Review

First, what is a function? A function is a self-contained unit of program code designed to accomplish a particular task. A function in C plays the same role that functions, subroutines, and procedures play in other languages, although the details might differ. Some functions cause action to take place. For example, printf() causes data to be printed on your screen. Some functions find a value for a program to use. For instance, strlen() tells a program how long a certain string is. In general, a function can both produce actions and provide values.

Why should you use functions? For one, they save you from repetitious programming. If you have to do a certain task several times in a program, you need to write an appropriate function only ...

Get C Primer Plus®, Third Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.