& Address of operator in C programming.

Address operator &: This address is represented by the "&" operator. This is called the ampersand symbol. & operator is also used as unary operator. The & address operator or pointer is used to retrieve the memory address of a variable in computer’s memory. Once you define a pointer variable, you must initialize the pointer with a valid memory address. The ampersand (&) operator is used to get the memory address of the variable.
When we use the ampersand (&) sign before the variable name and it gives the address of the variable. The address operator is used in C to give the memory address of a variable. Addresses of a variable returned by the address operator(&) are called pointers because it points to a memory location. This operator returns an integer value that is the address of its operand in memory. We can use the address operator (&) with any type of variables, arrays, strings, functions and even pointers. The & Operator can be useful in situations where we need to pass the memory address of a variable to a function, or when we want to manipulate the variable directly in memory. Using the & address operator, programmer can modify and access the value of a variable at its memory location, providing greater flexibility and control in your programming tasks.

Why Address Operator used in C?
The address operator is a unary operator that can be used to get the memory address of any variable in your C program. The & operator itself must precede the variable name, without any intervening spaces. We can use the & address operator to pass the address of a variable as an argument to a function call or to assign the address of a variable to a pointer variable. You can pass addresses to C programs and operate on them like any standard C pointer.