error: invalid initializer

Code:

---

#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>

typedef struct foo
{
    unsigned int a:16;
    unsigned int b:8;
    unsigned int c:4;
} foo;

int main( void )
{
    foo duh = malloc(sizeof(foo));
struct foo *fe = duh;
    return 0;
}

---

I keep getting this error error: invalid initializer for malloc duh
I also get error: incompatible types in initialization for the pointer pointing to duh Y are these errors

malloc() returns a pointer. You are assigning a pointer value to something that is not a pointer.

Perhaps it's your tag name and variable name both being "foo" that is confusing malloc?

edit - or what bithub said!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay so i got rid of Malloc for the first error to go away
but I still cant get the pointer to point to the struct ? how is that suppose to look

Code:

---

struct foo *fe = &duh;

---

For what it's worth, if you want bit fields with common sizes like 8 or 16, you can just use unsigned char and unsigned short. You can even use typedefs if you like.

Code:

---

typedef unsigned short uint_16;

---

[That particular name might be defined elsewhere; it is in C, not sure about C++.]