Structure in C Programming Language

Structure in C Programming Language: In C programming, a structure is a user-defined data type that allows the combination of different data types (int, float, char, etc.) under a single entity. It is particularly useful when dealing with data that requires grouping, such as representing information about a person (name, age, address) or an item in a database (product ID, price, and description). Unlike arrays, which store similar data types, structures allow the storage of varied data types in one composite format.

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What is Structure in C Programming Language

Structures in C provide a powerful way to group variables of different data types together, enabling you to model real-world data more effectively. By understanding how to define, access, and manipulate structures, you’ll be better equipped to handle more complex data in your C programs.

It is a collections of hetrogenous types of data.

It is keyword in c programming language to create structure i.e., struct keyword.

It is a user defined datatype.

Example:

struct student{

int Roll;

char name[20];

}

The above code is only called declaration or blueprint or template.

Here, No any momory will be allocated.

int main(){

struct student s1, s2;

}

The above code contain struct student is a data type or user defined data type and s1 & s2 is a veriables.

If we need to access a perticular number of a group we need to specify the group name.

Note: Membership Operator: ‘ . ‘

Example of Structure in C Programming Language

struct student {

int Roll;

char name[20];

}

int main(){

struct student s1, s2;

s1.Roll = 5;

s2.Roll = 15;

}

Declaring a Structure in C Programming Language

To declare a structure in C, use the struct keyword followed by the structure definition:

struct structure_name {
data_type member1;
data_type member2;
// More members can be added here
};

Here, structure_name is the tag that will be used to refer to the structure, and member1, member2, etc., are the fields or members of the structure.

Example of Structure in C Programming Language

struct Person {
char name[50];
int age;
float height;
};

This example defines a structure Person with three members: name, age, and height.

Accessing Members of Structure in C Programming Language

Once a structure is defined, you can create variables of that type and access the structure members using the dot (.) operator.

Example of Accessing Members of Structure in C Programming Language

struct Person person1;

person1.age = 25; // Accessing and setting the age member
strcpy(person1.name, “John Doe”); // Setting name using strcpy
person1.height = 5.9; // Setting height

printf(“Name: %s\n”, person1.name);
printf(“Age: %d\n”, person1.age);
printf(“Height: %.1f\n”, person1.height);

Initializing a Structure in C Programming Language

You can initialize structure members at the time of declaration:

struct Person person2 = {“Alice”, 30, 5.7};
This creates a Person structure variable person2 and initializes its members with the values “Alice”, 30, and 5.7.

Array of Structure in C Programming Language

You can also create arrays of structures, allowing you to store multiple instances of a structure.

Example of Array of Structure in C Programming Language

struct Person people[3] = {
{“John Doe”, 25, 5.9},
{“Alice”, 30, 5.7},
{“Bob”, 22, 6.0}
};

You can access individual elements using array indexing, for example:

printf(“First person: %s, %d, %.1f\n”, people[0].name, people[0].age, people[0].height);

Pointer to Structure in C Programming Language

Just like other data types, pointers can be used with structures. To access structure members using a pointer, you use the arrow (->) operator.

Whenever we have a pointer to structure then instead of doing (*ptr).a to access numbers named, we can also use arrow (->) operator.

ptr -> a equivalent to (*ptr).a

ptr -> b equivalent to (*ptr).b

Example of Pointer to Structure in C Programming Language

struct student{

char name[20];

int Roll;

}

int main(){

struct student s = {“Zee”, 1};

display(&s);

}

void display (struct student *ptr){

printf(“%s”, ptr -> name);

printf(“%d”, ptr -> Roll);

}

Example of Pointer to Structure in C Programming Language

struct Person *ptr, person3 = {“Emily”, 28, 5.8};
ptr = &person3;

printf(“Name: %s\n”, ptr->name);
printf(“Age: %d\n”, ptr->age);
printf(“Height: %.1f\n”, ptr->height);

Here, ptr is a pointer to the structure person3, and we use the -> operator to access the structure members.

Nested Structure in C Programming Language

Example of Nested Structure in C Programming Language

struct Address {
char street[50];
char city[50];
int zip;
};

struct Person {
char name[50];
int age;
struct Address address;
};

Here, the Person structure contains a nested Address structure.

Accessing Members of Nested Structure in C Programming Language

struct Person person4 = {“Michael”, 40, {“123 Main St”, “New York”, 10001}};

printf(“Street: %s\n”, person4.address.street);
printf(“City: %s\n”, person4.address.city);
printf(“ZIP: %d\n”, person4.address.zip);

Advantages of Structure in C Programming Language

• Organizing Data: Structures allow the grouping of different data types, which improves code readability and management.
• Flexibility: Structures provide flexibility to create complex data types that can represent real-world entities.
• Memory Efficiency: Since structures don’t need extra memory for each member individually, they can be more efficient than arrays of different data types.

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