A language feature worth understanding

15-minute session: read for 3 minutes, trace for 3, experiment for 7, and complete the check for 2. Spend longer whenever you need.

Use the language note below to explain this example’s state changes. Identify what is copied, what is shared, what can fail, and what is released. Only some of those questions apply to this particular program: say which ones. Make one deliberate change, predict the effect, and compare it with the actual result. A familiar-looking operator in another language may obey a different rule.

C begins at main. stdio.h declares output functions; puts adds a newline. Semicolons terminate statements. An integer and a pointer are different kinds of value.

address points to the live local variable completed; *address updates that variable. Never return a pointer to an expired local or use an arbitrary numeric address.

#include <stdio.h>
#include <assert.h>

int main(void) {
    int completed = 2;
    int *address = &completed;
    *address += 1;
    printf("%d\n", completed);
    return 0;
}

Expected result: 3

Practice and evidence

Keep three notes: your prediction, the actual result, and why they match or differ. The completion check grades understanding; the practice task builds skill.

Language reference