Default values in a C Struct

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While macros and/or functions (as already suggested) will work (and might have other positive effects (i.e. debug hooks)), they are more complex than needed. The simplest and possibly most elegant solution is to just define a constant that you use for variable initialisation:

const struct foo FOO_DONT_CARE = { // or maybe FOO_DEFAULT or something
    dont_care, dont_care, dont_care, dont_care
};
...
struct foo bar = FOO_DONT_CARE;
bar.id = 42;
bar.current_route = new_route;
update(&bar);

This code has virtually no mental overhead of understanding the indirection, and it is very clear which fields in bar you set explicitly while (safely) ignoring those you do not set.

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