An Address is Printed Instead of the Expected Value - c

Question

I am trying to write a simple program. I am a begineer and i am not getting a value to total. When i am trying to print . I am getting a address as output . Can anyone explain me what is the mistake and correct my program .
#include<stdio.h>
void main()
{
int first,second,total;
printf("enter the value for the first");
scanf("%d",&first);
printf("enter the value for the second");
scanf("%d",&second);
total=power(first,second);
printf("The value for power is %d",power);
}
int power(int doom1,int doom2)
{
int temp=doom1;
int i;
for(i=1;i<=doom2;i++)
{
temp=temp*doom1;
}
return temp;
}

Answer 1

You are printing the wrong variable:
total=power(first,second); //here you are getting return value in variable total
printf("The value for power is %d",power); // power is the function name not variable
Replace this line with:
printf("The value for power is %d",total); // you need to print `total`
Also you have to declare your function prototype before main():
int power(int ,int);
and you should use int main():
int main()
{
// your code
return 0;
}

Answer 2

In addition to passing total to printf instead of power, as you are just starting, make a point to always give your variables an initial value (initialize them). This prevents an attempt to read from uninitialized space which is the bane of new C programmers. (it will save you a lot of headaches). Attempting to read from an uninitialized variable is Undefined Behavior. That can result in anything from slipping by unnoticed, to causing your program to crash. It is to be avoided.
Also, as I explained in the comment, in C, the function main() is type int and it returns a value to its caller (usually the shell, or another program). When using main without arguments, the proper form is:
int main (void)
When accepting arguments, the proper form is:
int main (int argc, char **argv)
In either case, it should return a positive value upon completion. A return 0; at the end is all that is required. exit (0); is another function you can use to return a value. You will also see the form of main with arguments written as:
int main (int argc, char *argv[])
The first and second forms are the practical equivalents of each other, the first recognizing that an array passed to a function in C will decay to a pointer. But for now, just understand that they are equivalent.
You also have an error in your my_power calculation. int temp = doom1; should be int temp = 1; Your calculation was returning a value twice the actual product.
Your style of syntax is up to you, but I would suggest that expanding your syntax a little by using discretionary spaces and lines will make your code much more readable and make finding errors a bit easier. Here is an example regarding all of these points:
#include <stdio.h>
int my_power (int doom1, int doom2);
int main (void)
{
int first = 0; /* Always initialize your variable to prevent */
int second = 0; /* an inadvertant read from an unitialized */
int total = 0; /* value which is Undefined Behavior (bad). */
printf ("\n enter the value for the first : ");
scanf ("%d",&first);
printf (" enter the value for the second: ");
scanf ("%d",&second);
total = my_power (first,second);
printf ("\n The value for my_power is: %d\n\n", total);
return 0;
}
int my_power (int doom1, int doom2)
{
int temp = 1;
int i = 0;
for (i = 1; i <= doom2; i++)
temp = doom1 * temp;
return temp;
}
Output
$ ./bin/simple_function
enter the value for the first : 2
enter the value for the second: 7
The value for my_power is: 128

Answer 3

you are trying to print "power" without parameter
printf("The value for power is %d",power);
you should do
printf("The value for power is %d",total);
or
printf("The value for power is %d",power(first,second));