GATE CS 2026 Set 2 Q.60: Pointers, Arrays and Strings

Consider the following ANSI-C program.

#include <stdio.h>
int main(){
    int *ptr, a, b, c;
    a=5; b=11; c=20;
    ptr=&a; *ptr=c; ptr=&c;
    a=*(&b); c=*ptr-a;
    printf("%d",c);
    return(0);
}

The output of this program is ____________. (answer in integer)

Note: Assume that the program compiles and runs successfully.

Your answer

Official answer and solution

Official answer: 9
From: Official GATE 2026 answer key

Solution

Trace the values of a, b, c, and *ptr statement by statement.

Tracing the execution step by step:

Initially: a = 5, b = 11, c = 20.
ptr = &a; *ptr = c; sets a = 20.
ptr = &c; makes ptr point to c (so *ptr is 20).
a = *(&b); sets a = b = 11.
c = *ptr - a; computes c = 20 - 11 = 9.
printf("%d", c); prints 9.

Final answer

The answer is the one in the official GATE answer key. The solution is this site's own explanation.

Source

Paper: GATE 2026 Computer Science and Information Technology - Session 2 (CS2)
Question: 60 of 65
Section: Computer Science and Information Technology

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