Why is my output 5 and 0 instead of 6 and 5 - c

Question

Why my code output is 5 and 0, not 6 and 5?
I think I should get 6 and 5. I am a beginner.
#include <stdio.h>
int swap(int a,int b);
int main()
{ int x =5;
int y =6;
printf("%d %d\n",x,y);
int number[2]={swap(x,y)};
x=number[0];
y=number[1];
printf("%d %d\n",x,y);
return 0;
}
int swap(int a,int b)
{
return b,a;
}

Answer 1

There are several things wrong here.
First, you can't return multiple values in C, like you can in Python. return b, a; uses the comma operator, which evaluates both its operands and returns the second one. So this is equivalent to just return a;.
Second, your array initializer is only initializing the first element of the array. There's only one expression in the initialization braces, so that initializes number[0]. The remaining elements of the array are initialized by default to 0.
Combining both of these, it's equivalent to:
int number[2] = {y, 0};

Answer 2

I can see you are new to C programming. The problem is in your swap() function. You're using a language construct that does not exist in C, namely tuples. Check out pointers for a proper way to return multiple values from a function.

Answer 3

This function ...
int swap(int a,int b)
... returns one int, as its prototype says.
This statement ...
return b,a;
... involves C's comma operator ,, which evaluates its left-hand operand, discards the result, then evaluates to the value of its right-hand operand. Since evaluating b has no side effects in your case, that return statement is equivalent to
return a;
In C, it is valid to initialize an array with fewer explicit elements than the length of the array. For an automatic (local, non-static) array such as yours, as long as at least one element is initializer, all elements not explicitly initialized are implicitly initialized (to 0 in the case of int elements). Thus, for your implementation of swap(), this ...
int number[2]={swap(x,y)};
... is equivalent to
int number[2] = { x, 0 };
, which explains the output.

Answer 4

Here is a way to solve your problem.
#include <stdio.h>
void swap(int *a,int *b);
int main()
{
int x = 5;
int y = 6;
swap(&x, &y);
printf("post swap x = %d, y = %d\n", x, y);
return 0;
}
// No need to return anything, we change the x, y values using the pointer
// This is passing by reference. Instead of passing the value, we are
// passing the reference (i.e address of the variable). swap function can
// now directly access the values and change them
void swap(int *a, int *b)
{
int tmp;
printf("Swap got a = %d, b = %d\n", *a, *b); // Note: we access value of a pointer using * in front of the pointer varaible
tmp = *a;
*a = *b;
*b = tmp;
}
outputs:
bhakta: /tmp$ cc x.c
bhakta: /tmp$ ./a.out
Swap got a = 5, b = 6
post swap x = 6, y = 5