How does the scanf function work in C?

Question

Why do you require ampersand (&) in the scanf function. What will the output or type of error (compile or runtime) be in the following C code?

Answer 1

You don't always need to use an & with scanf. What you need to do is to pass pointers. If you're new to C, you should spend some time reading the comp.lang.c FAQ:

http://c-faq.com/

Specifically:

• Why doesn't the call scanf("%d", i) work?
• Why does the call scanf("%s", s) work?