Weird Output

[SlashGeek]

For the code given under, I'm getting 4200496 as output.

#include<stdio. h>
int main()
{
printf("%d",pri ntf);
return 0;
}
Why I'm getting output for this code and what does the value signify???
I've used DEV C++ IDE.

[Rabbit]

It's probably printing out the address of the printf function but that's a guess on my part.

[weaknessforcats]

Yes, you are seeing the address of the printf function seen as an integer. To see it correctly as an address, use %p instead of %d.

[donbock]

The %p format specifier is used for data pointers. The C Standard specifically allows for compilers implementations to implement function pointers differently than data pointers. Thus, portable code shouldn't use function pointers in a context (like %p) where a data pointer is expected. I can't think of a portable way to print the value of a function pointer; perhaps %lX.

That said, I haven't yet encountered a compiler implementation where you couldn't get away with treating function and data pointers as if they were interchangeable .