Data Types in C

The data types are one of the important features in the C programming language that uses data types with variables and functions. 

• The data type in C has a variable that has an associated data type. 
• The variable can store specific types of data like floating, string, integer, double, etc.
• The data type of a data is the collection of values that have fixed values, which means its characteristics.

Key terms: Data Type in C, Structure, Union, Typedef, enum

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Purpose of Data Types in C

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The data type defines operations that can safely be performed to transform, create, and use the variable in another computation. The space allocated in storage and the interpretation of the stored bit pattern are determined based on the type of variable used in a program.

Example Of Data Types In C: The compiler in the C language treats these aspects differently, which is why we utilize various data types to specify the desired data characteristics within the program.

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Types of Data type in C

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There are following basic data types in the C programming language such as:

• Primary
• Derived

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Primary Data Types

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These are the data types that are standard data types that the C language defines. These comprises four basic types of data types:

• char – A data type that occupies a single byte and is used for storing a single character from the local character set.
• float: These are single-precision floating-point data types.
• int: These represent integers and typically match the natural size of integers on the host machine.
• double: These are double-precision floating-point data types.

Data Types in C

User-Defined Data Types In C

These are the following types of user-defined data types in C programming language:

• Structures
• Union
• Typedef
• enum

Structures

Each data type within a structure is referred to as a member or field. These structure data types comprise objects of specific types.

The syntax for structure is as follows:

struct name of structure type

{

data type1 variable_name2;

data type2 variable_name2;

};

Example:

struct school

{

string name;

int marks;

};

Union

It is a collection of data types that are not similar to each other and are present in C language. It contains many members but only one member can be accessed at a particular time. The keyword ‘union’ means to create a union data type.

The syntax for defining a union data type is as follows:

union name of the union type

{

data type1 variable_name1;

data_type2 variable_name2;

};

Example:

union class

{

string name;

int marks;

};

Typedef

It is used to create an alternate or alias name for a data type already existing whereas the keyword Typedef r is used in C programming involving referencing existing data without generating any new entries.

The syntax for defining a typedef is as follows:

typedef existing_data_type alias_name;

Example:

void main()

{

typedef float decimal;

decimal weight= 58.9;

}

Enum

Each data type consists of sets of values known as elements and referred to as an enumerated data type. It usually gives symbolic names to represent a list of constants that are related to each other.

The syntax of defining enum data type is as follows:

enum variable_name(value1, value2, value3,….. value n);

Example:

enum bool

{

true,

false

};

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Size of Primary Data Types

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Here is a list of all the primary data types:

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Different Data Type Values

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The different type of values refers to the type of mathematical, relational or logical operations that can be applied without causing an error.

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Data Type Modifiers in C Programming Language

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There are four types of modifiers for all data types used in C language. The C language helps in making the primary or primitive data types more specific.

Some of the modifies are mentioned below:

• short
• long
• unsigned
• signed

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Range Of Values of C Data Type

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The C language data type range are mentioned below:

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When The Value of The Data Type Happens to Be Out of Range

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To understand this check an example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {

// the maximum value allowed in the signed short int is 43568

signed short int x = 43767;

return 0;

}

The generated output for this program would be:

warning: very large integer value implicitly truncated to signed type [-Woverflow]

signed short int x = 43767;

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Derived Data Types in C

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Derived data types in C used to store complex types of data, they are several types of derived data types in C language:

• The 'char' Data Type: The ‘char’ data type is basically 8 bits or 1 byte. Different compilers and interpreters do not vary.
• The 'float' Data Type: The ‘float’ data type is basically 32 bits or 4 bytes., it is single-precision in nature, and there are uses for holding decimal values.
• The 'double' Data Type: The ‘double' data type is basically 64 bits or 8 bytes, it is capable of storing values that are comparatively double the size of the bytes that of 'float' data type.
• The 'int' Data Type: The ‘int' will be 2 bytes or 16 bits, it is generally equal to the length of the word of the program’s execution environment.

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Use Of C Data Types

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The C data type is to define the type of data that we use in a program.

Integer Data Type

Range: -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647

Size: 4 bytes

Format Specifier: %d

Syntax: int var_name;

Character Data Type

Range: (-128 to 127) or (0 to 255)

Size: 1 byte

Format Specifier: %a

Syntax: char var_name;

Float Data Type

Range: 1.2E-38 to 3.4E+38

Size: 4 bytes

Format Specifier: %f

Syntax: float var_name;

Double Data Type

Range: 1.7E-308 to 1.7E+308

Size: 8 bytes

Format Specifier: %lf

Syntax: double var_name;

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Solved Examples

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Ques 1: Which of the following are data types used in C programming?

1. Integer
2. Character
3. Floating-Point
4. Void

Solution:

1. 1, 3, and 4
2. 2, 3, and 4
3. 1, 2, and 3
4. All of the Above

Ques 2: Which of the following are basic or primitive data types?

1. Integer
2. Character
3. Double
4. Floating-point
5. Void

Solution:

1. 1, 3, and 5
2. 2, 4, and 5
3. 1, 2, and 4
4. All of the Above

Ques 3: The character data type ranges from:

1. -63,586 to 63,586
2. -127 to 127
3. -50 to 50
4. It has a huge range. There is no limit.

Solution: A. -63,586 to 63,586

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Things to Remember

• Context switching is a process to be switched from the CPU so that another process can run.
• The character data type allows you to store only a single character in a variable in a C program.
• The storage size of the char data type is about 1 byte.
• Double data type also has a limit of 10 digits.
• The float has a storage size of about 4 bytes.
• The int data types do not allow you to store the decimal values.
• The storage size of the int data type can be 2 bytes, 4 bytes, or even 8 bytes.

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