The role of enum in c language

enum is a keyword in C language to create an enumeration type, used to represent a series of named constants. It is used through the following steps: Define the enumeration type: enum Enumeration type name {constant1, constant2, ..., constantn} Declare the enumeration type variable assignment and use the enumeration value Enumeration type provides readability, type Security, code reuse, and memory efficiency.

enum in C language

What is an enum?

enum is a keyword used to create enumeration types. An enumeration type is a type that represents discrete values, usually a set of named constants.

How to use enum?

To define an enum type, use the following syntax:

<code class="c">enum 枚举类型名 {
  常量1,
  常量2,
  ...
  常量n
};</code>

For example:

<code class="c">enum direction {
  NORTH,
  EAST,
  SOUTH,
  WEST
};</code>

In this example, the direction type The variable can take on the following values: NORTH, EAST, SOUTH, or WEST.

The role of enum

Using enum has the following advantages:

• Readability:It makes The code is more readable because you can use meaningful names to represent enum values ​​instead of bare values ​​or magic numbers.
• Type safety: It helps prevent assignment errors because only enumeration values ​​can be assigned to enumeration type variables.
• Code Reuse: Enumeration types can be used in multiple modules or files, allowing for code reuse and consistency.
• Memory Efficiency: Enumeration values ​​are typically stored as integers, so they are more memory efficient than other types (such as strings).

Example:

<code class="c">#include <stdio.h>

enum direction {
  NORTH,
  EAST,
  SOUTH,
  WEST
};

int main() {
  enum direction dir = NORTH;

  switch (dir) {
    case NORTH:
      printf("朝北\n");
      break;
    case EAST:
      printf("朝东\n");
      break;
    case SOUTH:
      printf("朝南\n");
      break;
    case WEST:
      printf("朝西\n");
      break;
  }

  return 0;
}</code>

Output:

<code>朝北</code>

The above is the detailed content of The role of enum in c language. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!