Header Files

A header file is a file containing C declarations and macro definitions to be shared between several source files.

Header can be the system header file or it can be created by user.

Syntax for System Header File :

#include <file>

Example :

    #include <stdio.h>

Explanation :

It searches for a file named ‘stdio.h’ in a standard list of system directories.

Syntax for User defined header file :

#include "file"

Explanation :

It searches for a file named 'file' in the directory containing the current file.

Example :

Create a header file in demoheader.h, that contains add() function

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

Main program in demo.c

    #include<stdio.h>
    #include"demoheader.h"

    void main()
    {
    int num1 = 20, num2 = 30, num3;
    num3 = add(num1, num2);
    printf("Addition of Two numbers : %d", num3);
    }

Output :

Addition of Two numbers : 50

Explanation :

The compiler will see the same token stream as it would, if demo.c read.

    #include<stdio.h>
    int add(int a,int b)
    {
    return(a+b);
    }
    void main()
    {
    int num1 = 20, num2 = 30, num3;
    num3 = add(num1, num2);
    printf("Addition of Two numbers : %d", num3);
    }

NOTE :

• A header file is a file with extension .h
• To use header file in the program by including it with the C preprocessing directive #include