C Program to Generate Forward Difference Table (with Output)

Table of Contents

• C Program
• Program Output
• Recommended Readings

While interpolating intermediate value of dependent variable for equi-spaced data of independent variable, at the begining of the table, Newton's Forward Interpolation formula is used. This method relies on Forward Difference Table.

In this article, we are going to generate forward difference table using c programming language.

C Source Code: Forward Difference Table

#include<stdio.h>
#include<conio.h>

int main()
{
 float x[20], y[20][20];
 int i,j, n;
 clrscr();
 /* Input Section */
 printf("Enter number of data?\n");
 scanf("%d", &n);
 printf("Enter data:\n");
 for(i = 0; i < n ; i++)
 {
  printf("x[%d]=", i);
  scanf("%f", &x[i]);
  printf("y[%d]=", i);
  scanf("%f", &y[i][0]);
 }

 /* Generating Forward Difference Table */
 for(i = 1; i < n; i++)
 {
  for(j = 0; j < n-i; j++)
  {
   y[j][i] = y[j+1][i-1] - y[j][i-1];
  }
 }

 /* Displaying Forward Difference Table */
 printf("\nFORWARD DIFFERENCE TABLE\n\n");
 for(i = 0; i < n; i++)
 {
  printf("%0.2f", x[i]);
  for(j = 0; j < n-i ; j++)
  {
   printf("\t%0.2f", y[i][j]);
  }
  printf("\n");
 }

 getch(); /* Holding Screen */
 return 0;
}

C Program Output: Forward Difference Table

Enter number of data?
5
Enter data:
x[0]=40
y[0]=31
x[1]=50
y[1]=73
x[2]=60
y[2]=124
x[3]=70
y[3]=159
x[4]=80
y[4]=190

FORWARD DIFFERENCE TABLE

40.00   31.00   42.00   9.00    -25.00  37.00
50.00   73.00   51.00   -16.00  12.00
60.00   124.00  35.00   -4.00
70.00   159.00  31.00
80.00   190.00