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Unions in C

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48 views1 page

Unions in C

Uploaded by

rpramanick457
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Unions in C

A union is a special data type that allows different data types to be stored in the same memory location. You
can define a union with multiple members, but only one member can contain a value at any given time. This
means that at any point, a union can store data for only one of its members.

Here's an example of defining and using a union in C:


union Data {
int integer;
float decimal;
char str[20];
};

int main() {
union Data data;
data.integer = 10;
printf("Data integer: %d\n", data.integer);

data.decimal = 220.5;
printf("Data decimal: %.2f\n", data.decimal);

strcpy(data.str, "C Programming");


printf("Data str: %s\n", data.str);

return 0;
}
In this example, the data union can hold an integer, a float, or a string, but only one at a time. When you assign
a new value to a different member, it overwrites the previous data.

Key Differences

 Memory Allocation: Structures allocate separate memory for each member, while unions share the same
memory location for all members, which is the size of the largest member.
 Accessing Members: In structures, all members can be accessed at any time, and each member retains its
value. In unions, only one member can be accessed at a time, and changing the value of one member affects
the others due to the shared memory.
 Size: The size of a structure is the sum of the sizes of all its members. The size of a union is the size of its
largest member.
 Initialization: Structures allow for the initialization of multiple members at once. Unions only allow for the
initialization of the first member.
Practical Considerations

 Use structures when you need to work with all the data members at once and maintain their individual values.
 Use unions when you need to save memory and only one member is used at a time, such as in a type-
punning scenario where the same piece of memory is interpreted in different ways based on the context.

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