Convert char to int in C and C

Question

How do I convert a char to an int in C and C++?

Answer 1

In order to read the value as an ascii code, you can write:

char a = 'a'; int ia = (int)a; /* note that the int cast is not necessary -- int ia = a would suffice */

to convert the character '0' -> 0, '1' -> 1, etc, you can write:
 

char a = '4'; int ia = a - '0'; /* check here if ia is bounded by 0 and 9 */

This is due to the reason that a - '0' is equivalent to ((int)a) - ((int)'0'), which means the ascii values of the characters are subtracted from each other. Since 0 comes directly before 1 in the ascii table (and so on until 9), the difference between the two gives the number that the character a represents.