C Program to Find the Maximum of Two Numbers using Switch Case

In this article, we will learn how to find the maximum of two numbers using switch case statements in C programming.

The program takes two integer inputs from the user and then prints the maximum of the two.

Sample Input:

Enter first number: 20
Enter second number: 40

Expected output:

40 is Largest

You can use the following approach to find the maximum of two numbers using the switch...case statement:

• Declare two integer variables num1 and num2 to store the two numbers. Also declare a third integer variable exp which we will use inside the switch statement.
• Take the first number from the user using the scanf() function and store it in the num1 variable.
• Take the second number from the user using the scanf() function and store its value in the num2 variable.
• Store the value of the num1 > num2 expression in the third variable exp. The expression num1 > num2 returns 1 if num1 is larger than num2, otherwise, it returns 0.
• Put the result of the num > num2 expression i.e. exp variable in the switch statement.
• Put two cases, case 1 & case 0, inside the switch statement. The case 1 runs if num1 is greater than num2, otherwise, the case 0 runs.

The following C program shows how you can use the switch...case statement to find the largest of the two numbers:

// C program to find the maximum of the two numbers using Switch Case
#include <stdio.h>

int main(){
    
    // Declare variables
    int num1, num2, exp;
    
    // Get the first number
    printf("Enter first number: ");
    scanf("%d", &num1);
    
    // Get the second number
    printf("Enter second number: ");
    scanf("%d", &num2);
    
    // Returns 1 if num1 is greater than num2, otherwise, returns 0
    exp = num1 > num2;
    
    switch(exp){  // Can become 1 or 0 only
    	
    	// Runs if num1 > num2
    	case 1:
    		printf("%d is Largest", num1);
    		break;
    	
    	// Runs if num1 < num2
		case 0:
			printf("%d is Largest", num2);
			break;	
    		
	}
    return 0;
}

Output:

Enter first number: 20
Enter second number: 40
40 is Largest

Please note that this program does not give the correct output if both numbers are equal to each other. If you also want to put an equality check, use the if…else statements instead.