{"id":11697,"date":"2023-01-16T11:38:59","date_gmt":"2023-01-16T11:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prepbytes.com\/blog\/?p=11697"},"modified":"2023-04-13T11:29:33","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T11:29:33","slug":"define-structure-in-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prepbytes.com\/blog\/define-structure-in-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Define Structure in C"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A structure in C enables programmers to group different types of variables together under a single name. Structure in C language is a very powerful feature that allows for the creation of more complex data structures. In this article, we will discuss the structure definition in C, how to declare a structure in C, usage of structure in C, and some examples, and at the end, we will also see what is a nested structure in C. So, without any further delay, let’s move on to our next section.<\/p>\n

What is Structure in C?<\/h2>\n

In C language, a user-defined data type called structure allows us to store a variety of distinct data types. The word "member" refers to each component of a structure. Because they can contain different types of information, structures can emulate the usage of classes and templates.<\/p>\n

The structure is specified using the struct keyword. Let’s look at the syntax to define structure in C language.<\/p>\n

struct structure_name   \n{  \n    data_type member1;  \n    data_type member2;  \n    .  \n    .  \n    data_type memeberN;  \n};  <\/code><\/pre>\n
Let’s look at an example of how to define structure in C example for an entity employee.<\/p>\n
struct employee  \n{   int id;  \n    char name[20];  \n    float salary;  \n};<\/code><\/pre>\n
The memory allocation for the structure employee defined in the preceding example is displayed in the next image.<\/p>\n
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In this case, a struct is a keyword; the employee is the structure’s name; and id, name, and salary are its members or fields. Let’s interpret it using the following diagram:<\/p>\n
Define structure in C<\/h3>\n
Structure variables must first be defined before being created. Structures may be defined using the struct keyword.<\/p>\n
Syntax:-<\/strong><\/p>\n
struct name_of_the_structure \n{\n    data_type member1;\n    data_type member2;\n    ...\n    data_type memberN;\n};<\/code><\/pre>\n
Example of C Structures<\/strong><\/p>\n
struct bill\n{\n   float amount;\n   int id;\n   char address[100];\n};<\/code><\/pre>\n
How to Declare structure variable?<\/h3>\n
To make it simple to access a structure member, we can create a variable for the structure. Structure variables can be declared in one of two ways:<\/p>\n
    \n
  1. By using the struct keyword in the main() method.<\/li>\n
  2. By declaring a variable when the structure is defined.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    1st way:<\/strong>
    \nLet’s look at an example of using the struct keyword to define structure variable. Declaring it within the main function is appropriate.<\/p>\n
    struct employee  \n{   int id;  \n    char name[50];  \n    float salary;  \n};  <\/code><\/pre>\n
    Put the provided code within the main() method at this point.<\/p>\n
    struct employee e1, e2;  <\/code><\/pre>\n
    The values kept in the structure can be accessed using the variables e1 and e2. Here, e1 and e2 may be handled similarly to Java and C++ objects.<\/p>\n
    2nd way:<\/strong>
    \nLet’s see a different approach to declaring variables as the structure is being defined.<\/p>\n
    struct employee  \n{   int id;  \n    char name[50];  \n    float salary;  \n}e1,e2;  <\/code><\/pre>\n
    Which strategy is best?<\/strong>
    \nUse the first method if some variables are not fixed. You have the freedom to declare the structure variable several times.
    \nUse the second strategy if the number of variables is fixed. Declaring a variable in the main() method saves you code.<\/p>\n
    Accessing members of the structure<\/h3>\n
    There are two ways to access structure members:<\/p>\n
      \n
    1. By . (member or dot operator)<\/li>\n
    2. By -> (structure pointer operator)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      Let’s look at the code for the (member) operator to access the id member of the p1 variable.
      \np1.id  <\/p>\n
      Why use structure?<\/h2>\n
      There are conditions where we need to keep more than one attribute for an entity in the C language. An entity need not include all the information of a single type. It is capable of having various properties from various data types. As an illustration, a student object may have a name (string), roll number (int), and marks (float). We have the following methods for storing this sort of student-related information:<\/p>\n
        \n
      • Construct individual arrays for storing names, roll numbers, and marks.<\/li>\n
      • Use a special data structure to store the collection of different data types.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
        C Structure example<\/h2>\n
        Let’s see a simple structure in C example.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t