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Structure

C structures are user-defined data types that group items of different types into a single type using the 'struct' keyword. Structure declaration requires specifying member variables and their data types, while initialization can be done using assignment, initializer lists, or designated initializer lists. The document also provides examples of structure declaration, definition, and member access in C programming.

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9 views10 pages

Structure

C structures are user-defined data types that group items of different types into a single type using the 'struct' keyword. Structure declaration requires specifying member variables and their data types, while initialization can be done using assignment, initializer lists, or designated initializer lists. The document also provides examples of structure declaration, definition, and member access in C programming.

Uploaded by

rajoanatahosin
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© © All Rights Reserved
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C Structures

C Structures
The structure in C is a user-defined data type that can be used to
group items of possibly different types into a single type. The struct
keyword is used to define the structure in the C programming
language. The items in the structure are called its member and they
can be of any valid data type.

2
C Structures

3
C Structure Declaration

We have to declare structure in C before using it in our program. In structure declaration, we


specify its member variables along with their datatype. We can use the struct keyword to declare
the structure in C using the following syntax:

Syntax
struct structure_name {
data_type member_name1;
data_type member_name1;
....
....
};
The above syntax is also called a structure template or structure prototype and no memory is
allocated to the structure in the declaration.
C Structure Definition

To use structure in our program, we have to define its instance. We can do that by
creating variables of the structure type. We can define structure variables using two
methods:

1. Structure Variable Declaration with Structure Template


struct structure_name {
data_type member_name1;
data_type member_name1;
....
....
}variable1, varaible2, ...;
2. Structure Variable Declaration after Structure Template
// structure declared beforehand
struct structure_name variable1, variable2, .......;
Access Structure Members
Structure members cannot be initialized with the declaration. For example, the following C program fails in the
compilation.

struct Point
{
int x = 0; // COMPILER ERROR: cannot initialize members here
int y = 0; // COMPILER ERROR: cannot initialize members here
};
The reason for the above error is simple. When a datatype is declared, no memory is allocated for it. Memory is
allocated only when variables are created.

We can initialize structure members in 3 ways which are as follows:


1.Using Assignment Operator.
2.Using Initializer List.
3.Using Designated Initializer List.
Access Structure Members
1. Initialization using Assignment Operator
struct structure_name str;
str.member1 = value1;
str.member2 = value2;
str.member3 = value3;
.
.
.
2. Initialization using Initializer List
struct structure_name str = { value1, value2, value3 };
In this type of initialization, the values are assigned in sequential order as they are declared in the structure
template.
3. Initialization using Designated Initializer List
Designated Initialization allows structure members to be initialized in any order. This feature has been added in
the C99 standard.

struct structure_name str = { .member1 = value1, .member2 = value2, .member3 = value3 };


The Designated Initialization is only supported in C but not in C++.
C program to illustrate the use of structures
#include <stdio.h>

// declaring structure with name str1


struct str1 {
int i;
char c;
float f;
char s[30];
};

// declaring structure with name str2


struct str2 {
int ii;
char cc;
float ff;
} var; // variable declaration with structure template
C program to illustrate the use of structures
// Driver code
int main()
{
// variable declaration after structure template
// initialization with initializer list and designated
// initializer list
struct str1 var1 = { 1, 'A', 1.00, "GeeksforGeeks" },
var2;
struct str2 var3 = { .ff = 5.00, .ii = 5, .cc = 'a' };

// copying structure using assignment operator


var2 = var1;

printf("Struct 1:\n\ti = %d, c = %c, f = %f, s = %s\n",


var1.i, var1.c, var1.f, var1.s);
printf("Struct 2:\n\ti = %d, c = %c, f = %f, s = %s\n",
var2.i, var2.c, var2.f, var2.s);
printf("Struct 3\n\ti = %d, c = %c, f = %f\n", var3.ii,
var3.cc, var3.ff);
C program to illustrate the use of structures
Output
Struct 1:
i = 1, c = A, f = 1.000000, s = GeeksforGeeks
Struct 2:
i = 1, c = A, f = 1.000000, s = GeeksforGeeks
Struct 3
i = 5, c = a, f = 5.000000

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