3 plus symbols between two variables (like a+++b) in C [duplicate]

Question

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
    int a=8,b=9,c;
    c=a+++b;
    printf("%d%d%d\n",a,b,c);
    return 0;
}

The program above outputs a=9 b=9 and c=17. In a+++b why is the compiler takes a++ and then adds with b. Why is it not taking a + and ++b? Is there a specific name for this a+++b. Please help me to understand.

Answer 1

I like the explanation from Expert C Programming:

The ANSI standard specifies a convention that has come to be known as the maximal munch strategy. Maximal munch says that if there's more than one possibility for the next token, the compiler will prefer to bite off the one involving the longest sequence of characters. So the example will be parsed

c = a++ + b;