Access the array element in C

Question

I came across a different way of accessing an array element today. I am just curious if its correct way to access an array element.

Here is my code,

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
    int arr[4] = {4, 5, 6, 7};
    printf ("---> %d \n", 2[arr]);
    return 0;
}

Following is the output,

---> 6

I thought the program will not compile but it did! I tried to compile it on Linux and Windows and it works fine on both. Expert views on this?

[Array subscripting is commutative in C](http://c-faq.com/aryptr/joke.html) — David Ranieri, Apr 14 '15 at 09:24
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/27228793/c-c-with-int-i3-why-i2-is-the-same-as-2i/27228808#27228808 — Gopi, Apr 14 '15 at 09:24

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 14 '15 at 09:23

3

This works because for the expression a[b] is equivalent to *(a + b), which implies that you can swap the order of a and b, the addition doesn't care.

answered Apr 14 '15 at 09:23

unwind

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Access the array element in C

1 Answers1