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Difference Betweet Array and Structure

Arrays are homogeneous collections stored in contiguous memory locations, while structures are heterogeneous collections of members of potentially different types stored separately. The key differences are in data organization, memory allocation, accessing elements, size determination, homogeneity vs heterogeneity, memory layout, usage, passing to functions, initialization, and memory overhead.

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11 views2 pages

Difference Betweet Array and Structure

Arrays are homogeneous collections stored in contiguous memory locations, while structures are heterogeneous collections of members of potentially different types stored separately. The key differences are in data organization, memory allocation, accessing elements, size determination, homogeneity vs heterogeneity, memory layout, usage, passing to functions, initialization, and memory overhead.

Uploaded by

Saurabh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as TXT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Certainly, here are ten key differences between arrays and structures in

programming:

1. **Data Organization**:
- Arrays are homogeneous collections of elements of the same data type, stored
in contiguous memory locations.
- Structures are heterogeneous collections of elements, known as members, each
of which may be of a different data type, stored in separate memory locations.

2. **Memory Allocation**:
- Arrays allocate memory for a fixed number of elements of the same data type.
- Structures allocate memory for a collection of members, each with its own data
type, whose sizes may vary.

3. **Accessing Elements**:
- Array elements are accessed using index notation, with contiguous memory
locations facilitating direct access to elements.
- Structure members are accessed using member access operators (dot notation in
languages like C), accessing individual members by name.

4. **Size Determination**:
- The size of an array is determined by the number of elements it contains,
multiplied by the size of each element.
- The size of a structure is determined by the sum of the sizes of its members,
accounting for any padding or alignment requirements imposed by the compiler.

5. **Homogeneity vs. Heterogeneity**:


- Arrays store elements of the same data type, facilitating operations like
sorting and searching on homogeneous data.
- Structures store members of potentially different data types, allowing for the
representation of complex data entities with different attributes.

6. **Memory Layout**:
- Array elements are stored sequentially in memory, with each element occupying
a fixed-size slot.
- Structure members are stored in memory according to their declaration order,
potentially with padding or alignment added by the compiler for efficiency.

7. **Usage**:
- Arrays are commonly used to store collections of similar data elements, such
as a list of integers or characters.
- Structures are used to represent composite data types, such as a person's
information (name, age, address), where each member holds a different aspect of the
data.

8. **Passing to Functions**:
- Arrays can be passed to functions as pointers, enabling efficient manipulation
of large datasets and facilitating operations like sorting and searching.
- Structures can be passed to functions either by value or by reference,
allowing for the modification of structure members within functions.

9. **Initialization**:
- Arrays can be initialized using a list of values enclosed in curly braces,
with each value corresponding to an element of the array.
- Structures can be initialized using designated initializers or by assigning
values to individual members during declaration or after declaration.

10. **Memory Overhead**:


- Arrays have minimal memory overhead, as they consist solely of the elements
they contain.
- Structures may incur additional memory overhead due to padding or alignment
requirements, especially when dealing with members of different data types.

These differences illustrate how arrays and structures serve distinct purposes in
programming, with arrays focusing on homogeneous data storage and structures
providing a means to organize heterogeneous data into cohesive units.

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