Pointers and

Arrays

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Every pointer has a type

Every pointer has a value

The address of an object (of a particular type)
All pointers are 8 bytes for x86-64
8 bytes = 64 bits

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The address-of operator: &

The dereference operator: *

Arrays and pointers closely related.

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Pointers and arrays review

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Pointers and arrays review

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 Array allocation
Type ArrayName [Length];

Contiguously allocated region of Length sizeof(Type) bytes

char string[12];
x x + 12

int val[5];
x x + 4 x + 8 x + 12 x + 16 x + 20

double a[3];
x x + 8 x + 16 x + 24

char *p[3];
x x + 8 x + 16 x + 24

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Pointer arithmetic with arrays

char A[12];
int B[8];
double C[6];
int *D[5]

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 animation
Array Accessing Example
int myNums[5];
1 5 2 1 3

16 20 24 28 32 36
%rdi %rsi 4

int get_num (int z[], int num {

Base + Index size
return z[num]; %rdi + %rsi 4
}
(%rdi,%rsi,4)
Assembly Code uses scaled, indexed mode
# On entry:
# %rdi = z
# %rsi = num
movl (%rdi,%rsi,4),%eax

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Practice Problem
short S [7];
short *T [3]
short * * U [6];

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Practice Problem
short S [7];
short *T [3]
short * * U [6];

2 14 x+2i
8 24 x+8i
8 48 x+8i

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Array Loop Example
void zincr(int z[5]) {
size_t i;
for (i = 0; i < 5; i++)
z[i]++;
}

zincr:
# %rdi = z
movl $0, %eax # i = 0
jmp .L3 # goto test
.L4: # loop:
addl $1, (%rdi,%rax,4) # z[i]++
addq $1, %rax # i++
.L3: # test:
cmpq $4, %rax # i:4
jbe .L4 # if <=, goto loop
rep; ret

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 animation
Arrays as function arguments

int foo(int* f) { }

Pointer to the first element of array!

Arrays are passed by reference
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Arrays of pointers

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
char *monthName(int n) {
static char *name[] = {
"Illegal month", "January", "February", "March",
"April", "May", "June", "July", "August",
"September", "October", "November", "December"
};
return ( n < 1 || n > 12 ) ? name[0] : name[n];
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
if (2 != argc) {
fprintf(stderr, "Usage: %s <int>\n", argv[0]);
return 0;`
}
printf("%s\n", monthName(atoi(argv[1])));
return 0;
}
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argv

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 animation
Problem

char *pLines[3];
char *a="abc";
char *d="def";
char *g="ghi";

pLines[0]=a;
pLines[1]=d;
pLines[2]=g;

char ** pLines
char * a
char * a
char a
char a
char a

15
Array access in C

int a[10];
a a+4

a:
a[0] a[4] a[9]

(a+N) == &a[N]
*(a+N) == a[N]

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 animation
Array access examples
int val[5];
val: 1 5 2 1 3

x x+4 x+8 x + 12 x + 16 x + 20

int 3
int * x
int * x+12
int * x+8
int ?
int 5
int * x+4i

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Arrays in Assembly

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 1 5 2 1 3
Example val[0] val[1] val[2] val[3] val[4]

int decimal5 (int *x) { int decimal5_opt (int *x) {

int i; int val = 0;
int val = 0; int *xend = x + 4;

for (i = 0; i < 5; i++) do {

val = (10 * val) + x[i]; val = (10 * val) + *x;
x++;
return val; } while (x <= xend);
}
return val;
}
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decimal5_opt:
leaq 16(%rdi),%rdx
movl $0, %eax
.L45:
leal (%rax,%rax,4),%eax
addl %eax,%eax
addl (%rdi),%eax int decimal5_opt (int *x) {
addq $4,%rdi int val = 0;
cmpq %rdx,%rdi int *xend = x + 4;
jbe .L45
rep ret do {
val = (10 * val) + *x;
x++;
} while (x <= xend);

return val;
}
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Multi-Dimensional Arrays C columns

R rows
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Multi-Dimensional Array Access

C*K

A + 2*C*K + 5*K

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Multi-Dimensional Array Access

row 0 row i row R-1

A[0][0] A[0][C-1] A[i][j] A[R-1][C-1] A[R-1][C-1]

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Multi-Dimensional Array Access

row 0 row i row R-1

A[0][0] A[0][C-1] A[i][j] A[R-1][C-1] A[R-1][C-1]

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Multi-Dimensional Array Access

row 0 row i row R-1

A[0][0] A[0][C-1] A[i][j] A[R-1][C-1] A[R-1][C-1]

A A+(i*C*4) A+((R-1)*C*4)

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Multi-Dimensional Array Access

row 0 row i row R-1

A[0][0] A[0][C-1] A[i][j] A[R-1][C-1] A[R-1][C-1]

A A+(i*C*4) A+((R-1)*C*4)

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Multi-Dimensional Array Access

row 0 row i row R-1

A[0][0] A[0][C-1] A[i][j] A[R-1][C-1] A[R-1][C-1]

A A+(i*C*4) A+((R-1)*C*4)

A+(i*C*4)+(j*4)

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Watch Out For Indexing Errors

A + (C*i + j) * K
= A + (13*3 + 26) * 4
= A + (13*5 + 0) * 4
Same as A[5][0]

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Improving Code Efficiency

A B 29
Dot Product
for i,k
C[i,k] = 0;
for all j
C[i,k] += A[i,j] B[j,k]

A B
j k k

i j i

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 #define N 16
typedef int fix_matrix[N][N];

int fix_prod_ele (fix_matrix A, fix_matrix B, int fix_prod_ele_opt(fix_matrix A,

int i, int k) fix_matrix B, int i, int k)
{ {
int j; int *Aptr = &A[i][0];
int result = 0; int *Bptr = &B[0][k];
int cnt = N - 1;
for (j = 0; j < N; j++) int result = 0;
result += A[i][j] * B[j][k];
do {
return result; result += (*Aptr) * (*Bptr);
} Aptr += 1;
Bptr += N;
cnt--;
} while (cnt >= 0);

return result;
}

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 #define N 16
typedef int fix_matrix[N][N]; f.L50:
movslq %r8d, %rdx
int fix_prod_ele (fix_matrix A, fix_matrix B, int i, int k) movq %rdx, %r9
{
int j; salq $6, %r9
int result = 0; addq %rsi, %r9
movl (%r9,%rcx,4), %r9d
for (j = 0; j < N; j++) imull (%rdi,%rdx,4), %r9d
result += A[i][j] * B[j][k]; addl %r9d, %eax
return result; addl $1, %r8d
} cmpl $15, %r8d
jle .L50
int fix_prod_ele_opt(fix_matrix A, fix_matrix B, int i, int k)
{
int *Aptr = &A[i][0];
int *Bptr = &B[0][k];
int cnt = N - 1;
int result = 0; .L52:
movl (%rcx), %esi
do { imull (%rdi), %esi
result += (*Aptr) * (*Bptr); addl %esi, %eax
Aptr += 1; addq $4, %rdi
Bptr += N; addq $64, %rcx
cnt--; subl $1, %edx
} while (cnt >= 0); jns .L52
return result;
}

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Dynamically Allocated Arrays

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Accessing Dynamic Arrays

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