of course can't do this typedef struct { char name[50] = "not_set_yet"; int ssn = 111223333; } employee; is: employee emp1 = {"not_set_yet", 111223333}; the only way? what is the most elegant way to have default values for all instances of that type of struct?
You write it as C++, and supply a default constructor function. Or if you're stuck with C, then your approach is one of several roughly equal approaches. None of which would be as elegant as using C++.
Of course I cannot use C++ (must be pure C) or question would be trivial. Thanks technosavvy, I will just zero out all fields as you suggest, makes it a little cleaner.