Chapter 11: Problem 9

What is the difference between a union and a structure?

Short Answer

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Short answer: The main differences between a union and a structure are that in structures, each member has its own memory space while in unions, all members share the same memory location. Additionally, the size of a structure is the sum of the sizes of its individual elements, whereas the size of a union is the size of its largest member. Structures and unions are user-defined data types used in programming languages like C and C++ to group variables under a single name.

Step by step solution

Define a structure

A structure is a user-defined data type in programming languages like C and C++, which allows grouping of variables under a single name. These variables can be of different data types, and each member has its own memory space. The size of a structure is the sum of the sizes of its individual elements.

Provide an example of a structure

Let's see an example of a structure in C++: ``` struct Student { int rollNumber; char name[20]; float marks; }; ``` Here, we have defined a structure named 'Student' containing three members: an integer (rollNumber), a character array (name), and a float (marks). Each member has its own memory space.

Define a union

A union is also a user-defined data type in programming languages like C and C++. It allows grouping of variables under a single name, just like structures. However, the main difference between union and structure is that all the members of a union share the same memory location. The size of a union is the size of its largest member.

Provide an example of a union

Let's see an example of a union in C++: ``` union Data { int number; char letter; float decimal; }; ``` Here, we have defined a union named 'Data' containing three members: an integer (number), a character (letter), and a float (decimal). All members share the same memory location.

Summarize the differences

To summarize, there are two main differences between structures and unions: 1. In structures, each member has its own memory space, while in unions, all members share the same memory location. 2. The size of a structure is the sum of the sizes of its individual elements, while the size of a union is the size of its largest member.

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What is the difference between a union and a structure?

Short Answer

Step by step solution

Define a structure

Provide an example of a structure

Define a union

Provide an example of a union

Summarize the differences

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