Question

Write a function that accepts a pointer to a C-string as its argument. The function should count the number of times the character 'w' occurs in the argument and return that number.

Short answer

Question: Write a C function that counts the number of occurrences of the character 'w' in a given C-string and provide a step-by-step solution for it. Answer: The function should be written as follows: ```c int count_w_occurrences(char *str) { int count = 0; for (int i = 0; str[i] != '\0'; i++) { if (str[i] == 'w') { count++; } } return count; } ``` The step-by-step solution involves: 1. Writing the function signature: `int count_w_occurrences(char *str);` 2. Initializing a counter variable to store the count of 'w' occurrences: `int count = 0;` 3. Iterating through the C-string using a for loop: `for (int i = 0; str[i] != '\0'; i++) { ... }` 4. Checking for 'w' occurrences and incrementing the count variable inside the loop: `if (str[i] == 'w') { count++; }` 5. Returning the count variable after the loop: `return count;`

Step-by-step solution

1. Write the function signature

First, create the function signature with the appropriate input and output types. The function accepts a pointer to a character array and returns an integer (the count of 'w' occurrences). ``` int count_w_occurrences(char *str); ```

2. Initialize a counter

Inside the function, initialize an integer variable to store the count of 'w' occurrences. Set the initial value to 0. ```c int count = 0; ```

3. Iterate through the C-string

Use a for loop to iterate through the C-string, starting at index 0, and increment the index until the null character ('\0') is reached, which signifies the end of the C-string. ```c for (int i = 0; str[i] != '\0'; i++) { } ```

4. Check for 'w' occurrences

Inside the for loop, use an if statement to check if the character at the current index is 'w'. If it is, increment the count variable. ```c if (str[i] == 'w') { count++; } ```

5. Return the count

After the for loop, return the count variable. ```c return count; ```

Full Function Code

Here's the full code for the function: ```c int count_w_occurrences(char *str) { int count = 0; for (int i = 0; str[i] != '\0'; i++) { if (str[i] == 'w') { count++; } } return count; } ```