C Tutorial – structures, unions, typedef

In the C language structures are used to group together different types of variables under the same name. For example you could create a structure “telephone”: which is made up of a string (that is used to hold the name of the person) and an integer (that is used to hold the telephone number).
Take a look at the example:


	struct telephone
	{
		char *name;
		int number;
	};

Note: the ; behind the last curly bracket.

With the declaration of the structure you have created a new type, called telephone. Before you can use the type telephone you have to create a variable of the type telephone. Take a look at the following example:


	#include<stdio.h>

	struct telephone
	{
		char *name;
		int number;
	};

	int main()
	{
		struct telephone index;

		return 0;
	}

Note: index is now a variable of the type telephone.

To access the members of the structure telephone, you must use a dot between the structure name and the variable name(variables:name or number.) Take a look at the next example:


	#include<stdio.h>

	struct telephone
	{
		char *name;
		int number;
	};

	int main()
	{
		struct telephone index;

		index.name = "Jane Doe";
		index.number = 12345;
		printf("Name: %s\n", index.name);
		printf("Telephone number: %d\n", index.number);

		return 0;
	}

Type definitions and structures

Type definitions make it possible to create your own variable types. In the following example we will create a type definition called “intpointer” (a pointer to an integer):


	#include<stdio.h>

	typedef int *int_ptr;

	int main()
	{
		int_ptr myvar;
		return 0;
	}

It is also possible to use type definitions with structures. The name of the type definition of a structure is usually in uppercase letters. Take a look at the example:


	#include<stdio.h>

	typedef struct telephone
	{
		char *name;
		int number;
	}TELEPHONE;

	int main()
	{
		TELEPHONE index;

		index.name = "Jane Doe";
		index.number = 12345;
		printf("Name: %s\n", index.name);
		printf("Telephone number: %d\n", index.number);

		return 0;
	}

Note: The word struct is not needed before TELEPHONE index;

Pointer to structures

If you want a pointer to a structure you have to use the -> (infix operator) instead of a dot.
Take a look at the following example:


	#include<stdio.h>

	typedef struct telephone
	{
		char *name;
		int number;
	}TELEPHONE;

	int main()
	{
		TELEPHONE index;
		TELEPHONE *ptr_myindex;

		ptr_myindex = &index;

		ptr_myindex->name = "Jane Doe";
		ptr_myindex->number = 12345;
		printf("Name: %s\n", ptr_myindex->name);
		printf("Telephone number: %d\n", ptr_myindex->number);

		return 0;
	}

Note: The -> (infix operator) is also used in the printf statement.

Unions

A union is like a structure in which all members are stored at the same address. Members of a union can only be accessed one at a time. The union data type was invented to prevent memory fragmentation. The union data type prevents fragmentation by creating a standard size for certain data. Just like with structures, the members of unions can be accessed with the . and -> operators. Take a look at the example:


	#include<stdio.h>

	typedef union myunion
	{
		double PI;
		int B;
	}MYUNION;

	int main()
	{
		MYUNION numbers;
		numbers.PI = 3.14;
		numbers.B = 50;

	return 0;
	}

That’s all for this tutorial.

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There are currently 73 responses to “C Tutorial – structures, unions, typedef”

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  1. Ali on July 14th, 2013:

    what is difference when we define struct inside main function and outside main function.

  2. subramani on July 18th, 2013:

    Thanks and its very useful .
    I am beginner of the programming and understood myself is very easy..

  3. nisha on August 11th, 2013:

    good job…its easy to understand .thanks

  4. sabs on August 21st, 2013:

    Really very good…
    Content presentation is good… 🙂 keep it up.

    put some real example too.

    thanks

  5. Rahul kumar on August 28th, 2013:

    This is very nice to learned c language….

  6. harshali dave on August 28th, 2013:

    gud one..
    nice explanation….
    nd dhe backgrond colour makes the text readable..
    nicely designed.. 🙂

  7. Sam on September 14th, 2013:

    What is the actual mean of union? And for what purpuse its used by c?

  8. sathya on September 14th, 2013:

    simply superb

  9. sathish on September 17th, 2013:

    very good

  10. shubham on October 2nd, 2013:

    really very gud for read

  11. anjna on October 24th, 2013:

    really helpful site …..:)

  12. Tom on October 29th, 2013:

    Very helpful. Thanks!

  13. Neeraj Agrahari on October 30th, 2013:

    Thanks a lot. A beginner like me can easily understand what is the structure… thanks thanks thanks.

  14. bhaart on November 30th, 2013:

    Well done , its simple and easy to understand.
    thanks a lot !!

  15. Manikandan on December 5th, 2013:

    super…..example

  16. harshit on December 9th, 2013:

    nice solutions

  17. KIRUTHIKA on December 16th, 2013:

    good!!!!!! need much information

  18. swe on December 17th, 2013:

    Thnx a Lot..it cvrs almost most needed topics

  19. ALFA on January 6th, 2014:

    It’s so useful for me, Thnx a lot

  20. sil on January 27th, 2014:

    Nice tutorial… 🙂 please keep posting more of such stuff….really easy to understand and revise 🙂

  21. guna on March 19th, 2014:

    #include

    typedef struct telephone
    {
    char *name;
    int number;
    }TELEPHONE;

    int main()
    {
    TELEPHONE index;
    TELEPHONE *ptr_myindex;

    ptr_myindex = &index;

    ptr_myindex->name = “Jane Doe”;
    ptr_myindex->number = 12345;
    printf(“Name: %s\n”, ptr_myindex->name);
    printf(“Telephone number: %d\n”, ptr_myindex->number);

    return 0;
    }
    here y i dont use ptr_myindex as integer type .because it only stores address of the variable .y dont i use like this:-

    #include

    typedef struct telephone
    {
    char *name;
    int number;
    }TELEPHONE;

    int main()
    {
    TELEPHONE index;
    int *ptr_myindex;

    ptr_myindex = &index;

    ptr_myindex->name = “Jane Doe”;
    ptr_myindex->number = 12345;
    printf(“Name: %s\n”, ptr_myindex->name);
    printf(“Telephone number: %d\n”, ptr_myindex->number);

    return 0;
    }

  22. CHITTI on April 3rd, 2014:

    how to get age using structures by taking two inputs(present date, date of birth)?

  23. Quang on May 7th, 2014:

    Great work! Thanks