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What is the main function of sizeof (I am new to C++). For instance
int k=7;
char t='Z';
What do sizeof (k) or sizeof (int) and sizeof (char) mean?
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Sizeof is a much used operator in the C or C++. It is a compile time unary operator which can be used to compute the size of its operand. The result of sizeof is of unsigned integral type which is usually denoted by size_t.
The sizeof operator applied to a type name yields the amount of memory that can be used by an object of that type, including any internal or trailing padding. The result is the total number of bytes in the array. For example, in an array with 10 elements, the size is equal to 10 times the size of a single element.
sizeof() operator in C++ The sizeof() is an operator that evaluates the size of data type, constants, variable. It is a compile-time operator as it returns the size of any variable or a constant at the compilation time.
Need of sizeof() operator Mainly, programs know the storage size of the primitive data types. Though the storage size of the data type is constant, it varies when implemented in different platforms. For example, we dynamically allocate the array space by using sizeof() operator: int *ptr=malloc(10*sizeof(int));
sizeof(x) returns the amount of memory (in bytes) that the variable or type x occupies. It has nothing to do with the value of the variable.
For example, if you have an array of some arbitrary type T then the distance between elements of that array is exactly sizeof(T).
int a[10];
assert(&(a[0]) + sizeof(int) == &(a[1]));
When used on a variable, it is equivalent to using it on the type of that variable:
T x;
assert(sizeof(T) == sizeof(x));
As a rule-of-thumb, it is best to use the variable name where possible, just in case the type changes:
int x;
std::cout << "x uses " << sizeof(x) << " bytes." << std::endl
// If x is changed to a char, then the statement doesn't need to be changed.
// If we used sizeof(int) instead, we would need to change 2 lines of code
// instead of one.
When used on user-defined types, sizeof still returns the amount of memory used by instances of that type, but it's worth pointing out that this does not necessary equal the sum of its members.
struct Foo { int a; char b; };
While sizeof(int) + sizeof(char) is typically 5, on many machines, sizeof(Foo) may be 8 because the compiler needs to pad out the structure so that it lies on 4 byte boundaries. This is not always the case, and it's quite possible that on your machine sizeof(Foo) will be 5, but you can't depend on it.
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