C Programming: Visual Quickstart Guide

Chapter 13. Advanced Data Types

All of the data types covered in this book so far—numbers, characters, and arrays—have been relatively basic, storing simple values. None of these data types can adequately mimic the kind of real-world information you'll often have to work with. To better handle complex records, you need the more advanced data types discussed in this chapter.

The bulk of the material covers structures, an important tool for the C programmer. We will build on the many ways you can use structures, culminating with linked lists. We'll also briefly introduce enumerated types and unions, two other special formats C has, although neither is as necessary as structures.