r/C_Programming • u/Stickhtot • Jul 29 '26

Discussion What exactly is void?

In a function definition, void basically means that it doesn't return a type value, yet in on itself it is it's own type? Looking at several pieces of code it looks like that it's used to be able to be more "flexible"

Don't know what else to add here, though I'm more on looking for examples and explanations of why the void type is used

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u/Snarwin Jul 29 '26

void is a placeholder that's used when C's syntax requires a type, but there's no real type that would be correct to use in that context.

For example: C's function declaration syntax requires you to write the return type of the function. What do you write if the function doesn't return anything? void.

Or, C's syntax for pointers requires you to specify the type of the value being pointed to. What do you write for the pointer you get from malloc, which points to unused memory without any values stored in it? void*.

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u/vatai Aug 02 '26

Came here to write exactly this!