Question on unions

[rabster]

What exactly are they used for and please help me with a few questions.

  union { //Why am I able to have no name for a union? How would you call this?
    int a;
    int b;
    int c;
}something; /*I've seen this at the end sometimes and what is this? What is its
purpose and when should I use it?*/

[E0p9LyTq]

http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/other_data_types/

Scroll down for the parts on Unions and Anonymous Unions.

[keanedawg]

I don't have much background, but what you're talking about appears to be called an "anoynmous union". You can also do this for structs.

http://www.informit.com/guides/content.aspx?g=cplusplus&seqNum=557