curly brackets - When to use "{ }" in C? [K&R Exercise 1.8] -

i tried solve problem, count amount of lines, blank spaces, , tabs.

my solution incorrect because don't know how use { }.

main () {      int newline;      int tab;      int blank;     int c;      newline = 0;     tab = 0;     blank = 0;      while ((c = getchar()) != eof)          if (c == '\n')             ++newline;         if (c == '\t')             ++tab;         if (c == 32)             ++blank;      printf("lines: %d tabs: %d blanks: %d\n", newline, tab, blank); } 

in code, new lines being counted. tabs , spaces never counted. know answer add { } around if statements section. know because searched google solution.

perhaps me, k&r not explain when should use { }.

can explain how can know add { } above code? when read code, seems fine without {}. means don't understand usage. why aren't tabs , spaces counted in above code?

is there book on c can recommend? have no programming experience.

one relatively straightforward "rule of thumb": semi-colon(s). referring example, starting @ "while", read forward until see semi-colon. if want beyond semi-colon executed part of while block, need wrap in curly braces.

another way @ it: semi-colon statement terminator. terminated blank = 0 previous statement; terminates not if enclosing while statement. thus, execute following if part of while block, need enclose ifs in curly braces.

oh, , way, c , similar languages not attach syntactic meaning whitespace. @ treated separator. indentation choose apply benefit of human reader only; has no significance compiler.