PRINTF(3POSIX)

🌸 PRINTF(3POSIX) — like, the POSIX Programmer's Manual, bestie 🌸

okay so hi!! you found the printf page in the POSIX Programmer's Manual (yes that's the manual name, it's giving official ✨). Pull up a chair, grab a boba, we're doing this. 💖

🫶 PROLOG 🫶

Real talk first, no cap: this manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. That's the whole vibe of this doc.

⚠️ But heads up, bestie: the Linux implementation of this interface may differ — so go consult the corresponding Linux manual page for the deets on Linux behavior. OR, plot twist, the interface might not even be implemented on Linux at all. 😭 Check before you ship, fr fr.

✨ NAME ✨

printf — print formatted output 💅

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <stdio.h>

int printf(const char *restrict format, ...);

look at that signature. iconic. the restrict is there. the ... is there. we love a variadic king. 👑

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

okay so this is gonna be short and sweet: refer to fprintf(). that's it. that's the whole description. printf is lowkey just the glow-up of fprintf that writes to standard output, and the actual tea is all spilled over on the fprintf page. go read that one, bestie. 🦋

👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

okay legal era, we have to do this part, and every single word of it matters so here we go:

Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group.

In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document — like, it's the main character, it decides. ✨ The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .

🫶 genuinely thank you to the people who report those typos, you're doing the lord's work, periodt.

and that's the whole page!! this was IEEE/The Open Group, 2017 (the PRINTF(3POSIX) of it all), and yes the standard says 2018 in the copyright and 2017 down here in the footer, that's not a typo, that's just how the timeline shook out 💀

stay formatted, stay hydrated, and remember: if the output looks weird, it's probably the format string's fault, not yours. mwah 💋🌸