In C programming, we can return a pointer from a function like any other data type.
Points to Remember
We should not return pointer to a local variable declared inside a function because as soon as control returns from a function all local variables gets destroyed. If we want to return pointer to a local variable then we should declare it as a static variable so that it retains it's value after control returns from function.
We should not return pointer to a local variable declared inside a function because as soon as control returns from a function all local variables gets destroyed. If we want to return pointer to a local variable then we should declare it as a static variable so that it retains it's value after control returns from function.
Declaration of a Function Returning Pointer
int* getEvenNumbers(int N){
/* Function Body */
}
C Program Returning a Pointer from a Function
#include <stdio.h>
/* This function returns an array of N even numbers */
int* getOddNumbers(int N){
/* Declaration of a static local integer array */
static int oddNumberArray[100];
int i, even = 1;
for(i=0; i<N; i++){
oddNumberArray[i] = even;
even += 2;
}
/* Returning base address of oddNumberArray array*/
return oddNumberArray;
}
int main(){
int *array, counter;
array = getOddNumbers(10);
printf("Odd Numbers\n");
for(counter=0; counter<10; counter++){
printf("%d\n", array[counter]);
}
return 0;
}
Output
Odd Numbers 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19