i: 2
i: 3
i: 4
i: 5
Loop stopped!
TOP TUTORIALS
Python Tutorial
Java Tutorial
C++ Tutorial
C Programming Tutorial
C# Tutorial
PHP Tutorial
R Tutorial
HTML Tutorial
CSS Tutorial
JavaScript Tutorial
SQL Tutorial
TRENDING TECHNOLOGIES
Cloud Computing Tutorial
Amazon Web Services Tutorial
Microsoft Azure Tutorial
Git Tutorial
Ethical Hacking Tutorial
[Link] 7/9
