Structures

Introduction, Nested Structures,

Arrays of Structures, Structures and
Functions, Self-Referential
Structures

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

 Structures
• Structure is basically a user-defined data type
that can store related information about an entity
(even of different data types) together.
• The major difference between a structure and an
array is that an array can store only information of
same data type.
• A structure is a collection of variables under a
single name. The variables within a structure
are of different data types and each has a name
that is used to select it from the structure.
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
 Structure Declaration
• A structure is declared using the keyword struct
followed by the structure name.
• All the variables of the structure are declared
within the structure.
struct struct–name
{
data_type var–name;
data_type var–name;
...............
};
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
Example:- related information for a student probably
would be: roll_number, name, course, and fees.

This structure can be declared as:

struct student
{
int r_no;
char name[20];
char course[20];
float fees;
};

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

• Each variable name declared within a structure
is called a member of the structure.
• The structure declaration, however, does not
allocate any memory or consume storage
space.
• It just gives a template that conveys to the C
compiler how the structure would be laid out
in the memory and also gives the details of
member names.
• Memory is allocated for the structure when we
declare a variable of the structure.
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
• We can define a structure variable of student by writing:
struct student stud1;
• Here, struct student is a data type and stud1 is a variable.
• Another way of declaring structure variables. (The variables
are declared at the time of structure declaration.)

struct student
{
int r_no;
char name[20];
char course[20];
float fees;
} stud1, stud2;
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
• If you want to declare more than one variable of
the structure, then separate the variables using a
comma.
• When we declare variables of the structure,
separate memory is allocated for each variable.

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

 Typedef Declarations
• The typedef keyword enables the programmer to create
a new data type name by using an existing data type.

• By using typedef, no new data is created, rather an

alternate name is given to a known data type.

• The general syntax:

typedef existing_data_type new_data_type;

• Note that typedef statement does not occupy any

memory; it simplyAmruthasree
defines a new type.
V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
• For example, if we write
typedef int INTEGER;
then INTEGER is the new name of data type int.
• To declare variables using the new data type
name, precede the variable name with the new
data type name.
INTEGER num=5;

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

typedef struct student
{
int r_no;
char name[20];
char course[20];
float fees;
}stu;
• You have preceded the structure’s name with the
typedef keyword, student becomes a new data type.
• Therefore, now you can declare the variables of this
new data type.
• To declare a variable of structure student, you may
write
stu s1;
Note that we have not written struct student stud1.
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
typedef struct
{
char first_name[20];
char mid_name[20];
char last_name[20];
}NAME;

typedef struct naam

{
char first_name[20];
char mid_name[20];
char last_name[20];
}NAME;
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
 Initialization of Structures
• Initializing a structure means assigning some
constants to the members of the structure.
• When the user does not explicitly initialize the
structure, then C automatically does it.
• For int and float members, the values are
initialized to zero, and char and string members
are initialized to '\0' by default.
• The initializers are enclosed in braces and are
separated by commas.
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
• The general syntax to initialize a structure variable is as follows:
struct struct_name
{
data_type member_name1;
data_type member_name2;
data_type member_name3;
.......................
}struct_var = {constant1, constant2, constant3,...};

Or

struct struct_name
{
data_type member_name1;
data_type member_name2;
data_type member_name3;
.......................
};
struct struct_name struct_var = {constant1, constant2, constant 3,...};
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
• For example,

struct student
{
int r_no;
char name[20];
char course[20];
float fees;
}stud1 = {01, "Rahul", "BCA", 45000};
Or,
struct student stud1 = {01, "Rahul", "BCA", 45000};
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
• When all the members of a structure are not
initialized, it is called partial initialization.
• In case of partial initialization, first few members
of the structure are initialized and those that are
uninitialized are assigned default values.

