Difference Between Array and Structure

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In this post, we will understand the difference between array and structure.

Array

It refers to a collection that consists of elements of homogenous/same data type.
It uses subscripts/ ‘[ ]’ (square brackets) to access the elements.
It is a pointer that points to the first element of the collection.
The array objects can’t be instantiated.
The size of array is fixed based on the number of elements in the array.
This size is the product of number of elements and size of every element.
Bit field is not possible in an array.
It is considered as a primitive data type.
Traversing through and searching for elements in an array is quick and easy.
It can be declared using the ‘[ ]’.
Array size is fixed and is basically the number of elements multiplied by the size of an element.
It is stored in contiguous memory locations.

data_type array_name[size];

It is a collection that consists of elements of heterogenous/dissimilar data types.
It uses the ‘.’ (dot operator) to access the elements.
It isn’t a pointer.
It can be instantiated.
The size is not fixed.
This is because the elements in a structure can be of different data types and sizes.
Bit field is possible to create in a structure.
It can be declared using the ‘struct’ keyword.
It is a user-defined datatype.
Traversing and searching through a structure is slow and complex.
They may or may not be stored in a contiguous memory location.

struct sruct_name {
   data_type1 ele1;
   data_type2 ele2;
};

Updated on 24-Mar-2021 13:34:56