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Unit-IV (Difference Between Structure and Union)

A structure allows storing different data types at the same memory location, with each member having its own unique address. A union also stores different data types in the same memory location, but any member access refers to the same memory location, so only one member can be used at a time. The key differences are that structures allow accessing multiple members simultaneously while unions do not, and the memory allocation is different, with unions typically using less space than structures.

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60 views5 pages

Unit-IV (Difference Between Structure and Union)

A structure allows storing different data types at the same memory location, with each member having its own unique address. A union also stores different data types in the same memory location, but any member access refers to the same memory location, so only one member can be used at a time. The key differences are that structures allow accessing multiple members simultaneously while unions do not, and the memory allocation is different, with unions typically using less space than structures.

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RishikaArora
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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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);

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