What happens when I use the wrong format specifier?

c, format-specifiers

Solution

what happens when I use the wrong format specifier in C?

Generally speaking, undefined behaviour.*

However, recall that `printf` is a variadic function, and that the arguments to variadic functions undergo the default argument promotions. So for instance, a `char` is promoted to an `int`. So in practice, these will both give the same results:

char x = 'A';
printf("%c\n", x);

int y = 'A';
printf("%c\n", y);

whereas this is undefined behaviour:

long z = 'A';
printf("%c\n", z);

* See for example section 7.19.6.1 p9 of the C99 standard:

If any argument is not the correct type for the corresponding conversion specification, the behavior is undefined.

Problem

Just wondering what happens when I use the wrong format specifier in C? For example: ``` x = 'A'; printf("%c\n", x); printf("%d\n", x); x = 65; printf("%c\n", x); printf("%d\n", x); x = 128; printf("%d\n", x); ```

Original source

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