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

Accessing the Members of a Structure
• A structure member variable is generally accessed
using a '.' (dot) operator.
• The syntax
struct_var.member_name
• The dot operator is used to select a particular
member of the structure.
• For example, to assign values to the individual data
members of the structure variable studl, we may
write
stud1.r_no = 01;
[Link] = "Rahul";
[Link] = "BCA";
[Link] = 45000;
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
• To input values for data members of the structure
variable stud1, we may write
scanf("%d", &stud1.r_no);
scanf("%s", [Link]);
• Similarly, to print the values of structure variable
stud1, we may write
printf("%s", [Link]);
printf("%f", [Link]);

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

 Copying and Comparing Structures
• We can assign a structure to another structure of the
same type.
• For example, if we have two structure variables stud1 and
stud2 of type struct student given as

struct student stud1 = {01, "Rahul", "BCA", 45000};

struct student stud2;

• Then to assign one structure variable to another,

stud2 = stud1;

• This statement initializes the members of stud2 with the

values of members of stud1.
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
• C does not permit comparison of one
structure variable with another.
• However, individual members of one structure
can be compared with individual members of
another structure.
• For example, to compare the fees of two
students, we will write
• if([Link] > [Link]) //to check if fees of
stud1 is greater than stud2

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

 Write a program using structures to read and display the
information about a student.
#include<stdio.h>
printf("\n **STUDENT'S DETAILS **");
int main()
printf("\n ROLL No. = %d", stud1.roll_no);
{
printf("\n NAME = %s", [Link]);
struct student
printf("\n FEES = %f", [Link]);
{
printf("\n DOB = %s", [Link]);
int roll_no;
return 0;
char name[80];
}
float fees;
Output
char DOB[80];
Enter the roll number : 01
};
Enter the name : Rahul
struct student stud1;
Enter the fees : 45000
printf("\n Enter the roll number : ");
Enter the DOB : 25–09–1991
scanf("%d", &stud1.roll_no);
*****STUDENT’S DETAILS *****
printf("\n Enter the name : ");
ROLL No. = 01
scanf("%s", [Link]);
NAME = Rahul
printf("\n Enter the fees : ");
FEES = 45000.00
scanf("%f", &[Link]);
DOB = 25–09–1991
printf("\n Enter the DOB : ");
scanf("%s", [Link]); Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
 NESTED STRUCTURES
• A structure can be placed within another structure.
• A structure that contains another structure as its
member is called a nested structure.

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

typedef struct naam
{
char first_name[20]; • Assigning values to the structure fields,
char mid_name[20];
char last_name[20];
student stud1;
}NAME;
typedef struct date stud1.r_no = 01;
{ [Link].first_name = "Janak";
int dd; [Link].mid_name = "Raj";
int mm; [Link].last_name = "Thareja";
int yy; [Link] = "BCA";
}DATE; [Link] = 15;
[Link] = 09;
typedef struct STUDENT [Link] = 1990;
{ [Link] = 45000;
int r_no;
NAME name;
char course[20];
DATE DOB;
float fees;
} student; Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
Write a program to read and display the information of a
student using a nested structure.
#include <stdio.h> printf("\n Enter the roll number : ");
int main() scanf("%d", &stud1.roll_no);
{ printf("\n Enter the name : ");
struct DOB scanf("%s", [Link]);
{ printf("\n Enter the fees : ");
int day; scanf("%f", &[Link]);
int month;
int year; printf("\n Enter the DOB : ");
}; scanf("%d %d %d", &[Link],
struct student &[Link], &[Link]);
{ printf("\n *****STUDENT'S DETAILS *****");
int roll_no; printf("\n ROLL No. = %d", stud1.roll_no);
char name[100]; printf("\n NAME = %s", [Link]);
float fees; printf("\n FEES = %f", [Link]);
struct DOB date;
}; printf("\n DOB = %d – %d – %d", [Link],
struct student stud1; [Link], [Link]);
}
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
 ARRAYS OF STRUCTURES
The general syntax for declaring an array of structures can be
given as,

struct struct_name
{ Example:
data_type member_name1; struct student
data_type member_name2; {
data_type member_name3;
....................... int r_no;
}; char name[20];
struct struct_name struct_var[index]; char course[20];
float fees;
};
struct student stud[30];
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
• To assign values to the ith student of the class, we will
write
stud[i].r_no = 09;
stud[i].name = "RASHI";
stud[i].course = "MCA";
stud[i].fees = 60000;

