diff between (int *)&a and &a

Question

#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a;
int *x;
x = (int *) &a;
//x=&a; above line and this are functioning same, so whats the difference
a = 512;
x[0] = 4;
x[1] = 2;
printf("%d",a);
return 0;
}

Answer 1

In C, `(type) expression` converts the expression to the specified type. For example 10 / 3 is 3 and 10 / (float) 3 is 3.333f.

In this example &a is already of type (int *) so there is nothing for the conversion to do.

Answer 2

if (char *) &a means integer to character conversion right

Answer 3

Integer pointer to character pointer to be precise, but sure.

Answer 4

Can you please explain with an example program