Chapter Summary

This chapter introduced structs, a construct that allows programmers to group multiple pieces of data of different types into a single entity. Structs enable the creation of custom data types, making it possible to organize and manage complex, related information more effectively than using separate variables.

Key Concepts

Struct Definition

• Definition: A struct is a template that specifies what data members will be part of any variable of that struct type
• Syntax:

  struct NameOfStruct
  {
      datatype1 dataMember1;
      datatype2 dataMember2;
      ...
  };

• Important: Defining a struct does not create any variables or allocate memory; it only describes the structure
• Naming Convention: Use UpperCamelCase for struct names and lowerCamelCase for data member names

Struct Instantiation

• Instantiation: Creating a variable of a struct type reserves memory for all data members
• Syntax: struct NameOfStruct variableName;
• Memory: Each instance is a separate entity with its own copy of all data members

Struct Initialization

• Initialization: Data members can be initialized using curly bracket notation during instantiation
• Syntax: struct NameOfStruct variableName = {value1, value2, value3, ...};
• Order: Values are assigned to data members in the order they are declared in the struct definition
• Uninitialized Members: Data members not explicitly initialized contain undefined values

Accessing Data Members

• Dot Operator: Use the dot (.) operator to access individual data members
• Syntax: instanceVariable.dataMember
• Example: student1.firstName accesses the firstName data member of student1

Structs vs. Arrays

• Arrays: Store multiple elements of the same type with index-based access
• Structs: Store multiple elements of different types with named access
• Use Structs When: You need to group related data of different types (e.g., student information)
• Use Arrays When: You need to store multiple values of the same type (e.g., test scores)

Struct as a Custom Data Type

Structs allow you to create your own data types. Once defined, a struct name can be used just like built-in types (int, float, char) to declare variables.