Structure and Union C++

[light2]

Hello, I hope you are all doing well. I'm presently learning C++ programming and have been investigating the ideas of structures and unions. However, I've found some difficulties in working with these notions, and I could need some help overcoming them.

Below is a snippet of the code I've been grappling with:

#include <iostream>

struct MyStruct {
    int x;
    char y;
};

union MyUnion {
    int x;
    char y;
};

int main() {
    MyStruct s;
    s.x = 10;
    s.y = 'A';

    std::cout << "x: " << s.x << ", y: " << s.y << std::endl;

    MyUnion u;
    u.x = 10;
    std::cout << "x: " << u.x << ", y: " << u.y << std::endl;

    return 0;
}

In this code sample, I have discovered four difficulties that I am attempting to resolve:

1.The structure MyStruct has two members, but I neglected to include an access specifier for them. As a result, the default access specifier (private) is used, which prevents access to the members of the main function. How can I rectify this error and provide adequate access to structure members?
2.When I tried to assign a value to the y member of the structure MyStruct, I got an error message that said "assignment of read-only member 'MyStruct::y'". How can I fix this problem so that I may give values to structure members as needed?
3.While attempting to print the value of the x member of the union MyUnion, I saw an unexpected result. Instead of displaying the numeric number 10, it shows the character value '\n', as shown in the manual. What may be causing this mismatch, and how can I assure accurate results?
4.Lastly, I am confused how to use unions in this scenario. How can I use unions to effectively store many types of data while ensuring accurate value retrieval and interpretation?

Any ideas or direction you can offer to help me handle these challenges and improve my grasp of C++ structures and unions would be highly appreciated. Thank you for the assistance.

 

[meehatpa]

1.The structure MyStruct has two members, but I neglected to include an access specifier for them. As a result, the default access specifier (private) is used, which prevents access to the members of the main function. How can I rectify this error and provide adequate access to structure members?

Access specifier for struct is public by default.

2.When I tried to assign a value to the y member of the structure MyStruct, I got an error message that said "assignment of read-only member 'MyStruct::y'". How can I fix this problem so that I may give values to structure members as needed?

It compiled fine, see https://godbolt.org/z/659r81qjo

3.While attempting to print the value of the x member of the union MyUnion, I saw an unexpected result. Instead of displaying the numeric number 10, it shows the character value '\n', as shown in the manual. What may be causing this mismatch, and how can I assure accurate results?

It shows 10, see the link above. What compiler are you using?

4.Lastly, I am confused how to use unions in this scenario. How can I use unions to effectively store many types of data while ensuring accurate value retrieval and interpretation?

Unions will "share" the same memory, so at a time you should be interpreting the same memory. For example, if you want the bit representation of a float value, it could be a union of a float and an int.