CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c
Ilya Mashinin
Ilya Mashinin

Reputation: 19

If a char is a small integer then why can it contain symbols?

If a char is a small integer, why can it contain symbols?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 128

Answers (1)

memtha
memtha

Reputation: 874

char is a single byte integer, which means at least 256 possibilities (assuming the compiler follows the c standard). The lower 128 (number 0-127 inclusive) include almost all "symbols" you see printed. Here's a list: https://www.asciitable.com/

This often does not include more complicated characters, commonly called "multi-byte characters" which consist of more then 8 bits, such as emojis and eastern Asian word-characters. Different systems have different ways of handling these, but very few use the char type in C for more then one byte characters.

As a general rule, treat a char/byte like it is exactly 8 bits. Though some systems may allow char to be bigger, that's not always the case. Use the platform-specific type for multi-byte characters if you want to use them.

Upvotes: 1

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