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C Pointers Arithmetics

Pointer arithmetic allows pointers to be incremented or decremented to point to successive or preceding memory locations. When a pointer is incremented or decremented, it moves by the size of the data type being pointed to (e.g. 4 bytes for an integer). An array of pointers stores pointers in array elements, allowing each element to point to a different data item like an integer or string. This avoids copying data and allows flexible data structures like lists of strings.

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Indresh B Rajwade
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115 views

C Pointers Arithmetics

Pointer arithmetic allows pointers to be incremented or decremented to point to successive or preceding memory locations. When a pointer is incremented or decremented, it moves by the size of the data type being pointed to (e.g. 4 bytes for an integer). An array of pointers stores pointers in array elements, allowing each element to point to a different data item like an integer or string. This avoids copying data and allows flexible data structures like lists of strings.

Uploaded by

Indresh B Rajwade
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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C - Pointer arithmetic

A pointer in c is an address, which is a numeric value. Therefore, you can


perform arithmetic operations on a pointer just as you can on a numeric value.
There are four arithmetic operators that can be used on pointers: ++, --, +, and
-
To understand pointer arithmetic, let us consider that ptr is an integer pointer
which points to the address 1000. Assuming 32-bit integers, let us perform the
following arithmetic operation on the pointer −
ptr++
After the above operation, the ptr will point to the location 1004 because each
time ptr is incremented, it will point to the next integer location which is 4 bytes
next to the current location. This operation will move the pointer to the next
memory location without impacting the actual value at the memory location.
If ptr points to a character whose address is 1000, then the above operation
will point to the location 1001 because the next character will be available at
1001.

Incrementing a Pointer
We prefer using a pointer in our program instead of an array because the
variable pointer can be incremented, unlike the array name which cannot be
incremented because it is a constant pointer. The following program
increments the variable pointer to access each succeeding element of the
array −
#include <stdio.h>

const int MAX = 3;

int main () {

int var[] = {10, 100, 200};


int i, *ptr;

/* let us have array address in pointer */


ptr = var;

for ( i = 0; i < MAX; i++) {

printf("Address of var[%d] = %x\n", i, ptr );


printf("Value of var[%d] = %d\n", i, *ptr );

/* move to the next location */


ptr++;
}

return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result –
Address of var[0] = bf882b30
Value of var[0] = 10
Address of var[1] = bf882b34
Value of var[1] = 100
Address of var[2] = bf882b38
Value of var[2] = 200

Decrementing a Pointer
The same considerations apply to decrementing a pointer, which decreases its
value by the number of bytes of its data type as shown below −
#include <stdio.h>

const int MAX = 3;

int main () {

int var[] = {10, 100, 200};


int i, *ptr;

/* let us have array address in pointer */


ptr = &var[MAX-1];

for ( i = MAX; i > 0; i--) {

printf("Address of var[%d] = %x\n", i-1, ptr );


printf("Value of var[%d] = %d\n", i-1, *ptr );

/* move to the previous location */


ptr--;
}

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result −
Address of var[2] = bfedbcd8
Value of var[2] = 200
Address of var[1] = bfedbcd4
Value of var[1] = 100
Address of var[0] = bfedbcd0
Value of var[0] = 10

Pointer Comparisons
Pointers may be compared by using relational operators, such as ==, <, and >.
If p1 and p2 point to variables that are related to each other, such as elements
of the same array, then p1 and p2 can be meaningfully compared.
The following program modifies the previous example − one by incrementing
the variable pointer so long as the address to which it points is either less than
or equal to the address of the last element of the array, which is &var[MAX - 1]
−
#include <stdio.h>

const int MAX = 3;

int main () {

int var[] = {10, 100, 200};


int i, *ptr;

/* let us have address of the first element in pointer */


ptr = var;
i = 0;

while ( ptr <= &var[MAX - 1] ) {

printf("Address of var[%d] = %x\n", i, ptr );


printf("Value of var[%d] = %d\n", i, *ptr );

/* point to the next location */


ptr++;
i++;
}

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result −
Address of var[0] = bfdbcb20
Value of var[0] = 10
Address of var[1] = bfdbcb24
Value of var[1] = 100
Address of var[2] = bfdbcb28
Value of var[2] = 200
C - Array of pointers
Before we understand the concept of arrays of pointers, let us consider the
following example, which uses an array of 3 integers −
#include <stdio.h>

const int MAX = 3;

int main () {

int var[] = {10, 100, 200};


int i;

for (i = 0; i < MAX; i++) {


printf("Value of var[%d] = %d\n", i, var[i] );
}

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result −
Value of var[0] = 10
Value of var[1] = 100
Value of var[2] = 200
There may be a situation when we want to maintain an array, which can store
pointers to an int or char or any other data type available. Following is the
declaration of an array of pointers to an integer −
int *ptr[MAX]; or int *ptr[10];
It declares ptr as an array of MAX integer pointers. Thus, each element in ptr,
holds a pointer to an int value. The following example uses three integers,
which are stored in an array of pointers, as follows −
#include <stdio.h>

const int MAX = 3;

int main () {

int var[] = {10, 100, 200};


int i, *ptr[MAX];

for ( i = 0; i < MAX; i++) {


ptr[i] = &var[i]; /* assign the address of integer. */
}

for ( i = 0; i < MAX; i++) {


printf("Value of var[%d] = %d\n", i, *ptr[i] );
}
return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result −
Value of var[0] = 10
Value of var[1] = 100
Value of var[2] = 200
You can also use an array of pointers to character to store a list of strings as
follows −
#include <stdio.h>

const int MAX = 4;

int main () {

char *names[] = {
"Zara Ali",
"Hina Ali",
"Nuha Ali",
"Sara Ali"
};

int i = 0;

for ( i = 0; i < MAX; i++) {


printf("Value of names[%d] = %s\n", i, names[i] );
}

return 0;
}

When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following
result −
Value of names[0] = Zara Ali
Value of names[1] = Hina Ali
Value of names[2] = Nuha Ali
Value of names[3] = Sara Ali

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