Hi Guys,

It has been ages since I used structs and I am drawing a blank.

This code isn't compiling for me. Could you please let me know where I am going wrong?

struct color
{
     int r;
     int g;
     int b;
};
 
struct color c_aqua;
// OK to this point, but fails at the following lines.
c_aqua.r=0;
c_aqua.g=255;
c_aqua.b=255;

Thanks in advance :)

I don't think you need the second 'struct ' ( in the declaration).

Hmmm, turns out that it doesn't like me initialising the struct outside of the main function.

Oh, well. All good now :)

Thanks guys.

I don't think you need the second 'struct ' ( in the declaration).

Assuming you mean the 'struct color c_aqua' bit, this is absolutely required in C (though not in C++). The usual trick in C to avoid the need to retype the 'struct' keyword is to use a typedef:

typedef struct foo foo;
struct foo {
   /* fields */
};

foo bar; // now legal C

Hmmm, turns out that it doesn't like me initialising the struct outside of the main function.

Oh, well. All good now

Thanks guys.

You can do it, you need to initialize it with an initializing syntax:

struct color
{
     int r;
     int g;
     int b;
};
struct color c_aqua = {0, 255, 255};
// or if you use c99:
struct color c_yellow = {.r=255, .g=255, .b=0};
 
int main(void){
    return 0;
}

Hmmm, turns out that it doesn't like me initialising the struct outside of the main function.

Oh, well. All good now

Thanks guys.

You can do it, you need to initialize it with an initializing syntax:

struct color
{
     int r;
     int g;
     int b;
};
struct color c_aqua = {0, 255, 255};
// or if you use c99:
struct color c_yellow = {.r=255, .g=255, .b=0};
 
int main(void){
    return 0;
}

Nice one! Thanks also :)

Assuming you mean the 'struct color c_aqua' bit, this is absolutely required in C (though not in C++). The usual trick in C to avoid the need to retype the 'struct' keyword is to use a typedef:

I think thats a common C++ thing as well using typedef, I've seen a lot of people using it alot.

It's quite pointless in C++ and not common at all in idiomatic code.

In C, struct and enum have their own "namespaces" (no relation to the C++ concept of that name), hence the need to prefix their use. Typedefs go into the enclosing scope/namespace which is why the typedef removes the need to use the prefix. In C++, structs, classes, and enums are all automatically imported into the enclosing namespace though the prefixed use is still allowed for backwards compatibility reasons (and a few esoteric corner cases).

Maybe you've just seen lots of old C code that was ported to C++? Or you might be thinking of uses in templates to disambiguate dependent types, though that should always be spelled 'typename' in C++03 or later code. Or some other use of typedef.