54.Structures in part - 5 passing structure variable as an argument using call by reference

A struct in the C programming language (and many derivatives) is a complex data type declaration that defines a physically grouped list of variables to be placed under one name in a block of memory, allowing the different variables to be accessed via a single pointer, or the struct declared name which returns the same address. The struct can contain many other complex and simple data types in an association, so is a natural organizing type for records like the mixed data types in lists of directory entries reading a hard drive (file length, name, extension, physical (cylinder, disk, head indexes) address, etc.), or other mixed record type (patient names, address, telephone... insurance codes, balance, etc.).

The C struct directly corresponds to the Assembly Language data type of the same use, and both reference a contiguous block of physical memory, usually delimited (sized) by word-length boundaries. Language implementations which could utilize half-word or byte boundaries (giving denser packing, using less memory) were considered advanced in the mid-eighties. Being a block of contiguous memory, each variable within is located a fixed offset from the index zero reference, the pointer. As an illustration, many BASIC interpreters once fielded a string data struct organization with one value recording string length, one indexing (cursor value of) the previous line, one pointing the string data.

Because the contents of a struct are stored in contiguous memory, the sizeof operator can be used to get the number of bytes needed to store a particular type of struct, just as it can be used for primitives. The alignment of particular fields in the struct (with respect to word boundaries) is implementation-specific and may include padding, although modern compilers typically support the #pragma pack directive, which changes the size in bytes used for alignment.

Structures and unions in C are defined as data containers consisting of a sequence of named members of various types. They are similar to records in other programming languages. The members of a structure are stored in consecutive locations in memory, although the compiler is allowed to insert padding between or after members (but not before the first member) for efficiency or as padding required for proper alignment by the target architecture. The size of a structure is equal to the sum of the sizes of its members, plus the size of the padding.

Structures are declared with the struct keyword and unions are declared with the union keyword. The specifier keyword is followed by an optional identifier name, which is used to identify the form of the structure or union. The identifier is followed by the declaration of the structure or union's body: a list of member declarations, contained within curly braces, with each declaration terminated by a semicolon. Finally, the declaration concludes with an optional list of identifier names, which are declared as instances of the structure or union.

[TheManumanohar]

size of struct=size of the individual datatypes +size of padding . thank you very much sir :)