Is 0 an Octal Literal in C ?

Is Zero an Octal Literal in C ?

In programming, integer literals represent numeric values in code. While zero (0) appears to be a standard numeric value, its interpretation in different number systems can vary.

Decimal vs. Octal Literals

Decimal literals are written without a prefix and represent base-10 numbers, while octal literals are written with a leading 0 (zero) and represent base-8 numbers.

Does C Treat 0 as an Octal Literal?

According to the C Standard (2.14.2), 0 is an octal literal. The syntax for integer literals in C is defined as follows:

octal-literal:
    0
    octal-literal octal-digit

This indicates that 0 itself is considered an octal literal.

Conclusion

Therefore, the answer to the question is yes, 0 is an octal literal in C . However, it's important to note that in modern C code, octal literals (including 0) are rarely used. This is primarily because using octal literals can lead to confusion and potential errors due to their non-intuitive representation of base-8 numbers.

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