Who does the return value in the C language get sent to?

In C language, the return keyword is used to send a value back from a function to the place where the function was called. The returned value can be of any data type, including basic data types like integers and floats, as well as custom data types like structures and pointers.

When a function is called, the return value of the function will be assigned to a variable or expression in the calling function. For example, in the code below, the function add() returns the sum of two integers and then assigns the return value to the variable result:

#include <stdio.h>

int add(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
}

int main() {
    int result = add(3, 5);
    printf("Result: %d\n", result);  // 输出：Result: 8
    return 0;
}

In the code above, the function add(3, 5) is called, which returns a value of 8 and assigns it to the variable result. The printf() function then uses the value of result for output.

It is worth noting that if a function’s return type is void, the function does not return a value. In this case, the function does not need to use a return statement. For example, in the following code snippet, the function printHello() does not return a value.

#include <stdio.h>

void printHello() {
    printf("Hello, world!\n");
}

int main() {
    printHello();  // 输出：Hello, world!
    return 0;
}

In the code above, the function printHello() does not have a return value, so there is no need to use the return statement.