What Is Enumerated Data Type With Example?

What Is Enumerated Data Type With Example?

An enumerated data type is a user-defined data type in programming that consists of a set of named values. These named values, known as enumerators, represent all possible values that the variable of the enumerated type can take.

Enumerated data types are primarily used to define variables with a limited number of distinct values.

Defining an Enumerated Data Type

To define an enumerated data type in most programming languages, you use the enum keyword followed by the name of the enum and a list of its possible values enclosed in curly braces. Each value is separated by a comma. Here’s an example:

enum Days {
    Monday,
    Tuesday,
    Wednesday,
    Thursday,
    Friday,
    Saturday,
    Sunday
}

In this example, we have defined an enum called “Days” with seven possible values representing each day of the week.

Using Enumerated Data Types

Once you have defined an enumerated data type, you can declare variables of that type and assign them one of the enum’s values. For example:

Days today = Days.Wednesday;

In this case, we have declared a variable called “today” of type “Days” and assigned it the value “Wednesday”. The variable can only store one of the predefined enum values.

Benefits of Enumerated Data Types:

• Type Safety: Enumerations provide compile-time safety, meaning that if you try to assign an invalid value to an enum variable, the compiler will raise an error.
• Readability: Enumerated data types make the code more readable by using descriptive names for values instead of arbitrary numbers or strings.
• Maintainability: By using enumerated data types, you can easily modify and extend your code in the future. For example, if you want to add a new value to an enum, you can simply update its definition without worrying about changing all occurrences of that value in your code.

Example Usage:

Let’s say we are building a calendar application, and we want to display the current day of the week. We can use an enum to represent the days and utilize it as follows:

enum Days {
    Monday,
    Tuesday,
    Wednesday,
    Thursday,
    Friday,
    Saturday,
    Sunday
}

Days getCurrentDay() {
    // Some logic to determine the current day
}

// Get the current day and display it
Days today = getCurrentDay();
console.log("Today is " + today);

In this example, we have defined an enum for days of the week and used a function “getCurrentDay()” to determine the current day dynamically. We then assign that value to a variable called “today” and display it using console.log().

In conclusion, enumerated data types provide a convenient way to define variables with a limited set of possible values. They enhance readability, maintainability, and type safety in your code.