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Pointersand Array

The document discusses the relationship between arrays and pointers in C++. It explains that pointers can store the address of array elements, and that pointer arithmetic can be used to access different elements of an array. The document provides examples of using pointers to loop through and read/write to array elements.

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17 views7 pages

Pointersand Array

The document discusses the relationship between arrays and pointers in C++. It explains that pointers can store the address of array elements, and that pointer arithmetic can be used to access different elements of an array. The document provides examples of using pointers to loop through and read/write to array elements.

Uploaded by

tejassmm222
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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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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