Variables are explicitly initialized if they are assigned a value in the declaration statement. ... When initializing variables, the initial value is optional depending on the data type of the variable. Generally, all variables should be explicitly initialized in their declaration.

Do variables need to be initialized in C?

In general, there's no need to initialize a variable, with 2 notable exceptions: You're declaring a pointer (and not assigning it immediately) - you should always set these to NULL as good style and defensive programming. If, when you declare the variable, you already know what value is going to be assigned to it.

Can you declare a variable without initializing it?

Declaring a Variable Without Initializing

That means we can change or set the value later on in the program. When the value of the variable will never change, when it stays constant, we use the keyword const. ... We can still assign the value later on.