Profile
Settings
Refer your friends
Sign out
Introduction
The C programming language includes several built-in data types. Additionally, it allows users to create their data types. Five methods for creating custom data include bit-field, type def, structure, union and an enumeration.
Through this article, we’ll understand what union and structure are. Both structures and unions are defined data types by users in C programming, which can contain any kind of data. However, both seem to serve similar functions. Also, there are a variety of distinctions between both.
Definition of Structure in C
Structures are specific data types that the C language uses. Facilities can store a variety of elements of different types of data in the same unit. It’s possible to save the elements in a computer system in contiguous memory areas that one can retrieve and access at any time.
It is a data type that you can define by the user in the C language that lets us combine data from different types. We can use structure to build an intricate data type that has more meaning.
It’s somewhat like an array, but an array stores data of a similar type. However, the structure can be used to store any type of data and is more beneficial.
Definition of Union in C
A Union is a type of data defined by users. It’s the same as the structure, but each member begins from the same location in memory. The union connects several objects of different data types within a similar memory space. Users can create a union with many members, but only one member can keep a value at a time. The space allocated to the variable union is the entire space required by the most prominent participant in the union. Union gives you these variables accessible using different ways at the same memory location simultaneously. Union is a reliable method of using one memory area to perform multiple operations.
The Distinction Between Structure and Union in C?
| Point of Difference | Union | Structure |
| Definition | Union is a type of data defined by users in the C language that lets you combine various data types. | Structure is a data type that can be defined by the user in the C language that permits combining the data types of different types. |
| Memory Allocation | The amount of memory necessary to keep a union variable in memory is the memory necessary to store the biggest element of the union. | The amount of memory necessary to keep a structure variable in memory is the sum of the size of the memory of all its members. |
| Accessibility | In a union, only one member can be accessed at any moment, while the rest will be contaminated with garbage. | A structure is a system in which the structure members are accessible anytime. |
| Keyword | The keyword is “union”. | The keyword is “struct”. |
An array is used to store data elements that belong to the same kind. Sometimes, it is vital to keep data elements of various types in the same place. The C programming language offers both structure and union for this feat.
Also, the users can identify both data types. The memory necessary for storing structure variables is the sum of the members’ memory size. The memory necessary to keep a union variable in memory is necessary for the most significant element of the union. This is the main difference between union and structure in C.
