Edureify, the best AI Learning App provides all kinds of informative articles and coding Bootcamp job-ready courses to help students learn the different tools of web development. In this article, Edureify helps students to sharpen their knowledge about another technical tool, i.e., Enumeration in C Language.

Read on to know and learn the concept of Enum C.

What is Enum in C?

Enum in C or Enumeration is a special kind of data type defined by the users. Enum in C consists of constant integrals or integers that are given names by a user.

The use of Enum in C is to name the integer values. This naming process makes the entire program easy to learn, understand, and maintain by the same or different programmers.

Syntax to Define Enum in C

Using an ‘enum’ keyword in C defines an enum. Along with the keyword, using a comma separates the constants within.

The following is the basic syntax that defines an enum-

enum enum_name{int_const1, int_const2, int_const3,…int_constN};

In this syntax, the default value of int_const1 is 0, int_const2 is 1, int_const3 is 2, and so on. A programmer however can change these default values while declaring the enum. The following is an example of an enum named cars and how one can change its default values-

enum cars{BMW, Ferrari, Jeep, Mercedes-Benz};

Here, the default values of the constants are-

BMW= 0, Ferrari= 1, Jeep= 2, and Mercedes-Benz= 3. To change these default values, one can define the enum as follows-

enum cars{
BMW= 3,
Ferrari= 5,
Jeep= 0,
Mercedes-Benz= 1
};

Creating a Variable using Enumerated type declaration

Much like pre-defined data types such as int and char, one can also declare a variable for enum and other user-defined data types.

Here is how one can create a variable for enum-

enum condition (true, false); //declaring the enum
enum condition e; //declaring the enum

Creating and Implementing Enum in C Program

After learning how to define an enum and create variables for it, let us now learn how to implement an enum in C programs with the following example.

Example: Printing the values of Weekdays

#include <studio.h>
           enum days{Sunday=1, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday};
int main(){
           // printing the values of weekdays
            for(int i= Sunday;i<=Saturday;i++){
              printf(“%d, “,i);
           }
           return 0;
}
Output-
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

In this code, it declared an enum named days consisting of the name of the weekdays starting from Sunday.

Why use Enum in C?

Enums are used for constants, i.e. when one wants the variable to have only one specific set of values. There are multiple uses of Enum in C, they are-

  •   Storing constant values
  •   To use flags in C
  •   To use switch-case statements in C

Features of Initializing Enum in C

Here are the features of initializing Enum in C-

  •   Multiple enum names or elements can have the same value
  •   If custom values are not assigned to Enum elements, the compiler will assign default values starting from 0
  •   One can assign values to any elements of enum in any order
  •   All the values assigned to the elements of enum must be an integral constant
  •   All the enum elements and constants must have a unique scope

Macro Vs. Enum in C

Macro in C is also used to define named constants. However, developers prefer using Enum in C over Macro in C due its various advantages.

The two essential benefit of Enum in C over Macro are-

  • Enum follows the Scope rule
  • Compiler can assign values to Enum elements automatically making declaration easier

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Some FAQs on Enum in C-

1. What is Enum in C?

Enum in C or Enumeration is a special kind of data type defined by the users. Enum in C consists of constant integrals or integers that are given names by a user.

2. What is the use of Enum in C?

The use of Enum in C is to name the integer values. This naming process makes the entire program easy to learn, understand, and maintain by the same or different programmers.

3. Mention the uses of Enum in C.

The uses of Enum in C are-

  •   Storing constant values
  •   To use flags in C
  •   To use switch-case statements in C

4. What is the basic syntax to define Enum in C?

The following is the basic syntax that defines an enum-

enum enum_name{int_const1, int_const2, int_const3,…int_constN};

5. From where can I learn more about Enum in C and other coding tools?

Edureify with its coding Bootcamp job-ready courses provides all the important courses to help students get the Full-Stack Web Development Certification Courses.

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