Modern C, Third Edition

6 Derived data types

This chapter covers

• Grouping objects into arrays
• Using pointers as opaque types
• Combining objects into structures
• Giving types new names with typedef

All other data types in C are derived from the basic types that we know now. There are four strategies for deriving data types. Two of them are called aggregate data types because they combine multiple instances of one or several other data types:

• Arrays These combine items that all have the same base type (section 6.1).
• Structures These combine items that may have different base types (section 6.3).

The two other strategies to derive data types are more involved:

• Pointers Entities that refer to an object in memory. Pointers are by far the most involved concept, ...