Discussion: It Just Can’t Be Done
Execute the code to understand the output and gain insights into integer overflow.
We'll cover the following...
Run the code
Now, it's time to execute the code and observe the output.
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
char a;
for( a=0; a<200; a++ )
printf("%3d ", a);
return(0);
putchar('\n');
return(0);
}C code for the given puzzle
Understanding the output
Ignoring any error the compiler coughs up, the program outputs an endless loop, cycling from 0 to 127, then from -128 to 0 again. Press "Ctrl+C" to halt the nonsense.
The reason the program results in an endless loop is because the char data type is signed by default in C, with a range of -128 to 127. As the loop ...