Question

What is a flag variable?

Short answer

Provide an example. A flag variable is a boolean variable (True or False) used in programming to indicate the presence or absence of a specific condition or to control the flow of a program based on certain conditions. It acts as a signal or a switch and helps to make decisions and execute specific blocks of code. The main purposes of a flag variable are to check whether a particular condition is met, control the execution of loops and conditional statements, indicate the status of a process or calculation, and handle errors or exceptions within the code. For example, consider a Python program that checks if a specific number, say 'x,' is present in a list of numbers or not: ```python numbers = [5, 8, 1, 12, 25, 30] search_number = 12 flag = False for number in numbers: if number == search_number: flag = True break if flag: print("The number {} is present in the list.".format(search_number)) else: print("The number {} is not present in the list.".format(search_number)) ``` In this example, the flag variable is initially set to 'False.' If the number 'x' is found in the list, the flag variable is set to 'True,' and the loop is terminated using the 'break' statement. The program then prints the result based on the value of the flag variable (True or False) to indicate whether the number is present in the list or not.

Step-by-step solution

Definition of a Flag Variable

A flag variable is a boolean variable (True or False) used in programming to indicate the presence or absence of a specific condition or to control the flow of a program based on certain conditions. It acts as a signal or a switch and helps to make decisions and execute specific blocks of code.

Purpose of a Flag Variable

A flag variable is primarily utilized for the following purposes: 1. To check whether a particular condition is met or not. 2. To control the execution of loops and conditional statements. 3. To indicate the status of a process or a calculation. 4. To handle errors or exceptions within the code.

Example of a Flag Variable

Let's assume we are given a list of numbers and asked to check if a specific number, say 'x,' is present in the list or not. Using a flag variable, we can create a simple Python program to solve this problem: ```python numbers = [5, 8, 1, 12, 25, 30] search_number = 12 flag = False for number in numbers: if number == search_number: flag = True break if flag: print("The number {} is present in the list.".format(search_number)) else: print("The number {} is not present in the list.".format(search_number)) ``` In this example, the flag variable is initially set to 'False.' If the number 'x' is found in the list, the flag variable is set to 'True,' and the loop is terminated using the 'break' statement. Finally, the program prints the result based on the value of the flag variable (True or False) to indicate whether the number is present in the list or not.