sizeof('z') result unexpected

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Size of character ('a') in C/C++

Why does this program output 4 and not 1?

void main()
{
   printf("%d",int(sizeof('z')));
}

'z' is a character and sizeof('z') must print 1?

What does it say about the uselessness of the SO search facility that I know I have a high-rep answer to this, but still cannot find it! — , May 28 '11 at 19:02
@Neil, I don't know about the SO search, but it does come up as the first result if you google "c sizeof character" — tjm, May 28 '11 at 19:09
@tjm well for me the wikipedia article comes up first. But still - anonymous fame at last! — , May 28 '11 at 19:23

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered May 28 '11 at 18:59

8

'z' is a character literal and in C a character literal is of type int. So sizeof('z') equals sizeof(int) on your implementation.

answered May 28 '11 at 18:59

Prasoon Saurav

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered May 28 '11 at 19:00

8

Perhaps surprisingly, character constants in C are of type int, so sizeof('a') is sizeof(int)

answered May 28 '11 at 19:00

cnicutar

2 Answers2