printf scanf

The printf and scanf are two important functions for input and output operations. They are part of the standard I/O library (stdio.h) and are commonly used for displaying output and reading input, respectively.

printf:

• printf is a function used for formatted output in C.
• It allows you to display text, numbers, and other data on the console or other output devices.
• The function takes a format string as its first argument, followed by one or more additional arguments that provide values to be formatted and inserted into the format string.
• Format specifiers, such as %d, %f, %s, etc., are used in the format string to specify the type and position of the values to be displayed.
• Here’s a simple example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int num = 42;

    printf("The value of num is %d\n", num);

    return 0;
}

Output:

The value of num is 42

scanf:

• scanf is a function used for formatted input in C.
• It allows you to read data from the standard input (usually the keyboard) and store it in variables.
• Like printf, scanf also uses format specifiers to specify the expected type of input data.
• It takes a format string as its first argument, followed by pointers to variables where the input data will be stored.
• Here’s an example of using scanf to read an integer:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int num;

    printf("Enter an integer: ");
    scanf("%d", &num);

    printf("You entered: %d\n", num);

    return 0;
}

In this example, %d in the scanf format string indicates that an integer should be read from the input. &num is used to store the input value in the num variable.

Both printf and scanf are powerful tools for handling input and output in C programs, and they are commonly used in a wide range of applications. Properly using format specifiers is crucial to ensure that the data is read or displayed correctly. Additionally, error handling should be considered when using scanf to handle unexpected input situations.