Unlocking the Power of Structures in C Programming
Getting Started with Structure Variables
When working with C programming, understanding how to pass structure variables to functions is crucial. But before we dive into the details, make sure you have a solid grasp of C structures, C functions, and user-defined functions.
Passing Structures to Functions
Imagine you have a struct student variable s1 that you want to pass to a display() function. This is how you can do it:
“`c
struct student {
int roll;
char name[20];
};
void display(struct student s) {
printf(“Roll: %d\n”, s.roll);
printf(“Name: %s\n”, s.name);
}
int main() {
struct student s1;
s1.roll = 1;
strcpy(s1.name, “John”);
display(s1);
return 0;
}
“`
Returning Structures from Functions
But what if you want to return a structure from a function? It’s actually quite straightforward. Here’s an example:
“`c
struct student {
int roll;
char name[20];
};
struct student getInformation() {
struct student s;
s.roll = 1;
strcpy(s.name, “John”);
return s;
}
int main() {
struct student s = getInformation();
printf(“Roll: %d\n”, s.roll);
printf(“Name: %s\n”, s.name);
return 0;
}
“`
Passing Structures by Reference
Now, let’s talk about passing structures by reference. This is similar to passing variables of built-in types by reference. Here’s how you can do it:
“`c
struct complex {
int real;
int imag;
};
void addNumbers(struct complex *c1, struct complex *c2, struct complex *result) {
result->real = c1->real + c2->real;
result->imag = c1->imag + c2->imag;
}
int main() {
struct complex c1, c2, result;
c1.real = 1;
c1.imag = 2;
c2.real = 3;
c2.imag = 4;
addNumbers(&c1, &c2, &result);
printf(“Result: %d + %di\n”, result.real, result.imag);
return 0;
}
“`
By mastering these techniques, you’ll be able to harness the full power of structures in your C programming projects.