CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c
LearningMath
LearningMath

Reputation: 861

why this code works in C

#include <stdio.h>

int main(){

char array[2];
array[0] = 'q';
array[1] = 'a';
printf("%s",array);

return 0;
}

if you ask me this code should not work. printf prints array[2] like string but it's not a string. When i execute it, it works perfectly. Can you explain why?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 155

Answers (2)

Sergey Kalinichenko
Sergey Kalinichenko

Reputation: 726809

When i execute it, it works perfectly.

You just got (un)lucky: your code exhibits undefined behavior, because it lets the printf's %s parameter run off the end of the sequence of characters that is not null-terminated.

A string in C is a sequence of char, which must have an extra character with the value 0, called the null terminator. Here is a way to make your code work without undefined behavior:

char array[3];
array[0] = 'q';
array[1] = 'a';
array[2] = '\0';

Upvotes: 5

luiges90
luiges90

Reputation: 4608

In C, String is identical to character arrays. There is no such thing as String in C.

Upvotes: 3

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