Q: Is there a way to compare structures automatically?
A: No. There is not a good way for a compiler to implement structure comparison (i.e. to support the == operator for structures) which is consistent with C's low-level flavor. A simple byte-by-byte comparison could founder on random bits present in unused ``holes'' in the structure (such padding is used to keep the alignment of later fields correct; see question 2.12). A field-by-field comparison might require unacceptable amounts of repetitive code for large structures. Any compiler-generated comparison could not be expected to compare pointer fields appropriately in all cases: for example, it's often appropriate to compare char * fields with strcmp rather than == (see also question 8.2).
If you need to compare two structures, you'll have to write your own function to do so, field by field.
References:
K&R2 Sec. 6.2 p. 129
Rationale Sec. 3.3.9
H&S Sec. 5.6.2 p. 133
Hosted by
