Check if a Character is a Vowel or Consonant in C | Simple Program

How to Check if a Character is a Vowel or Consonant in C

Determining whether a given character is a vowel or a consonant is a common exercise in programming. This article explains two popular methods to achieve this: using if-else statements and switch-case statements.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. What Are Vowels and Consonants?
3. Methods to Check Vowel or Consonant
   • Using if-else
   • Using switch-case
4. C Programs for Each Method
5. Conclusion

Introduction

Checking if a character is a vowel or a consonant is a basic problem that introduces decision-making constructs in programming. This guide provides two approaches in C for solving this problem effectively.

1. What Are Vowels and Consonants?

• Vowels: The letters a, e, i, o, u (both uppercase and lowercase) are vowels.
• Consonants: All other alphabets (excluding vowels) are consonants.

Special characters, digits, and whitespace are not considered in this classification.

2. Methods to Check Vowel or Consonant

Method 1: Using if-else

This method uses conditional statements to compare the input character against all possible vowels. If it matches, the character is identified as a vowel; otherwise, it is categorized as a consonant.

Method 2: Using switch-case

This method involves matching the character against specific cases for vowels. If no match is found, it defaults to identifying the character as a consonant.

3. C Programs for Each Method

Program 1: Using if-else

#include <stdio.h>

void checkVowelOrConsonant(char ch) {
    // Convert to lowercase for uniformity
    char lower = (ch >= 'A' && ch <= 'Z') ? ch + 32 : ch;

    if (lower == 'a' || lower == 'e' || lower == 'i' || lower == 'o' || lower == 'u') {
        printf("%c is a vowel.\n", ch);
    } else if ((lower >= 'a' && lower <= 'z')) {
        printf("%c is a consonant.\n", ch);
    } else {
        printf("%c is not an alphabet.\n", ch);
    }
}

int main() {
    char ch;

    // Input from user
    printf("Enter a character: ");
    scanf(" %c", &ch);

    checkVowelOrConsonant(ch);
    return 0;
}

Program 2: Using switch-case

#include <stdio.h>

void checkVowelOrConsonantSwitch(char ch) {
    // Convert to lowercase for uniformity
    char lower = (ch >= 'A' && ch <= 'Z') ? ch + 32 : ch;

    switch (lower) {
        case 'a':
        case 'e':
        case 'i':
        case 'o':
        case 'u':
            printf("%c is a vowel.\n", ch);
            break;
        default:
            if (lower >= 'a' && lower <= 'z') {
                printf("%c is a consonant.\n", ch);
            } else {
                printf("%c is not an alphabet.\n", ch);
            }
    }
}

int main() {
    char ch;

    // Input from user
    printf("Enter a character: ");
    scanf(" %c", &ch);

    checkVowelOrConsonantSwitch(ch);
    return 0;
}

Conclusion

Using both if-else and switch-case provides flexibility and understanding of decision-making constructs in C. The if-else method is straightforward, while switch-case is more structured and scalable for additional classifications.