Printing an int in C - c

Question

I am trying to print an int a before and after calling a set function to set the value of a. I am doing this in C. When I compile it I have no errors but when I attempt to run it, I get a segmentation fault.
Here is what I have so far:
#include <stdio.h>
int main(){
int* a;
printf("%d",*a);
set(10);
printf("%d", *a);
return 0;
}
int set(int*a, int val){
*a = val;
return *a;
}

Answer 1

int main(){
int* a;
printf("%d",*a);
What you have there is a pointer to an int rather than an actual int.
And, while that's the correct way to print the int it points to, unfortunately it points to an arbitrary memory location which is why you're crashing.
You are not allowed to dereference arbitrary pointers, they have to point to something valid, such as if you begin your code with:
int main(){
int target_of_a = 42;
int *a = &target_of_a;
printf ("%d", *a);
In addition, you probably should be calling set with something like:
set (a, 10);
something the compiler would generally warn you about though, in this case, it would probably just say it didn't know about set at the time you called it. If it had known, it could have told you about the parameter mismatch.
One way for you to acheive that is to ensure you have a prototype defined for the function before you call it:
int set(int*,int);
or just move the function to before main. With all those changes (and a bit of a general tidy up), you'd end up with:
#include <stdio.h>
int set (int *a, int val) {
*a = val;
return *a;
}
int main (void) {
int target_of_a = 42;
int *a = &target_of_a;
printf ("%d\n", *a);
set (a, 10);
printf ("%d\n", *a);
return 0;
}
The wisdom of returning the variable you're changing is also debatable but there are situations where that might be useful (such as if you want to us it immediately without another statement: printf ("%d\n", set (a, 10)); for example) so I've left that as is.
I should also mention that it's a little unusual to artificially create a pointer variable in a situation like this.
Now it may be that your code is just a simplification of some more complex scenario where you already have a pointer but, if not, the usual way to do this would be to just have the int itself and just use & to create one on the fly:
#include <stdio.h>
int set (int *a, int val) {
*a = val;
return *a;
}
int main (void) {
int a = 42;
printf ("%d\n", a);
set (&a, 10);
printf ("%d\n", a);
return 0;
}

Answer 2

This code should work:
#include <stdio.h>
#define FIRST_VALUE 20
#define SECOND_VALUE 10
int main(){
int a = FIRST_VALUE; /* Declare a as an int variable. */
printf("Before set: a = %d\n",a); /* Print the first value. */
set(&a, SECOND_VALUE); /* Pass the ADDRESS of a to set. */
printf("After set: a = %d\n", a); /* Print the new value of a. */
return 0;
}
int set(int*a, int val){
*a = val;
return *a;
}
Note that the variable a in main() is not the same as the variable a in set(); you have to pass a pointer to a to set() in order for set() to operate on it.

Answer 3

Try this:
And remember, all functions before the main() (if you're using only one file)
Take a read on value and reference params.
#include <stdio.h>
int set(int* a, int val){
*a = val;
}
int main(){
int a = 2;
printf("%d\n", a);
set(&a, 10);
printf("%d\n", a);
return 0;
}