5/12/24, 9:54 PM Data Types in C - GeeksforGeeks

Data Types in C
Last Updated : 28 Sep, 2023

Each variable in C has an associated data type. It specifies the type of data that the variable can
store like integer, character, floating, double, etc. Each data type requires different amounts of
memory and has some specific operations which can be performed over it. The data type is a
collection of data with values having fixed values, meaning as well as its characteristics.

The data types in C can be classified as follows:

Types Description

Primitive Data Primitive data types are the most basic data types that are used for
Types representing simple values such as integers, float, characters, etc.

User Defined
The user-defined data types are defined by the user himself.
Data Types

The data types that are derived from the primitive or built-in datatypes are
Derived Types
referred to as Derived Data Types.

Different data types also have different ranges up to which they can store numbers. These ranges
may vary from compiler to compiler. Below is a list of ranges along with the memory

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requirement and format specifiers on the 32-bit GCC compiler.

Data Type Size Range Format

(bytes) Specifier

short int 2 -32,768 to 32,767 %hd

unsigned short int 2 0 to 65,535 %hu

unsigned int 4 0 to 4,294,967,295 %u

-2,147,483,648 to
int 4 %d
2,147,483,647

-2,147,483,648 to
long int 4 %ld
2,147,483,647

unsigned long int 4 0 to 4,294,967,295 %lu

long long int 8 -(2^63) to (2^63)-1 %lld

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Data Type Size Range Format

(bytes) Specifier

unsigned long long 0 to

8 %llu
int 18,446,744,073,709,551,615

signed char 1 -128 to 127 %c

unsigned char 1 0 to 255 %c

float 4 %f
1.2E-38 to 3.4E+38

double 8 %lf
1.7E-308 to 1.7E+308

long double 16 %Lf

3.4E-4932 to 1.1E+4932

Note: The long, short, signed and unsigned are datatype modifier that can be used with
some primitive data types to change the size or length of the datatype.

The following are some main primitive data types in C:

Integer Data Type

The integer datatype in C is used to store the integer numbers(any number including positive,
negative and zero without decimal part). Octal values, hexadecimal values, and decimal values
can be stored in int data type in C.

Range: -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

Size: 4 bytes
Format Specifier: %d

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Syntax of Integer

We use int keyword to declare the integer variable:

int var_name;

The integer data type can also be used as

1. unsigned int: Unsigned int data type in C is used to store the data values from zero to
positive numbers but it can’t store negative values like signed int.
2. short int: It is lesser in size than the int by 2 bytes so can only store values from -32,768 to
32,767.
3. long int: Larger version of the int datatype so can store values greater than int.
4. unsigned short int: Similar in relationship with short int as unsigned int with int.

Note: The size of an integer data type is compiler-dependent. We can use sizeof
operator to check the actual size of any data type.

Example of int

// C program to print Integer data types.

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
// Integer value with positive data.
int a = 9;

// integer value with negative data.

int b = -9;

// U or u is Used for Unsigned int in C.

int c = 89U;

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// L or l is used for long int in C.

long int d = 99998L;

printf("Integer value with positive data: %d\n", a);

printf("Integer value with negative data: %d\n", b);
printf("Integer value with an unsigned int data: %u\n",
c);
printf("Integer value with an long int data: %ld", d);

return 0;
}

Output

Integer value with positive data: 9

Integer value with negative data: -9
Integer value with an unsigned int data: 89
Integer value with an long int data: 99998

Character Data Type

Character data type allows its variable to store only a single character. The size of the character
is 1 byte. It is the most basic data type in C. It stores a single character and requires a single byte
of memory in almost all compilers.

Range: (-128 to 127) or (0 to 255)

Size: 1 byte
Format Specifier: %c

Syntax of char

The char keyword is used to declare the variable of character type:

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char var_name;

Example of char

// C program to print Integer data types.

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
char a = 'a';
char c;

printf("Value of a: %c\n", a);

a++;
printf("Value of a after increment is: %c\n", a);

// c is assigned ASCII values

// which corresponds to the
// character 'c'
// a-->97 b-->98 c-->99
// here c will be printed
c = 99;

printf("Value of c: %c", c);

return 0;
}

Output

Value of a: a
Value of a after increment is: b

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Value of c: c

Float Data Type

In C programming float data type is used to store floating-point values. Float in C is used to store
decimal and exponential values. It is used to store decimal numbers (numbers with floating point
values) with single precision.

Range: 1.2E-38 to 3.4E+38

Size: 4 bytes
Format Specifier: %f

Syntax of float

The float keyword is used to declare the variable as a floating point:

float var_name;

Example of Float

// C Program to demonstrate use

// of Floating types
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
float a = 9.0f;
float b = 2.5f;

// 2x10^-4
float c = 2E-4f;
printf("%f\n", a);
printf("%f\n", b);
printf("%f", c);

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return 0;
}

Output

9.000000
2.500000
0.000200

Double Data Type

A Double data type in C is used to store decimal numbers (numbers with floating point values)
with double precision. It is used to define numeric values which hold numbers with decimal
values in C.

The double data type is basically a precision sort of data type that is capable of holding 64 bits of
decimal numbers or floating points. Since double has more precision as compared to that float
then it is much more obvious that it occupies twice the memory occupied by the floating-point
type. It can easily accommodate about 16 to 17 digits after or before a decimal point.

Range: 1.7E-308 to 1.7E+308

Size: 8 bytes
Format Specifier: %lf

Syntax of Double

The variable can be declared as double precision floating point using the double keyword:

double var_name;

Example of Double

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// C Program to demonstrate
// use of double data type
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
double a = 123123123.00;
double b = 12.293123;
double c = 2312312312.123123;

printf("%lf\n", a);

printf("%lf\n", b);

printf("%lf", c);

return 0;
}

Output

123123123.000000
12.293123
2312312312.123123

Void Data Type

The void data type in C is used to specify that no value is present. It does not provide a result
value to its caller. It has no values and no operations. It is used to represent nothing. Void is used
in multiple ways as function return type, function arguments as void, and pointers to void.

Syntax:

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// function return type void

void exit(int check);
// Function without any parameter can accept void.
int print(void);
// memory allocation function which
// returns a pointer to void.
void *malloc (size_t size);

Example of Void

// C program to demonstrate
// use of void pointers
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
int val = 30;
void* ptr = &val;
printf("%d", *(int*)ptr);
return 0;
}

Output

30

Size of Data Types in C

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The size of the data types in C is dependent on the size of the architecture, so we cannot define
the universal size of the data types. For that, the C language provides the sizeof() operator to
check the size of the data types.

Example

// C Program to print size of

// different data type in C
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
int size_of_int = sizeof(int);
int size_of_char = sizeof(char);
int size_of_float = sizeof(float);
int size_of_double = sizeof(double);

printf("The size of int data type : %d\n", size_of_int);

printf("The size of char data type : %d\n",
size_of_char);
printf("The size of float data type : %d\n",
size_of_float);
printf("The size of double data type : %d",
size_of_double);

return 0;
}

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