typedef and struct

Learn to give a struct a short name with typedef.

typedef and struct

typedef gives a new name to a type. Used with struct, it saves you from writing struct every time. Declaration: typedef struct { ... } Person;.

Example: typedef struct { char name[32]; int age; } Person;. From then on you write Person p; instead of struct Person p;. This shortens code and improves readability. The type name is defined once and used throughout the program with the short name. This pattern is the foundation of data abstraction in C and gives consistent type names in large projects.

The Person struct

A Person struct holds name and age fields together. After defining with typedef, declaring variables and accessing fields becomes easy.

Example: Person p = {"Ayşe", 25}; creates a person. p.name gives the name, p.age the age. printf("%s %d\n", p.name, p.age); prints both fields. Values in braces map to the struct fields in order. This is the standard C way to represent record-like data; each field carries one attribute.

Exercise Write the Person struct

Define typedef struct { char name[32]; int age; } Person;. In main create Person p = {"Ayşe", 25};. Print with printf("%s %d\n", p.name, p.age);.

Show example solution

#include <stdio.h>

typedef struct {
    char name[32];
    int age;
} Person;

int main(void) {
    Person p = {"Ayşe", 25};
    printf("%s %d\n", p.name, p.age);
    return 0;
}

Test yourself

What does typedef struct provide?
- Less memory usage
- Faster compilation
- Avoids writing struct every time
- Automatic cleanup
Show answer

Avoids writing struct every time — typedef avoids repeating the struct keyword.

Complete the Person variable

Person p = {"Ayşe", ____};

Show answer

Person p = {"Ayşe", 25};

Match the typedef struct parts

typedef

Naming
struct

Struct definition
Person

Short name
p.name

Field access

Next lesson: typedef and function pointer

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