Scribd
Upload
10 views

Data Types

c data types

Uploaded by

asenathderlene27
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
10 views

Data Types

c data types

Uploaded by

asenathderlene27
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 7

C Data Types

A data-type in C programming is a set of values and is determined to act on those


values. C provides various types of data-types which allow the programmer to select the
appropriate type for the variable to set its value.
The data-type in a programming language is the collection of data with values having
fixed meaning as well as characteristics. Some of them are an integer, floating point,
character, etc. Usually, programming languages specify the range values for given data-
type.

C Data Types are used to:

• Identify the type of a variable when it declared.


• Identify the type of the return value of a function.
• Identify the type of a parameter expected by a function.
ANSI C provides three types of data types:

1. Primary(Built-in) Data Types:


void, int, char, double and float.
2. Derived Data Types:
Array, References, and Pointers.
3. User Defined Data Types:
Structure, Union, and Enumeration.
Outline:
# Primary Data Types
# Declaration of Primary Data Types with Variable Names
# Derived Data Types
# User Defined Data Types
# Data Types and Variable Declarations in C

Primary Data Types

Every C compiler supports five primary data types:


void As the name suggests, it holds no value and is generally used for specifying the
type of function or what it returns. If the function has a void type, it means that the
function will not return any value.

int Used to denote an integer type.

char Used to denote a character type.

float, double Used to denote a floating point type.

int *, float *, Used to denote a pointer type.


char *

Three more data types have been added in C99:

• _Bool
• _Complex
• _Imaginary

Declaration of Primary Data Types with Variable Names


After taking suitable variable names, they need to be assigned with a data type. This is
how the data types are used along with variables:
Example:
int age;
char letter;
float height, width;
Integer Data type
The integer data type is a set of whole numbers. Every integer value does not have the decimal
value. We use the keyword "int" to represent integer data type in c. We use the keyword int to
declare the variables and to specify the return type of a function. The integer data type is used
with different type modifiers like short, long, signed and unsigned. The following table provides
complete details about the integer data type.

Floating Point data types


Floating-point data types are a set of numbers with the decimal value. Every floating-point value
must contain the decimal value. The floating-point data type has two variants...

• float
• double

We use the keyword "float" to represent floating-point data type and "double" to represent
double data type in c. Both float and double are similar but they differ in the number of decimal
places. The float value contains 6 decimal places whereas double value contains 15 or 19 decimal
places. The following table provides complete details about floating-point data types.
Character data type
The character data type is a set of characters enclosed in single quotations. The following table
provides complete details about the character data type.

The following table provides complete information about all the data types in c programming
language...
void data type
The void data type means nothing or no value. Generally, the void is used to specify a function
which does not return any value. We also use the void data type to specify empty parameters of
a function.

Derived Data Types

C supports three derived data types:


Data Types Description

Arrays Arrays are sequences of data items having homogeneous values. They have
adjacent memory locations to store values.

References Function pointers allow referencing functions with a particular signature.

Pointers These are powerful C features which are used to access the memory and deal
with their addresses.

User Defined Data Types


C allows the feature called type definition which allows programmers to define their
identifier that would represent an existing data type. There are three such types:
Data Types Description

Structure It is a package of variables of different types under a single name. This is done
to handle data efficiently. "struct" keyword is used to define a structure.

Union These allow storing various data types in the same memory location.
Programmers can define a union with different members, but only a single
member can contain a value at a given time. It is used for

Enum Enumeration is a special data type that consists of integral constants, and each
of them is assigned with a specific name. "enum" keyword is used to define the
enumerated data type.

Data Types and Variable Declarations in C


Example:
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int a = 4000; // positive integer data type
float b = 5.2324; // float data type
char c = 'Z'; // char data type
long d = 41657; // long positive integer data type
long e = -21556; // long -ve integer data type
int f = -185; // -ve integer data type
short g = 130; // short +ve integer data type
short h = -130; // short -ve integer data type
double i = 4.1234567890; // double float data type
float j = -3.55; // float data type
}
The storage representation and machine instructions differ from machine to
machine. sizeof operator can use to get the exact size of a type or a variable on a particular
platform.

Example:
#include <stdio.h>
#include <limits.h>
int main()
{
printf("Storage size for int is: %d \n", sizeof(int));
printf("Storage size for char is: %d \n", sizeof(char));
return 0;
}
Program Output:

You might also like