Question

C has float, int, const float, and const int (among other number types). Which of these are supertypes or subtypes of each other, and which are unrelated?

a) Float and int are unrelated, const float and const int are subtypes of each other
b) Float is a supertype of int, const float is a subtype of const int
c) Float is a subtype of int, const float and const int are unrelated
d) Float and int are supertypes of const float and const int

Answer 1

In C, 'float' and 'int' are unrelated primitive data types, and when combined with 'const' to become 'const float' and 'const int', they remain unrelated as they represent immutable variables with distinct numerical representations.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the C programming language, data types such as float, int, const float, and const int represent different categories of numbers, each with their own properties. The const qualifier indicates that a variable's value cannot be changed after initialization. Among these, float and int are primitive data types that are unrelated to each other because they represent numbers in different formats: floating-point and integer, respectively. Neither of these is a supertype or subtype of the other.

Adding the const qualifier to these types creates const float and const int, which tells the compiler that the variables of these types are not modifiable. Though they now share the const qualifier, they are still unrelated because their underlying number representations remain distinct. Therefore, const float is not a subtype or supertype of const int, and vice versa.

The correct answer to the question would be: Float and int are unrelated, and const float and const int are also unrelated. They do not form a subtype-supertype relationship with one another.