Why does itoa () change the passed char [] instead of returning char []?

Question

Is there a reason the itoa () function returns void and stores the result in the char [] array passed to it instead of returning char []?

Answer 1

The reason is because the function expects the caller to allocate and provide a buffer. This is very standard for C. If the function returned a new buffer, the caller would need to take care to free it, and this would cause the buffer to be dynamically allocated. By asking the caller to provide a buffer, the function allows you to allocate a buffer with automatic storage or dynamically allocate.

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Answer 2

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Answer 3

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