Pass Structures

Pass Structure to a Function

You can also pass a structure to a function.

This is useful when you want to work with grouped data inside a function:

Example

struct Car {
  string brand;
  int year;
};

void myFunction(Car
c) {
  cout << "Brand: " << c.brand << ", Year: " << c.year << "\n";
}

int main() {
  Car myCar = {"Toyota", 2020};

myFunction(myCar);
  return 0;
}

Note: Since the structure is passed by value, the function gets a copy of the structure.

This means that the original data is not changed.

Pass by Reference

You can also pass a structure by reference, using &.

This allows the function to modify the original data:

Example

struct Car {
  string brand;
  int year;
};

void updateYear(Car &c) {

c.year++;
}

int main() {
  Car myCar = {"Toyota", 2020};

updateYear(myCar);
  cout << "The " << myCar.brand << " is now from
year " << myCar.year << ".\n";
  return 0;
}

Tip: Use reference if you want the function to change the structure's data, or to avoid copying large structures.