Data types in c | 4 Basic Datatypes of c programming

What are the Basic Datatypes in c Programming?

4 basic data types in c they are int, float, double, char.

Each and every datatypes in c provides differnt size which is efficient to hold that data in variable.

Different set of operation can be carried on different Data types in c which can hold different data.

After reading this article you will have a brief knowledge on Data types in c.

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Data Types in c

Basic Data Types in c

• int
• float
• double
• char
• void

Enumeration Data Type in c

• enum

Derived Data Types

Derived data types are also called as “User defined datatypes”.

• pointer
• array
• structure
• union

Void Data Type

• void

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Basic Data Types in c

int Datatype

In c int datatype can be used store integer variable.

‘ int ‘ is a keyword used to define a varibale which contains integer value.

example declaration of int : int value=10;

Now lets see the different variations of int type and their ranges.

Type	Memory (in Bytes)	Range	Format specifier
short int	2	-32768 to 32767	%hd
unsigned short int	2	-32768 to 32767	%hu
unsigned int	4	0 to 4294,967295	%u
int	4	-2147483648 to 2147483647	%d
long int	8	-2147483648 to 2147483647	%ld
unsigned long int	8	0 to 4294967295	%lu
long long int	8	-(2^63) to (2^63)-1	%lld
unsigned long long int	8	0 to 18446744073709551615	%llu

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float Datatype

float data type in c is used to represent a variable which holds the decimal number of single precision.

‘ float ‘ is the keyword used to declare a float variable.

Example for float variable declaration in c : float pi=3.142 .

Type	Memory (in Bytes)	Range	Format specifier
float	4	1.2E-38 to 3.4E+38	%lf

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double Datatype

double data type in c is used to represent a variable which holds the decimal nomber of double precision.

‘double’ is the keyword used to declare a double variable.

Type	Memory (in bytes)	Range	Format specifier
double	8	2.3E-308 to 1.7E+308	%lf
long double	16	3.4E-4932 to 1.1E+4932	%Lf

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char Datatype

char datatype in c is used to store a character.

In c each character has a unique asci code hence it is easy to convert from int to char and vice versa.

Char type is basic datatype of c.

‘char’ is the keyword used to declare a char type variable.

It takes one byte of memory space but range varies.

Type	Memory (in Bytes)	Range	Format specifies
char	1	-128 to 127 or 0 to 255	%c
signed char	1	0 to 255
unsigned char	1	-128 to 127

#include<stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char const *argv[])
{
	printf("\nC datatypes\nBasic Datatypes\n");	
	int number=10;//its integer type.
	float fine=3.156;//its float type.
	double pi=3.142;//its double type.
	char c='x';//its char type.
	//lets print their values.
	printf("Number : %d\nfine : %f\npi : %lf \nc : %c\n",number,fine,pi,c);
	return 0;
}

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enumeration Data Types

Enumeration datatype in c is used to hold the integral contants.

‘enum’ is th ekeyword used to declare an enum.

example declaration: enum word{"hello","world" }

#include<stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char const *argv[])
{
	printf("\nC  datatypes\nDerived Datatypes\n");	
	enum week {Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday};//enum of week days
    enum week today;
    today = Saturday;
    printf("Day %d\n",today+1);
    return 0;
}

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Derived Data Types

User defined datatypes are datatypes which are derived from basic data types. We can create our own data types using basic data types.

pointers

pointer variable holds/stores the address of another variable. You can declare a pointer by using * operator.

Ex: int *pointer;

In above example we are declaring a pointer which points to int type variable. Initially the poiter is null. You cal simply assign the address using & operator like below.

int *pointer
int number=10;
pointer=&number;

Read more about pointers here.

Array

c Arrays are continuous elements stored in continuous memory blocks.

Use [ size ] to declare an array.

Example: int array[10];

Read more about c array.

structure in c

This is a user defined data-type. By using structure programmer can easily group different other data type variables.

It stores element in different memory location for each of its members.

Dot ( . ) operator is used to access a structure variable.

Arrow operator is used to access structure variable via pointer.

‘struct‘ is the keyword used to declare a structure.

Example:

struct my_struct 
{
 int data;
 char c;
}

Read more about c structures.

union in c

Union is a special user defined datatype. It is same as structure but stores element in same memory location.

‘union‘ is the keyword to define a union.

Example:

union example
{
 int t;
 char c;
}

#include<stdio.h>
int main(int argc, char const *argv[])
{
	printf("\nC  datatypes\nDerived Datatypes\n");	
	struct example_struct//this is structure
	{
		int num;
	};
	struct example_struct e;
	e.num=10;
	union example_union//this is union
	{
		int data;
		float pi;
	};
	union example_union un;
	un.pi=3.142;
	int array[2]={1,2};//this is array
	int  num=0;//this is int variable
	int *ptr=&num;//pointer pointing to num
	printf( " Struct variable: %d\nUnion Example: %f \nArray elements : %d %d\nPointer value %d\n",e.num,un.pi,array[0],array[1],*(ptr) );

	
	return 0;
}

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void datatype in c

void in c is an empty data-type which has no value.

void is mainly used in return value of a function and in pointers.

#include <stdio.h>
void example()
{
	printf("Void Datatype Example\n");
}
int main(int argc, char const *argv[])
{
	printf("\nDatatype in c\n");
	example();
	return 0;
}

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