C Tokens

  • Article

In a C source program, the basic element recognized by the compiler is the "token." A token is source-program text that the compiler does not break down into component elements.

Syntax

  • token:
    keyword

    identifier

    constant

    string-literal

    operator

    punctuator

Note

See the introduction toC Language Syntax Summary for an explanation of the ANSI syntax conventions.

The keywords, identifiers, constants, string literals, and operators described in this section are examples of tokens. Punctuation characters such as brackets ([ ]), braces ({ }), parentheses ( ( ) ), and commas (,) are also tokens.

See Also

Concepts

Elements of C