What does printf return?

Printf return value

Printf function is an output function that prints characters to stdout / console / command shell. Printf function returns the number of characters printed to the output file stream(stdout / console / shell).

Printf takes a formatting string and a number of optional arguments. Printf converts these arguments (char, string, int, long, float, double etc) to printable strings and the final constructed string is transferred to the stdout file stream.

Printf block diagram

Printf return value example

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    int ret;
    
    /* 11 character string */
    ret=printf("Hello World");
    printf("\nprintf returns %d\n", ret);
    
    /* 1 character integer */
    ret=printf("%d", 1);
    printf("\nprintf returns %d\n", ret);
    
    /* 2 character integer */
    ret=printf("%d", 10);
    printf("\nprintf returns %d\n", ret);
    
    /* 3 character integer */
    ret=printf("%d", 100);
    printf("\nprintf returns %d\n", ret);
    return 0;
}

Printf return value output

There are 4 printf statements to demonstrate the return value of printf.

Hello World                                                                                                                            
printf returns 11                                                                                                                      
1                                                                                                                                      
printf returns 1                                                                                                                       
10                                                                                                                                     
printf returns 2                                                                                                                       
100                                                                                                                                    
printf returns 3 

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