Data Types in C language
Data type is the defining the type of the data. The C program supports different data types. Each data type may have predefined memory requirement and storage representation.
It is divided into 4 types. They are
Primary or Basic datatypes
The char, int, float, double are the different datatypes in primary datatypes.
Empty type
The datatype void belongs to this category.
Derived types
Arrays, pointer, structure, union, functions belong to this category.
Enumerated types
They are used to define variables that can only assign certain discrete integer values throughout the program.
Integer Type
Integers are used to store whole numbers. Size and range of Integer type on 16-bit machine.
| TYPE | SIZE(bytes) | RANGE |
|---|---|---|
| int or signed int | 2 | -32,768 to 32767 |
| unsigned int | 2 | 0 to 65535 |
| short int or signed short int | 1 | -128 to 127 |
| unsigned short int | 1 | 0 to 255 |
| long int or signed long int | 4 | -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 |
| unsigned long int | 4 | 0 to 4,294,967,295 |
Floating Point Type
Floating types are used to store real numbers. Size and range of Integer type on 16-bit machine.
| TYPE | SIZE(bytes) | RANGE |
|---|---|---|
| Float | 4 | 3.4E-38 to 3.4E+38 |
| double | 8 | 1.7E-308 to 1.7E+308 |
| long double | 10 | 3.4E-4932 to 1.1E+4932 |
Character Type
Character types are used to store characters value. Size and range of Integer type on 16-bit machine.
| TYPE | SIZE(bytes) | RANGE |
|---|---|---|
| char or signed char | 1 | -128 to 127 |
| unsigned char | 1 | 0 to 255 |
Void Type
The void type means no value. This is usually used to specify the type of functions which returns nothing. We will get acquainted to this datatype as we start learning more advanced topics in C language, like functions, pointers etc.