Confusion with `struct` alignment causing unexpected results in C with GCC
I'm sure I'm missing something obvious here, but I am working with unexpected behavior with a `struct` in C when compiling with GCC (version 11.1)... The scenario arises when I try to access a member of the struct after allocating memory for it. I have defined my struct as follows: ```c typedef struct { char a; int b; short c; } MyStruct; ``` After dynamically allocating memory for it using `malloc`, I initialize the members: ```c MyStruct *myStruct = (MyStruct *)malloc(sizeof(MyStruct)); if (myStruct == NULL) { perror("Failed to allocate memory"); exit(EXIT_FAILURE); } myStruct->a = 'x'; myStruct->b = 42; myStruct->c = 7; ``` However, when I print out the values, I get unexpected results for `b` and `c`: ```c printf("a: %c, b: %d, c: %d\n", myStruct->a, myStruct->b, myStruct->c); ``` The output is strange, as `b` sometimes prints as a large negative number instead of `42`. I suspect this might be due to memory alignment issues. I have read about how different compilers align struct members differently, but I am unsure how to handle this properly. I also tried using `#pragma pack` to adjust the alignment: ```c #pragma pack(1) typedef struct { char a; int b; short c; } MyStruct; #pragma pack() ``` This didn’t seem to help either, and I still get the same odd behavior. Is there something I am missing regarding struct memory layout or initialization? How can I ensure that `myStruct` is managed correctly in terms of memory alignment and initialization? I'm working on a web app that needs to handle this. For context: I'm using C on Windows. Is there a better approach? I'm working on a application that needs to handle this. What's the correct way to implement this?