GATE CS 2024 Set 1 — Question 18

MCQ+1 / -0.33EasyControl FlowC ProgrammingProgramming & Data Structures

Programming & Data Structures → C Programming → Control Flow

Last updated 20 August 2026

Question

Consider the following C program:

#include 
int main(){
 int a = 6;
 int b = 0;
 while(a &lt; 10) {
  a = a / 12 + 1;
  a += b;}
 printf("%d", a);
 return 0;}

Which one of the following statements is CORRECT?

The program prints 9 as output

The program prints 10 as output

The program gets stuck in an infinite loop

The program prints 6 as output

Let's trace the execution of the program step-by-step:

1.Initialization: The variables are initialized as

a = 6

and

b = 0

2.Loop Condition: The while loop continues as long as

a < 10

3.First Iteration:

The condition $6 < 10$ is true.
a = a / 12 + 1: In C, integer division $6 / 12$ results in $0$ . Thus, $a = 0 + 1 = 1$ .
a += b: $a = 1 + 0 = 1$ .

4. Second Iteration:

The condition $1 < 10$ is true.
a = a / 12 + 1: Integer division $1 / 12$ results in $0$ . Thus, $a = 0 + 1 = 1$ .
a += b: $a = 1 + 0 = 1$ .

In every subsequent iteration, the value of

a

will remain

1

. Since

1

is always less than

10

, the loop condition

a < 10

will always be true, and the program will never exit the loop. Therefore, the program gets stuck in an infinite loop.