• In order to initialize the array of structure variables

at the time of declaration,
struct student stud[3] = {{01, "Aman", "BCA", 45000},
{02, "Aryan", "BCA", 60000},
{03,"John", "BCA", 45000}};
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
Write a program to read and display the information of
all the students in a class and display the entire
information
for(i=0;i<n;i++)
#include <stdio.h> {
int main() printf("\n Enter the roll number : ");
{ scanf("%d", &stud[i].roll_no);
printf("\n Enter the name : ");
struct student scanf(“%s”,stud[i].name);
{ printf("\n Enter the fees : ");
int roll_no; scanf("%d",&stud[i].fees);
printf("\n Enter the DOB : ");
char name[80]; scanf(“%s”,stud[i].DOB);
int fees; }
char DOB[80];
for(i=0;i<n;i++)
}; {
struct student stud[50]; printf(“\DETAILS OF STUDENT %d",
i+1);
int n, i; printf("ROLL No. = %d", stud[i].roll_no);
printf("\n Enter the number of students : "); printf("\n NAME = %s", stud[i].name);
scanf("%d", &n); printf("\n FEES = %d", stud[i].fees);
printf("\n DOB = %s", stud[i].DOB);
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
}
STRUCTURES AND FUNCTIONS
• A function may access the members of a
structure in three ways.

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

 1. Passing Individual Members
• To pass any individual member of a structure to
a function, we must use the direct selection
operator to refer to the individual members.
• The called program does not know if a variable
is an ordinary variable or a structured member.

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

#include <stdio.h>
struct POINT
{
int x;
int y;
};

void display(int, int);

int main()
{
struct POINT p1 = {2, 3};
display(p1.x, p1.y);
return 0;
}

void display(int a, int b)

{
printf(" The coordinates of the point are: %d %d", a, b);
}
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
 2. Passing the Entire Structure
• When a structure is passed as an argument, it is
passed using the call by value method, i.e., a
copy of each member of the structure is made.
• The general syntax for passing a structure to a
function and returning a structure can be given as,

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

#include <stdio.h>
struct POINT
{
int x;
int y;
};

void display(struct POINT);

int main()
{
struct POINT p1 = {2, 3};
display(p1);
return 0;
}

void display(struct POINT p)

{
printf("The coordinates of the point are: %d %d", p.x, p.y);
} Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
 3. Passing Structures through
Pointers
• Passing large structures to functions using the call by value
method is very inefficient.
• Therefore, it is preferred to pass structures through pointers.
• The syntax to declare a pointer to a structure

struct struct_name
{
data_type member_name1;
data_type member_name2;
data_type member_name3;
.......................
}*ptr;
or,
struct struct_name *ptr; Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
• For our student structure, we can declare a pointer variable by writing
struct student *ptr_stud, stud;

• The next thing to do is to assign the address of stud to the pointer

using the address operator (&).
ptr_stud = &stud;

• To access the members of a structure, we can write

(*ptr_stud).roll_no;

• C introduces a new operator to do the same task. This operator is

known as ‘pointing-to’ operator (->). It can be used as:
ptr_stud -> roll_no = 01;

• This statement is far easier than its alternative.

