C Enumeration

An enumeration in C is a user-defined data type that consists of a set of named constants. Enumerations are used to represent a group of named values, making the code easier to read and maintain.

The syntax for defining an enumeration in C is as follows:

1enum enumeration_name
2{
3   constant1,
4   constant2,
5   constant3,
6   ...
7};

Once an enumeration has been defined, you can declare variables of that enumeration type using the enumeration name. For example:

1enum colors
2{
3   red,
4   green,
5   blue
6};
7
8enum colors color;

You can access the values of an enumeration using the enumeration constant names. For example:

1color = red;

Example: Enumeration in C

The following example demonstrates the use of enumerations in C:

1#include <stdio.h>
2
3enum colors
4{
5   red,
6   green,
7   blue
8};
9
10int main()
11{
12   enum colors color;
13   color = red;
14   printf("The color is: ");
15   switch(color)
16   {
17      case red:
18         printf("red\n");
19         break;
20      case green:
21         printf("green\n");
22         break;
23      case blue:
24         printf("blue\n");
25         break;
26   }
27   return 0;
28}

The output of this program is:

1The color is: red

In this example, an enumeration named colors is defined with three constants: red, green, and blue. A variable color of type colors is declared and initialized with the value red. The value of color is then used in a switch statement to determine which message to print to the console.