c byte vs char
Difference between char
and byte
in C
In C, both char
and byte
are used to represent a sequence of bits. However, there are some differences between the two.
char
:
- char
is a data type in C that represents a single character or a small integer value.
- It is typically 8 bits in size and can store values ranging from -128 to 127 (assuming a signed char
).
- char
is commonly used to represent characters in text, such as letters, digits, and symbols.
- It can also be used to perform arithmetic operations, as it is internally represented as a number.
- The char
data type is often used to store characters in strings and arrays.
byte
:
- byte
is not a built-in data type in C. It is more commonly used in languages like Java and C#.
- In C, the equivalent of a byte
is typically represented using an unsigned char
.
- An unsigned char
is also 8 bits in size and can store values ranging from 0 to 255.
- Like char
, an unsigned char
can be used to represent characters and perform arithmetic operations.
- However, the term "byte" is often used to emphasize that the value represents a sequence of bits, rather than a character.
To summarize, char
is a built-in data type in C that represents characters and small integers, while byte
is not a built-in data type in C but can be represented using an unsigned char
to emphasize its role as a sequence of bits.