C array initialization at end of struct

Question

I'm learning C and I am confused about this stuct I came across, but I think maybe it is short hand for simply creating a struct array.

struct myStruct
{
    char *name;
    int id;
} myList[] = {
  {"bob", 1},
  {"joe", 2}
};

Is the same as

struct myStruct
{
    char *name;
    int id;
};
struct myStruct myList[]  = {
  {"bob", 1},
  {"joe", 2}
};

Or am I wrong?

Isn't ("bob", 1) identical to 1? Otherwise, yes, it's equivalent. But don't forget the semicolon after the struct definition. — cadaniluk
– cadaniluk, Commented Apr 4, 2016 at 18:56
For me it doesn't compile on gcc with -std=c11 flag. This doesn't seem to be standard C. — blazs
– blazs, Commented Apr 4, 2016 at 18:57
At first I thought this code won't compile because it is assigning const char* to char* , but it did. I am confused now — SwiftMango
– SwiftMango, Commented Apr 4, 2016 at 19:04

Sergey Kalinichenko · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-04 19:00:22Z

2

Yes, it is the same. The first syntax is useful in situations when you would like to keep the type of your struct anonymous:

struct {
    char *name;
    int id;
} myList[] = {
    {"bob", 1},
    {"joe", 2}
};

answered Apr 4, 2016 at 19:00

Sergey Kalinichenko

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2 Comments

BarryBones41 Over a year ago

Why would I want to do that?

Sergey Kalinichenko Over a year ago

@BarryBones41 Sometimes you just don't need a tag name for your struct - for example, when you never declare the same struct in any other place, and the struct itself is local to a file (i.e. static) or local to a function in which it is declared.

cadaniluk · Accepted Answer · 2016-04-04 19:02:27Z

2

Yes. They are same. It is similar to

int i = 1;

and

int i;
i = 1;

edited Apr 4, 2016 at 19:02

cadaniluk

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answered Apr 4, 2016 at 19:00

haccks

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