Elements of C

This section describes the elements of the C programming language, including the names, numbers, and characters used to construct a C program. The ANSI C syntax labels these components tokens.

This section explains how to define tokens and how the compiler evaluates them.

The following topics are discussed:

• Tokens

• Comments

• Keywords

• Identifiers

• Constants

• String literals

• Punctuation and special characters

The section also includes reference tables for Trigraphs, Limits on Floating-Point Constants, C and C++ Integer Limits, and Escape Sequences.

Operators (as both single characters and character combinations) are symbols that specify how values are to be manipulated. Each symbol is interpreted as a single unit, called a token. For more information, see Operators.

See also

C Language Reference