A pointer is a special type of variable that holds the address of another variable. Think of it as a way to find where a value is stored in memory.
// Declaring a pointer to an integer int* ptr; // Declaring a pointer to a float float *ptr;
To declare a pointer, you specify the type of data it points to followed by an asterisk (*) and the pointer's name.
// Pointer to an integer int* numPtr; // Pointer to a float float *floatPtr;
You can get the memory address of a variable by using the address-of operator (&). This tells you where the variable is stored in memory.
// Assume 'var' is an integer variable int var = 10; int* ptr = &var // ptr now holds the address of var
To access the value stored at the address a pointer is pointing to, use the dereference operator (*). This lets you read or modify the value directly.
// Assume 'ptr' is a pointer to an integer int value = *ptr; // Gets the value stored at the address ptr points to
Pointers can be moved to the next or previous memory location by incrementing or decrementing them. This is useful when working with arrays.
// Incrementing a pointer moves it to the next memory location int* ptr = &var ptr++; // Moves to the next integer location
Arrays can be accessed using pointers. A pointer to the first element of the array can be used to navigate through the entire array.
// Accessing array elements with a pointer int arr[] = {1, 2, 3}; int* ptr = arr; // Points to the first element int firstElement = *ptr; // 1 int secondElement = *(ptr + 1); // 2
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