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    Structures and Unions in C: Slides Taken From: Alan L. Cox Computer Science Department Rice University Texas

    Uploaded by

    Rajan Jaiprakash
    This document summarizes key concepts about structures and unions in C including: 1) Structures allow defining compound data types that group together different data types. Structures can be declared and individual fields accessed using dot notation. 2) Unions allow defining a data type that can hold different data types in the same memory space, but only one data type can be active at a time. 3) Pointers to structures allow passing structures by reference instead of by value for efficiency. Dereference operators are used to access structure fields through pointers.

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    Structures and Unions in C: Slides Taken From: Alan L. Cox Computer Science Department Rice University Texas

    Uploaded by

    Rajan Jaiprakash
    130 views11 pages
    This document summarizes key concepts about structures and unions in C including: 1) Structures allow defining compound data types that group together different data types. Structures can be declared and individual fields accessed using dot notation. 2) Unions allow defining a data type that can hold different data types in the same memory space, but only one data type can be active at a time. 3) Pointers to structures allow passing structures by reference instead of by value for efficiency. Dereference operators are used to access structure fields through pointers.

    Original Description:

    Data structures and algorithm Lecture series

    Original Title

    Struct Union

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

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    This document summarizes key concepts about structures and unions in C including: 1) Structures allow defining compound data types that group together different data types. Structures can be declared and individual fields accessed using dot notation. 2) Unions allow defining a data type that can hold different data types in the same memory space, but only one data type can be active at a time. 3) Pointers to structures allow passing structures by reference instead of by value for efficiency. Dereference operators are used to access structure fields through pointers.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    130 views11 pages

    Structures and Unions in C: Slides Taken From: Alan L. Cox Computer Science Department Rice University Texas

    Uploaded by

    Rajan Jaiprakash
    This document summarizes key concepts about structures and unions in C including: 1) Structures allow defining compound data types that group together different data types. Structures can be declared and individual fields accessed using dot notation. 2) Unions allow defining a data type that can hold different data types in the same memory space, but only one data type can be active at a time. 3) Pointers to structures allow passing structures by reference instead of by value for efficiency. Dereference operators are used to access structure fields through pointers.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 11

    Structures and Unions in C

    Slides taken from: Alan L. Cox


    Computer Science Department
    Rice University
    Texas
    Structures
    Compound data:

    A date is
    an int month and
    an int day and
    an int year
    struct ADate {
    int month;
    int day;
    int year;
    };

    struct ADate date;

    date.month = 9;
    date.day = 1;
    date.year = 2005;

    Structure Representation & Size
    sizeof(struct ) =
    sum of sizeof(field)
    + alignment padding
    Processor- and compiler-specific
    62 61 EF BE AD DE
    c1 c2 i
    padding
    struct CharCharInt {
    char c1;
    char c2;
    int i;
    } foo;

    foo.c1 = a;
    foo.c2 = b;
    foo.i = 0xDEADBEEF;
    Typedef
    Mechanism for creating new type names
    New names are an alias for some other type
    Improves clarity of the program
    typedef long int64_t;
    typedef struct ADate {
    int month;
    int day;
    int year;
    } Date;

    int64_t i = 100000000000;
    Date d = {9, 1, 2005};
    Overload existing type
    names for clarity and
    portability
    Simplify complex type names
    Constants
    Allow consistent use of the same constant
    throughout the program
    Improves clarity of the program
    Reduces likelihood of simple errors
    Easier to update constants in the program


    int array[10];

    for (i=0; i<10; i++) {

    }
    #define SIZE 10

    int array[SIZE];

    for (i=0; i<SIZE; i++) {

    }
    Preprocessor directive
    Constant names are
    capitalized by convention
    Define once,
    use throughout
    the program
    Arrays of Structures
    Date birthdays[NFRIENDS];

    bool
    check_birthday(Date today)
    {
    int i;

    for (i = 0; i < NFRIENDS; i++) {
    if ((today.month == birthdays[i].month) &&
    (today.day == birthdays[i].day))
    return (true);
    }

    return (false);
    }
    Constant
    Array declaration
    Array index, then
    structure field
    Pointers to Structures
    Date
    create_date1(int month,
    int day,
    int year)
    {
    Date d;

    d.month = month;
    d.day = day;
    d.year = year;

    return (d);
    }
    void
    create_date2(Date *d,
    int month,
    int day,
    int year)
    {
    d->month = month;
    d->day = day;
    d->year = year;
    }
    Copies date
    Pass-by-reference
    Date today;

    today = create_date1(9, 4, 2008);
    create_date2(&today, 9, 4, 2008);
    Pointers to Structures (cont.)
    void
    create_date2(Date *d,
    int month,
    int day,
    int year)
    {
    d->month = month;
    d->day = day;
    d->year = year;
    }

    void
    foo(void)
    {
    Date today;
    create_date2(&today, 9, 4, 2008);
    }
    today.month:
    today.day:
    today.year:
    0x1000
    0x1004
    0x1008
    month: 9
    day: 4
    year: 2008
    0x30A0
    0x30A4
    0x30A8
    d: 0x1000 0x3098
    9
    4
    2008
    Pointers to Structures (cont.)
    Date *
    create_date3(int month,
    int day,
    int year)
    {
    Date *d;

    d->month = month;
    d->day = day;
    d->year = year;

    return (d);
    }
    What is d pointing to?!?!
    Unions
    Choices:

    An element is
    an int i or
    a char c

    sizeof(union ) =
    maximum of sizeof(field)



    EF BE AD DE
    c
    i
    padding
    union AnElt {
    int i;
    char c;
    } elt1, elt2;

    elt1.i = 4;
    elt2.c = a;
    elt2.i = 0xDEADBEEF;
    Unions
    A union value doesnt know which case it
    contains
    union AnElt {
    int i;
    char c;
    } elt1, elt2;

    elt1.i = 4;
    elt2.c = a;
    elt2.i = 0xDEADBEEF;

    if (elt1 currently has a char)
    How should your program keep track
    whether elt1, elt2 hold an int or
    a char?
    ?
    ?
    Basic answer: Another variable holds
    that info

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