What is the function call in C

The function call is an expression that invokes a specific function to perform a task or a series of tasks. When you call a function, you provide arguments (if required) as input, and the function executes its code and often returns a result.

Here’s the basic syntax of a function call in C:

return_type result = function_name(argument1, argument2, ...);

• return_type: This is the data type of the value that the function is expected to return. It specifies what type of value you can expect as the result of the function call.
• function_name: This is the name of the function you want to call.
• argument1, argument2, ...: These are the arguments or parameters you pass to the function. Functions can take zero or more arguments. If a function requires multiple arguments, they are separated by commas.
• result: This is the variable where the result of the function call is stored. If the function has a return value, you can store it in a variable for further use.

Here’s a simple example of a function call:

#include <stdio.h>

// Function declaration
int add(int a, int b);

int main() {
    int result;

    // Function call
    result = add(5, 3);

    printf("The result of the addition is: %d\n", result);

    return 0;
}

// Function definition
int add(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
}

In this example, we have a function add that takes two integer arguments and returns their sum. In the main function, we call add(5, 3) to calculate the sum of 5 and 3, and the result is stored in the result variable. The value is then printed using printf.

Function calls are fundamental to C programming and are used extensively to modularize code and perform various tasks in a program.