Difference between Structure and Union in C
STRUCTURE
A structure is a user-defined data type available in C that allows to combining data items of different kinds.
Structures are used to represent a record.
Defining a structure: To define a structure, you must use the struct statement. The struct statement defines a
new data type, with more than or equal to one member. The format of the struct statement is as follows:
struct [structure name]
{
member definition;
member definition;
...
member definition;
};
UNION
A union is a special data type available in C that allows storing different data types i n the same memory
location. You can define a union with many members, but only one member can contain a value at any given
time. Unions provide an efficient way of using the same memory location for multiple purposes.
Defining a Union: To define a union, you must use the union statement in the same way as you did while
defining a structure. The union statement defines a new data type with more than one member for your
program. The format of the union statement is as follows:
union [union name]
{
member definition;
member definition;
...
member definition;
};
SIMILARITIES BETWEEN STRUCTURE AND UNION
1. Both are user-defined data types used to store data of different types as a single unit.
2. Their members can be objects of any type, including other structures and unions or arrays. A member can
also consist of a bit field.
3. Both structures and unions support only assignment = and sizeof operators. The two structures or unions
in the assignment must have the same members and member types.
4. A structure or a union can be passed by value to functions and returned by value by functions. The
argument must have the same type as the function parameter. A structure or union is passed by value just
like a scalar variable as a corresponding parameter.
5. ‘.’ operator is used for accessing members.
DIFFERENCES:
// C program to illustrate differences between structure and Union
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
// declaring structure
struct struct_example
int integer;
float decimal;
char name[20];
};
// declaring union
union union_example
{
int integer;
float decimal;
char name[20];
};
void main()
// creating variable for structure
// and initializing values difference
// six
struct struct_example s={18,38,"geeksforgeeks"};
// creating variable for union
// and initializing values
union union_example u={18,38,"geeksforgeeks"};
printf("structure data:\n integer: %d\n" "decimal: %.2f\n name: %s\n", s.integer, s.decimal, s.name);
printf("\nunion data:\n integer: %d\n" "decimal: %.2f\n name: %s\n", u.integer, u.decimal, u.name);
// difference two and three
printf("\nsizeof structure : %d\n", sizeof(s));
printf("sizeof union : %d\n", sizeof(u));
// difference five
printf("\n Accessing all members at a time:");
s.integer = 183;
s.decimal = 90;
strcpy(s.name, "geeksforgeeks");
printf("structure data:\n integer: %d\n " "decimal: %.2f\n name: %s\n", s.integer, s.decimal, s.name);
u.integer = 183;
u.decimal = 90;
strcpy(u.name, "geeksforgeeks");
printf("\nunion data:\n integer: %d\n " "decimal: %.2f\n name: %s\n", u.integer, u.decimal, u.name);
printf("\n Accessing one member at time:");
printf("\nstructure data:");
s.integer = 240;
printf("\ninteger: %d", s.integer);
s.decimal = 120;
printf("\ndecimal: %f", s.decimal);
strcpy(s.name, "C programming");
printf("\nname: %s\n", s.name);
printf("\n union data:");
u.integer = 240;
printf("\ninteger: %d", u.integer);
u.decimal = 120;
printf("\ndecimal: %f", u.decimal);
strcpy(u.name, "C programming");
printf("\nname: %s\n", u.name);
//difference four
printf("\nAltering a member value:\n");
s.integer = 1218;
printf("structure data:\n integer: %d\n " " decimal: %.2f\n name: %s\n",
s.integer, s.decimal, s.name);
u.integer = 1218;
printf("union data:\n integer: %d\n"
" decimal: %.2f\n name: %s\n",
u.integer, u.decimal, u.name);
