The cast operator is used to convert an expression of one
type to another type.
Description |
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An expression preceded by a parenthesized type name causes
the expression to be converted to the named type. This operation
is called a cast. The cast does not alter the
type of the expression, only the type of the value. Unless the type
name specifies void
type, the type name must specify a scalar type, and the operand
must have scalar type.
The result of a cast operation is not an lvalue.
Conversions involving pointers (other than assignment to or
from a "pointer to void"
or assignment of a null pointer constant to a pointer) require casts.
A pointer can be cast to an integral type and back again provided
the integral type is at least as wide as an int.
A pointer to any object can safely be converted to a pointer
to char or a
pointer to void,
and back again. If converted to a pointer to char,
it will point to the first (lowest address) byte of the original
object. For example, a pointer to an integer converted to a character
pointer points to the most significant byte of the integer.
A pointer to a function of one type can safely be converted
to a pointer to a function of another type, and back again.
