Is it necessary to typecast the void pointer before assigning it to another pointer type?

Question

# include <stdio.h> int main() { float i = 10, *j; void *k; k = &i; j = k; printf("%f", *j); return 0; }

The above gives output 10.000000 in the GCC compiler.

My doubt is, we should write the expression j = k as j = (float *)k, right?

In C all pointers can implicitly be converted to and from void *. That's why using functions like malloc without casting works. — Some programmer dude
– Some programmer dude, Commented Apr 17, 2020 at 4:35

Sourav Ghosh · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-17 04:42:15Z

No, it is not required. As per C11, chapter §6.3.2.3,

A pointer to void may be converted to or from a pointer to any object type. A pointer to any object type may be converted to a pointer to void and back again; the result shall compare equal to the original pointer.

So, in your case,

k = &i; // no cast needed j = k; // again, no cast needed

is functionally same as

j = &i;

No explicit cast is needed here.

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