Introduction
In C programming, header files play an essential role. They contain function prototypes, definitions of types and macros that we can use in our programs. The stdio.h and stdlib.h are two such widely used header files. Although they may seem similar at a glance, each serves a unique purpose.
This article dives into the specificities of these two header files and highlights their differences.
What are Header Files?
In the realm of C programming, a header file is a file with an extension .h which contains C function declarations and macro definitions to be shared between several source files. They play a pivotal role in code reusability and modularity. They are included in a program using the preprocessor directive #include.
Understanding stdio.h
The stdio.h is a standard C library header file that includes definitions for types, macros, and functions for commonly used input-output operations. The name "stdio" is an abbreviation for standard input-output. Here's a simple example:
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
printf("Hello, World!");
return 0;
}In this code, we used printf, a standard function defined in stdio.h to print to the standard output.
Output
Understanding stdlib.h
The stdlib.h is another standard C library header file that includes functions involving memory allocation, process control, conversions and others. The name "stdlib" stands for standard library. Here's a simple usage:
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int* ptr = (int*)malloc(sizeof(int));
*ptr = 5;
printf("%d", *ptr);
free(ptr);
return 0;
}Output
In this example, malloc and free from stdlib.h are used to dynamically allocate and deallocate memory.
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