How does Enum allocate Memory on C?

Question

I\'m trying to work with C and Assembly (intelx8086) lenguage.

I\'m also using one class a friend of mine gave me that has a

typedef enum data_10 {a=         


        

Answer 1

Although it may vary from compiler to compiler, enum typically takes the same size as an int. To be sure, though, you can always use sizeof( data_10_type );

Answer 2

Why don't you print it?

/* C99 */
#include <stdio.h>

typedef enum { a = 0, b = 7, c = 10 } data_10_type;
printf("%zu\n", sizeof(data_10_type));

The identifiers in an enumerator list are declared as constants that have type int (C11 §6.7.2.2 Enumeration specifiers), so sizeof(data_10_type) is often equal to sizeof(int), but it isn't necessary!

BTW, if you want to have a size in bits, just use the CHAR_BIT constant (defined in <limits.h>), which indicates how many bits there are in a single byte).

/* C99 */
#include <limits.h>
#include <stdio.h>

typedef enum { a = 0, b = 7, c = 10 } data_10_type;
printf("%zu\n", sizeof(data_10_type) * CHAR_BIT);

Answer 3

An enum does not really take any memory at all; it's understood by the compiler and the right numbers get used during compilation. It's an int, whose size is dependent on your system.