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C++ Pointers and Arrays

The document discusses the relationship between arrays and pointers in C++. It explains that pointers can store the address of array elements, with ptr = arr setting ptr to point to the first element of arr. Pointer arithmetic can then be used to access other elements, such that ptr + 1 points to the second element. The document provides examples demonstrating how to display addresses of array elements using pointers, and how to insert and display data from an array using pointer notation, with the array name acting like a pointer.

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Kim Anh Võ
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142 views

C++ Pointers and Arrays

The document discusses the relationship between arrays and pointers in C++. It explains that pointers can store the address of array elements, with ptr = arr setting ptr to point to the first element of arr. Pointer arithmetic can then be used to access other elements, such that ptr + 1 points to the second element. The document provides examples demonstrating how to display addresses of array elements using pointers, and how to insert and display data from an array using pointer notation, with the array name acting like a pointer.

Uploaded by

Kim Anh Võ
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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C++ Pointers and Arrays

In this tutorial, we will learn about the relation between arrays and pointers
with the help of examples.
In C++, Pointers are variables that hold addresses of other variables. Not only
can a pointer store the address of a single variable, it can also store the
address of cells of an array.
Consider this example:

int *ptr;
int arr[5];

// store the address of the first


// element of arr in ptr
ptr = arr;

Here,  ptr  is a pointer variable while  arr  is an  int  array. The code  ptr =
arr;  stores the address of the first element of the array in variable  ptr .
Notice that we have used  arr  instead of  &arr[0] . This is because both are the
same. So, the code below is the same as the code above.

int *ptr;
int arr[5];
ptr = &arr[0];

The addresses for the rest of the array elements are given
by  &arr[1] ,  &arr[2] ,  &arr[3] , and  &arr[4] .

Point to Every Array Elements


Suppose we need to point to the fourth element of the array using the same
pointer  ptr .
Here, if  ptr  points to the first element in the above example then  ptr + 3  will
point to the fourth element. For example,

int *ptr;
int arr[5];
ptr = arr;

ptr + 1 is equivalent to &arr[1];


ptr + 2 is equivalent to &arr[2];
ptr + 3 is equivalent to &arr[3];
ptr + 4 is equivalent to &arr[4];

Similarly, we can access the elements using the single pointer. For example,
// use dereference operator
*ptr == arr[0];
*(ptr + 1) is equivalent to arr[1];
*(ptr + 2) is equivalent to arr[2];
*(ptr + 3) is equivalent to arr[3];
*(ptr + 4) is equivalent to arr[4];

Suppose if we have initialized  ptr = &arr[2];  then

ptr - 2 is equivalent to &arr[0];


ptr - 1 is equivalent to &arr[1];
ptr + 1 is equivalent to &arr[3];
ptr + 2 is equivalent to &arr[4];

Working of C++ Pointers with Arrays


Note: The address between  ptr  and  ptr + 1  differs by 4 bytes. It is
because  ptr  is a pointer to an  int  data. And, the size of int is 4 bytes in a 64-
bit operating system.
Similarly, if pointer  ptr  is pointing to  char  type data, then the address
between  ptr  and  ptr + 1  is 1 byte. It is because the size of a character is 1
byte.

Example 1: C++ Pointers and Arrays


// C++ Program to display address of each element of an array

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
float arr[3];
// declare pointer variable
float *ptr;

cout << "Displaying address using arrays: " << endl;

// use for loop to print addresses of all array elements


for (int i = 0; i < 3; ++i)
{
cout << "&arr[" << i << "] = " << &arr[i] << endl;
}

// ptr = &arr[0]
ptr = arr;

cout<<"\nDisplaying address using pointers: "<< endl;

// use for loop to print addresses of all array elements


// using pointer notation
for (int i = 0; i < 3; ++i)
{
cout << "ptr + " << i << " = "<< ptr + i << endl;
}

return 0;
}
Run Code
Output

Displaying address using arrays:


&arr[0] = 0x61fef0
&arr[1] = 0x61fef4
&arr[2] = 0x61fef8

Displaying address using pointers:


ptr + 0 = 0x61fef0
ptr + 1 = 0x61fef4
ptr + 2 = 0x61fef8

In the above program, we first simply printed the addresses of the array
elements without using the pointer variable  ptr .
Then, we used the pointer  ptr  to point to the address of  a[0] ,  ptr + 1  to point to
the address of  a[1] , and so on.

In most contexts, array names decay to pointers. In simple words, array


names are converted to pointers. That's the reason why we can use pointers
to access elements of arrays.
However, we should remember that pointers and arrays are not the same.
There are a few cases where array names don't decay to pointers. To learn
more, visit: When does array name doesn't decay into a pointer?

Example 2: Array name used as pointer


// C++ Program to insert and display data entered by using pointer notation.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
float arr[5];

// Insert data using pointer notation


cout << "Enter 5 numbers: ";
for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) {

// store input number in arr[i]


cin >> *(arr + i) ;

// Display data using pointer notation


cout << "Displaying data: " << endl;
for (int i = 0; i < 5; ++i) {

// display value of arr[i]


cout << *(arr + i) << endl ;

return 0;
}
Run Code
Output

Enter 5 numbers: 2.5


3.5
4.5
5
2
Displaying data:
2.5
3.5
4.5
5
2
Here,
1. We first used the pointer notation to store the numbers entered by the
user into the array  arr .

cin >> *(arr + i) ;

This code is equivalent to the code below:


 

cin >> arr[i];

Notice that we haven't declared a separate pointer variable, but rather


we are using the array name  arr  for the pointer notation.
As we already know, the array name  arr  points to the first element of the
array. So, we can think of  arr  as acting like a pointer.
2. Similarly, we then used  for  loop to display the values of  arr  using
pointer notation.

cout << *(arr + i) << endl ;

This code is equivalent to

cout << arr[i] << endl ;

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