**C struct**, short for C Structure, is an user-defined data type available in C. It allows a user to combine data items of possibly different data types under a single name.

C structs are different from arrays because arrays hold data of similar data-types only. C struct, on the other hand, can store data of multiple data-types.

Each element in the structure is called a **member**.

# Syntax
A structure is defined by using the `struct` keyword. A structure is a possible collection of primary data types and other structures as well.


- The `structure_name` holds the name we want to give to our structure.
- `data_type variable` is the C variables of different data types like `int`, `char`, `float` etc.

struct structure_name
{
    //data_type variable 1
    //data_type variable 2
    //data_type variable 3
    ...
};

# Defining a structure

The code below initializes a structure `Employee` having three member variables:

- **`name`:** An array of `char` type.
- **`age`:** A variable of `int` type.
- **`salary`:** A variable of `float` type.

struct Employee
{
  char name[50];
  int age;
  float salary;
};

# Initializing a structure

Structures can be assigned values when they are initialized. 

**Before initialization:**

struct Employee
{
  char name[50];
  int age;
  float salary;
};

int main() {
  struct Employee e1 = {"John", 32, 4200};

  //accessing the values in the variable
  printf("Name: %s\n", e1.name);
  printf("Age : %d\n", e1.age);
  printf("Salary : %f\n", e1.salary);
}

struct Employee
{
  char name[50];
  int age;
  float salary;
};

int main() {
  struct Employee e1;
  strcpy(e1.name, "John");
  e1.age = 32;
  e1.salary = 4200;

  //accessing the values in the variable
  printf("Name: %s\n", e1.name);
  printf("Age : %d\n", e1.age);
  printf("Salary : %f\n", e1.salary);
}

# Accessing a Structure
The values in a structure variable can be accessed in the following manner:

What is a C struct?

User-defined C structs group diverse data types, allowing complex data handling under a single name.