Formatted input in C programming language is the process of reading data from an input stream and storing it in variables according to a
specified format. It allows the programmer to control the input format and convert the input data into the appropriate data type for
further processing.

The formatted input functions in C use a format string to specify the input format. The format string is a series of conversion
specifications that correspond to the data type and the order in which they appear in the input stream. The conversion specifications
are represented by special format specifiers that start with the percentage sign (%). The most commonly used format specifiers are:

• %d: read an integer in decimal format
• %f: read a floating-point number
• %c: read a single character
• %s: read a string
• %ld: read a long integer in decimal format
• %lf: read a double-precision floating-point number

The basic syntax for reading formatted input in C is:
scanf("format string", &variable1, &variable2, ...);

In this syntax, the format string specifies the input format, and the variables are the addresses of the variables where the input values will
be stored. For example, the following code reads an integer and a floating-point number from the standard input:

int i;
float f;
scanf("%d %f", &i, &f);


This code uses the %d and %f format specifiers to read an integer and a floating-point number, respectively, from the standard input. The values are
stored in the variables i and f, respectively.

It is important to note that formatted input functions can be vulnerable to buffer overflow attacks if the input data is not properly validated. The
programmer should always validate the input data and limit the number of characters that can be read to prevent buffer overflow attacks.

In summary, formatted input in C is a powerful feature that allows the programmer to control the input format and convert the input data into the
appropriate data type for further processing. It is important to use formatted input functions carefully to avoid security vulnerabilities.