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C - Typedef

The C programming language provides the typedef keyword to define new types and assign them aliases. For example, typedef can be used to define BYTE as an alias for unsigned char. Typedef allows uppercase names to remind users that the name is an alias. It can also be used to define new structure types by giving a name to a struct tag. For example, a Book struct can have the typedef name Book. Typedef defines types at compile time while #define creates aliases at preprocessing time, and #define can also define numeric aliases.

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14 views2 pages

C - Typedef

The C programming language provides the typedef keyword to define new types and assign them aliases. For example, typedef can be used to define BYTE as an alias for unsigned char. Typedef allows uppercase names to remind users that the name is an alias. It can also be used to define new structure types by giving a name to a struct tag. For example, a Book struct can have the typedef name Book. Typedef defines types at compile time while #define creates aliases at preprocessing time, and #define can also define numeric aliases.

Uploaded by

Marcelo Luna
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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C - typedef https://www.tutorialspoint.com/cprogramming/c_typedef.

htm

C - typedef

The C programming language provides a keyword called typedef, which you can use to give
a type a new name. Following is an example to define a term BYTE for one-byte numbers −

typedef unsigned char BYTE;

After this type definition, the identifier BYTE can be used as an abbreviation for the type
unsigned char, for example..

BYTE b1, b2;

By convention, uppercase letters are used for these definitions to remind the user that the
type name is really a symbolic abbreviation, but you can use lowercase, as follows −

typedef unsigned char byte;

You can use typedef to give a name to your user defined data types as well. For example,
you can use typedef with structure to define a new data type and then use that data type to
define structure variables directly as follows −

Live Demo
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

typedef struct Books {


char title[50];
char author[50];
char subject[100];
int book_id;
} Book;

int main( ) {

Book book;

strcpy( book.title, "C Programming");


strcpy( book.author, "Nuha Ali");
strcpy( book.subject, "C Programming Tutorial");
book.book_id = 6495407;

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C - typedef https://www.tutorialspoint.com/cprogramming/c_typedef.htm

printf( "Book title : %s\n", book.title);


printf( "Book author : %s\n", book.author);
printf( "Book subject : %s\n", book.subject);
printf( "Book book_id : %d\n", book.book_id);

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Book title : C Programming


Book author : Nuha Ali
Book subject : C Programming Tutorial
Book book_id : 6495407

typedef vs #define
#define is a C-directive which is also used to define the aliases for various data types similar
to typedef but with the following differences −

• typedef is limited to giving symbolic names to types only where as #define can be
used to define alias for values as well, q., you can define 1 as ONE etc.

• typedef interpretation is performed by the compiler whereas #define statements are


processed by the pre-processor.

The following example shows how to use #define in a program −

Live Demo
#include <stdio.h>

#define TRUE 1
#define FALSE 0

int main( ) {
printf( "Value of TRUE : %d\n", TRUE);
printf( "Value of FALSE : %d\n", FALSE);

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −

Value of TRUE : 1
Value of FALSE : 0

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