Why Does C Integer Division Result in Zero, and How Can Floating-Point Division Be Achieved?

Understanding Floating Point Division in C

Despite being assigned to a double variable, division (3/5) results in zero in the provided code due to integer division. C evaluates the operands in a division expression as integers by default. As 3 and 5 are both whole numbers, their division yields an integer result, which is zero.

To perform floating point division, where the result maintains fractional precision, at least one operand should be a floating-point literal. This forces the compiler to treat the division as a floating-point operation and return a floating-point result.

In the original code, to achieve the intended floating-point division, one could modify it as follows:

#include <iostream>

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
  double f = 3.0 / 5;  // Change both operands to floating-point literals
  std::cout << f;
  return 0;
}

By making one operand (in this case, 3.0) a floating-point literal, the compiler will perform floating-point division, and the result will correctly reflect the fractional value.

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