How is the size of a struct with Bit Fields determined/measured?

Question

#include <stdio.h>

typedef struct size
{
        unsigned int a:1;
        unsigned int b:31;
        unsigned int c:1;
} mystruct;

int main()
{
        mystruct a;
        printf("%d", sizeof(a));
        return 0;
}

• With int b:31, the output is 8.
• With int b:1, the output is 4.
• With int b:32, the output is 12.

Can somebody explain the reason for this?

Answer 1

It is the order that matters. The following code will give Output: 8

#include<stdio.h>

typedef struct size
{
        unsigned int b:32;
        unsigned int a:1;
        unsigned int c:1;
}mystruct;

int main(int argc, char const *argv[])
{
        mystruct a;
        printf("\n %lu \n",sizeof(a));
        return 0;
}

Unsigned int is a 32 bit integer, occupying 4 bytes. Memory is allocated contiguously in memory.

---

Option 1:

unsigned int a:1;       // First 4 bytes are allocated
unsigned int b:31;      // Will get accomodated in the First 4 bytes
unsigned int c:1;       // Second 4 bytes are allocated

Output: 8

---

Option 2:

unsigned int a:1;       // First 4 bytes are allocated
unsigned int b:32;      // Will NOT get accomodated in the First 4 bytes, Second 4 bytes are allocated
unsigned int c:1;       // Will NOT get accomodated in the Second 4 bytes, Third 4 bytes are allocated

Output: 12

---

Option 3:

unsigned int a:1;       // First 4 bytes are allocated
unsigned int b:1;       // Will get accomodated in the First 4 bytes
unsigned int c:1;       // Will get accomodated in the First 4 bytes

Output: 4

---

Option 4:

unsigned int b:32;      // First 4 bytes are allocated
unsigned int a:1;       // Second 4 bytes are allocated
unsigned int c:1;       // Will get accomodated in the Second 4 bytes

Output: 8