description	Learn more about: Initialization
title	Initialization
ms.date	11/04/2016
helpviewer_keywords	initializers, variable types [C], initializing initializing variables initializers
ms.assetid	f009ee12-3df6-4260-b7e4-a6149ebb95aa

Initialization

An "initializer" is a value or a sequence of values to be assigned to the variable being declared. You can set a variable to an initial value by applying an initializer to the declarator in the variable declaration. The value or values of the initializer are assigned to the variable.

The following sections describe how to initialize variables of scalar, aggregate, and string types. "Scalar types" include all the arithmetic types, plus pointers. "Aggregate types" include arrays, structures, and unions.

See also

Declarations and Types