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
Write a program to initialize the members of a structure by
using a pointer to the structure.
printf("\n Enter the Course = ");
#include <stdio.h>
scanf("%s",ptr_stud1 -> course);
struct student
{
int r_no; printf("\n Enter the Fees = ");
char name[20]; scanf("%d", &ptr_stud1 -> fees);
char course[20];
int fees;
printf("\n DETAILS OF THE STUDENT");
};
int main()
{ printf("\n ROLL NUMBER = %d", ptr_stud1 –> r_no);
struct student stud1, *ptr_stud1; printf("\n NAME = %s", ptr_stud1 –> name);
ptr_stud1 = &stud1; printf("\n COURSE = %s", ptr_stud1 –> course);
printf("Enter the details of the student :"); printf("\n FEES = %d", ptr_stud1 –> fees);
printf("\n Enter the Roll Number =");
scanf("%d", &ptr_stud1 -> r_no); return 0;
}
printf("\n Enter the Name = “);
scanf("%s",ptr_stud1 -> name);
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
Write a program, using an array of pointers to a structure,
to read and display the data of students.
printf("\n ROLL NO.: ");
#include <stdio.h> scanf("%d", &ptr_stud[i]–>r_no);
#include <alloc.h>
struct student printf("\n NAME: ");
{ scanf("%s", ptr_stud[i]–>name);
int r_no; printf("\n COURSE: ");
char name[20]; scanf("%s", ptr_stud[i]–>course);
char course[20];
printf("\n FEES: ");
int fees; scanf("%d", &ptr_stud[i]–>fees);
}; }
struct student *ptr_stud[10]; printf("\n DETAILS OF STUDENTS");
for(i=0;i<n;i++)
int main() {
{ printf("\n ROLL NO. = %d", ptr_stud[i]–>r_no);
int i, n; printf("\n NAME = %s", ptr_stud[i]–>name);
printf("\n Enter the number of students : "); printf("\n COURSE = %s", ptr_stud[i]–>course);
printf("\n FEES = %d", ptr_stud[i]–>fees);
scanf("%d", &n); }
for(i=0;i<n;i++) return 0;
}
{
ptr_stud[i] = (struct student *)malloc(sizeof(struct student));
 Write a program that printf("\n ROLL NO.: ");
scanf("%d", &ptr–>r_no);
passes a pointer to a printf("\n NAME: ");
structure to a function. scanf("%s", ptr–>name);
#include <stdio.h>
printf("\n COURSE: ");
#include <alloc.h> scanf("%s", ptr–>course);
printf("\n FEES: ");
struct student scanf("%d", &ptr–>fees);
{ display(ptr);
int r_no; return 0;
char name[20]; }
char course[20]; void display(struct student *ptr)
int fees; {
}; printf("\n DETAILS OF STUDENT");
printf("\n ROLL NO. = %d", ptr–>r_no);
void display (struct student *); printf("\n NAME = %s", ptr–>name);
printf("\n COURSE = %s ", ptr–>course);
int main() printf("\n FEES = %d", ptr–>fees);
{ }
struct student *ptr;

ptr = (struct student *)malloc(sizeof(struct student));

printf("\n Enter the data for the student ");
 Static Memory Allocation
• When the allocation of memory performs at the compile time,
then it is known as static memory. In this, the memory is
allocated for variables by the compiler.
• While executing a program, the memory cannot be
changed.
• Static memory allocation is less efficient as compared to
Dynamic memory allocation.
• Once the memory is allotted, it will remain from the
beginning to end of the program.
• Static memory is deallocated automatically when the
program terminates, as the memory is reserved for the entire
duration of the program.
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
 Dynamic Memory Allocation
• When the memory allocation is done at the
execution or run time, then it is called dynamic
memory allocation.
• In dynamic memory allocation, while executing a
program, the memory can be changed.
• Dynamic memory allocation is preferred in the
linked list.
• Here, the memory can be alloted at any time in the
program.
• Dynamic memory allocation requires explicit
deallocation using the free() function to release the
memory back to the system when it is no longer
needed.
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
 malloc & calloc
• The function malloc() is used to allocate a
single block of the memory that has been
requested.
Syntax: ptr=(data_type*)malloc(byte_size)

• This command is used to assign multiple

blocks of the requested memory.

Syntax: ptr=(data_type*)calloc(number, byte_size)

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

When to use Static Memory Allocation:
• Static memory allocation is best suited for
situations where the size of the data structure is
fixed and known in advance.

• It is also useful for global variables and

variables that need to be accessed frequently,
such as counters or flags.

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

When to use Dynamic Memory Allocation:

• Dynamic memory allocation is best suited for

situations where the size of the data structure
is not known in advance and needs to be
changed during program execution.

• It is also useful for situations where memory

needs to be allocated and deallocated
frequently.

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

 SELF-REFERENTIAL STRUCTURES

• Self-referential structures are those structures

that contain a reference to the data of its same
type.
• That is, a self-referential structure, in addition to
other data, contains a pointer to a data that is of
the same type as that of the structure.
• Actually, self-referential structure is the
foundation of other data structures.

Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE

• For example, consider the structure node given
below.
struct node
{
int val;
struct node *next;
};
• Here, the structure node will contain two types
of data: an integer value and a pointer next.
• The pointer next will point to next data that
belongs to the same structure.
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE
Amruthasree V M, Assistant Professor, NIE