atoi() in C – Syntax, Use and Example

Write a C program to input string representation of integer and convert string to int data type. C program to convert string to integer using atoi() library function.

In programming it is often required to convert string representation of integer to int type. In this post I will explain how to convert string to integer using pre-defined atoi() library function.

atoi() library function

C programming supports a pre-defined library function atoi() to handle string to integer conversion. The function is defined in stdlib.h header file.

Syntax of atoi() function

int atoi(const char * str);

• It accepts a pointer to constant character str. Which is string representation of integer.
• It return an integer. If str is valid integer string then returns that number as int type otherwise returns 0.

Note: atoi() function behaviour is undefined if converted integer underflows or overflows integer range. Use more robust and reliable strtol() function to convert string to integer.

Example program to use atoi() function

/**
 * C program to convert string to integer using atoi() library function.
 */

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>     // Used for atoi()

int main()
{
    char number[30];
    int  num;


    /* Input string representation of integer from user. */
    printf("Enter any integer: ");
    fgets(number, 30, stdin);


    /* Convert string representation of number to integer */
    num = atoi(number);


    /* Print converted integer */
    printf("Converted integer = %d\n", num);


    return 0;
}

Enter any integer: a
Converted integer = 0

Enter any integer: 12
Converted integer = 12

Enter any integer: 1.5
Converted integer = 1

Enter any integer: 1111111111111
Converted integer = -1285418553

Enter any integer: -99999999999999999
Converted integer = -1569325055

Happy coding 😉