C header files include some predefined functions. For example, printf() and scanf() functions are defined in the stdio.h header file.
Each header files in C contains different predefined functions to make programs simple to understand.
When a header file is included two times in a C program, the second one gets ignored. In actual, the #, called the include, preceding a header file ensures that it is included only once during the compilation process.
Example 1
Following is the C program for computing an average of three numbers −
#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdio.h> //header file included twice ,ignored by compiler
main(){
int a,b,c,d;
float avg;
printf("Enter values for a,b,c:");
scanf("%d%d%d",&a,&b,&c);
d=a+b+c;
avg=d/3;
printf("Average avg=%f",avg);
}Output
When the above program is executed, it produces the following result −
Enter values for a,b,c:3 3 3 Average avg=3.000000
Example 2
Consider another C program for header files −
#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
//header file included twice ,ignored by compiler
main(){
int a,b,c;
printf("Enter values for a,b:");
scanf("%d%d",&a,&b);
c=a+b;
printf("sum=%d",c);
}Output
When the above program is executed, it produces the following result −
Enter values for a,b:2 4 sum=6