Broadly, there are 5 different categories of data types in the C language, they are:

Data types in the C language

1. Basic Types

They are arithmetic types and are further classified into: (a) integer types and (b) floating-point types.

2. Enumerated types

They are again arithmetic types and they are used to define variables that can only assign certain discrete integer values throughout the program.

3. The type void

The type specifier void indicates that no value is available.

4. Derived types

They include (a) Pointer types, (b) Array types, (c) Structure types, (d) Union types and (e) Function types.

5. Bool Types

This is define the value true or false

C Primary Data types:

The C language has 5 basic (primary or primitive) data types, they are:

  1. Character- ASCII character set or generally a single alphabet like 'a', 'B', etc.
  2. Integer- Used to store whole numbers like 1, 2, 100, 1000, etc.
  3. Floating-point- Decimal point or real numbers values like 9, 10.5, etc.
  4. Double- Very large numeric values which are not allowed in Integer or Floating point type.
  5. Void- This means no value. This data type is mostly used when we define functions.

C Datatype Value Range

In the table below we have the range for different data types in the C language.

Type

Typical Size in Bits

Minimal Range

Format Specifier

char

8

-127 to 127

%c

unsigned char

8

0 to 255

%c

signed char

8

-127 to 127

%c

int

16 or 32

-32,767 to 32,767

%d, %i

unsigned int

16 or 32

0 to 65,535

%u

signed int

16 or 32

Same as int

%d, %i

short int

16

-32,767 to 32,767

%hd

unsigned short int

16

0 to 65,535

%hu

signed short int

16

Same as short int

%hd

long int

32

-2,147,483,647 to 2,147,483,647

%ld, %li

long long int

64

-(263 - 1) to 263 - 1 (Added by C99 standard)

%lld, %lli

signed long int

32

Same as long int

%ld, %li

unsigned long int

32

0 to 4,294,967,295

%lu

unsigned long long int

64

264 - 1 (Added by C99 standard)

%llu

float

32

1E-37 to 1E+37 with six digits of precision

%f

double

64

1E-37 to 1E+37 with ten digits of precision

%lf

long double

80

1E-37 to 1E+37 with ten digits of precision

%Lf

What happens if the value is out of Range?

If you try to assign a value to any datatype which is more than the allowed range of value, then the C language compiler will give an error.