IntroductionC Data Types
Data Types
Each data type requires different amounts of memory and has some specific operations which can be performed over it. A variable in C must be a specified data type, and must use a format specifier inside the printf() function to display it:
Common data types used in C:
- char: It stores a single character and requires a single byte of memory
- char: It stores a single character and requires a single byte of memory
- float: It is used to store decimal numbers with single precision.
- double: It is used to store decimal numbers with double precision.
| Data Types | Memory Size | Range |
|---|---|---|
| char | 1 byte | −128 to 127 |
| signed char | 1 byte | −128 to 127 |
| unsigned char | 1 byte | 0 to 255 |
| short | 2 byte | −32,768 to 32,767 |
| signed short | 2 byte | −32,768 to 32,767 |
| unsigned short | 2 byte | 0 to 65,535 |
| int | 2 byte | −32,768 to 32,767 |
| signed int | 2 byte | −32,768 to 32,767 |
| unsigned int | 2 byte | 0 to 65,535 |
| short int | 2 byte | −32,768 to 32,767 |
| signed short int | 2 byte | −32,768 to 32,767 |
| unsigned short int | 2 byte | 0 to 65,535 |
| long int | 4 byte | long int 4 byte -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 |
| signed long int | 4 byte | signed long int 4 byte -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647 |
| unsigned long int | 4 byte | 0 to 4,294,967,295 |
| float | 4 byte | |
| double | 8 byte | |
| long double | 10 byte |
Basic Format Specifiers
There are different format specifiers for each data type. Here are some of them:
| Format Specifier | Data Type |
|---|---|
| %d or %i | int |
| %f | float |
| %c | char |
| %s | strings, |
| %hd | short int |
| %hu | unsigned short int |
| %u | unsigned int |
| %ld | long int |
| %lu | unsigned long int |
| %lld | long long int |
| %llu | unsigned long long int |
| %c | signed char |
| %c | unsigned char |
| %lf | double |
| %Lf | long double |