Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Chapter 12

Pointers and Arrays

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Introduction
• C allows us to perform arithmetic—addition and
subtraction—on pointers to array elements.
• This leads to an alternative way of processing
arrays in which pointers take the place of array
subscripts.
• The relationship between pointers and arrays in C
is a close one.
• Understanding this relationship is critical for
mastering C.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Pointer Arithmetic
• Chapter 11 showed that pointers can point to array
elements:
int a[10], *p;
p = &a[0];
• A graphical representation:

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Pointer Arithmetic
• We can now access a[0] through p; for example,
we can store the value 5 in a[0] by writing
*p = 5;
• An updated picture:

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Pointer Arithmetic
• If p points to an element of an array a, the other
elements of a can be accessed by performing
pointer arithmetic (or address arithmetic) on p.
• C supports three (and only three) forms of pointer
arithmetic:
– Adding an integer to a pointer
– Subtracting an integer from a pointer
– Subtracting one pointer from another

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Adding an Integer to a Pointer

• Adding an integer j to a pointer p yields a pointer
to the element j places after the one that p points
to.
• More precisely, if p points to the array element
a[i], then p + j points to a[i+j].
• Assume that the following declarations are in
effect:
int a[10], *p, *q, i;

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Adding an Integer to a Pointer

Example of pointer addition:
p = &a[2];

q = p + 3;

p += 6;

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Subtracting an Integer from a Pointer

• If p points to a[i], then p - j points to a[i-j].
• Example:
p = &a[8];

q = p - 3;

p -= 6;

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Subtracting One Pointer from Another

• When one pointer is subtracted from another, the result
is the distance (measured in array elements) between the
pointers.
• If p points to a[i] and q points to a[j], then p - q is
equal to i - j.
• Example:
p = &a[5];
q = &a[1];

i = p - q; /* i is 4 */
i = q - p; /* i is -4 */
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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Subtracting One Pointer from Another

• Operations that cause undefined behavior:
– Performing arithmetic on a pointer that doesn’t point to
an array element
– Subtracting pointers unless both point to elements of
the same array

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Comparing Pointers
• Pointers can be compared using the relational
operators (<, <=, >, >=) and the equality operators
(== and !=).
– Using relational operators is meaningful only for pointers to
elements of the same array.
• The outcome of the comparison depends on the
relative positions of the two elements in the array.
• After the assignments
p = &a[5];
q = &a[1];
the value of p <= q is 0 and the value of p >= q is 1.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Pointers to Compound Literals (C99)

• Using a compound literal saves us the trouble of
first declaring an array variable and then making p
point to the first element of that array:
int a[] = {3, 0, 3, 4, 1};
int *p = &a[0];

• It’s legal for a pointer to point to an element

within an array created by a compound literal:
int *p = (int []){3, 0, 3, 4, 1};

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Using Pointers for Array Processing

• Pointer arithmetic allows us to visit the elements
of an array by repeatedly incrementing a pointer
variable.
• A loop that sums the elements of an array a:
#define N 10 The condition p < &a[N] in the for
statement deserves special mention. It’s
…
legal to apply the address operator to
int a[N], sum, *p; a[N], even though this element doesn’t
… exist.
sum = 0;
for (p = &a[0]; p < &a[N]; p++)
sum += *p;

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Using Pointers for Array Processing

At the end of the first iteration:
for (p = &a[0]; p < &a[N]; p++)
sum += *p;

At the end of the second iteration:

At the end of the third iteration:

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Combining the * and ++ Operators

• C programmers often combine the * (indirection)
and ++ operators.
• A statement that modifies an array element and
then advances to the next element:
a[i++] = j;
• The corresponding pointer version:
*p++ = j;
• Because the postfix version of ++ takes
precedence over *, the compiler sees this as
*(p++) = j;
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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Combining the * and ++ Operators

• Possible combinations of * and ++:
Expression Meaning
*p++ or *(p++) Value of expression is *p before increment;
increment p later
(*p)++ Value of expression is *p before increment;
increment *p later
*++p or *(++p) Increment p first;
value of expression is *p after increment
++*p or ++(*p) Increment *p first;
value of expression is *p after increment

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Combining the * and ++ Operators

• The most common combination of * and ++ is
*p++, which is handy in loops.
• Instead of writing
for (p = &a[0]; p < &a[N]; p++)
sum += *p;
to sum the elements of the array a, we could write
p = &a[0];
while (p < &a[N])
sum += *p++;

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Combining the * and ++ Operators

• The * and -- operators mix in the same way as *
and ++.
• For an application that combines * and --, let’s
return to the stack example of Chapter 10.
• The original version of the stack relied on an
integer variable named top to keep track of the
“top-of-stack” position in the contents array.
• Let’s replace top by a pointer variable that points
initially to element 0 of the contents array:
int *top_ptr = &contents[0];
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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Combining the * and ++ Operators

• The new push and pop functions:
void push(int i)
{
if (is_full())
stack_overflow();
else
*top_ptr++ = i;
}

int pop(void)
{
if (is_empty())
stack_underflow();
else
return *--top_ptr;
}

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Using an Array Name as a Pointer

• Pointer arithmetic is one way in which arrays and
pointers are related.
• Another key relationship:
The name of an array can be used as a pointer to
the first element in the array.
• This relationship simplifies pointer arithmetic and
makes both arrays and pointers more versatile.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Using an Array Name as a Pointer

• Suppose that a is declared as follows:
int a[10];
• Examples of using a as a pointer:
*a = 7; /* stores 7 in a[0] */
*(a+1) = 12; /* stores 12 in a[1] */
• In general, a + i is the same as &a[i].
– Both represent a pointer to element i of a.
• Also, *(a+i) is equivalent to a[i].
– Both represent element i itself.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Using an Array Name as a Pointer

• The fact that an array name can serve as a pointer
makes it easier to write loops that step through an
array.
• Original loop:
for (p = &a[0]; p < &a[N]; p++)
sum += *p;
• Simplified version:
for (p = a; p < a + N; p++)
sum += *p;

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Using an Array Name as a Pointer

• Although an array name can be used as a pointer,
it’s not possible to assign it a new value.
• Attempting to make it point elsewhere is an error:
while (*a != 0)
a++; /*** WRONG ***/
• This is no great loss; we can always copy a into a
pointer variable, then change the pointer variable:
p = a;
while (*p != 0)
p++;

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Array Arguments (Revisited)

• When passed to a function, an array name is treated as a pointer.
• Example:
int find_largest(int a[], int n)
{
int i, max;
max = a[0];
for (i = 1; i < n; i++)
if (a[i] > max)
max = a[i];
return max;
}
• A call of find_largest:
largest = find_largest(b, N);
This call causes a pointer to the first element of b to be assigned
to a; the array itself isn’t copied.
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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Array Arguments (Revisited)

• The fact that an array argument is treated as a
pointer has some important consequences.
• Consequence 1: When an ordinary variable is
passed to a function, its value is copied; any
changes to the corresponding parameter don’t
affect the variable.
• In contrast, an array used as an argument isn’t
protected against change.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Array Arguments (Revisited)

• For example, the following function modifies an
array by storing zero into each of its elements:
void store_zeros(int a[], int n)
{
int i;

for (i = 0; i < n; i++)

a[i] = 0;
}

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Array Arguments (Revisited)

• To indicate that an array parameter won’t be
changed, we can include the word const in its
declaration:
int find_largest(const int a[], int n)
{
…
}
• If const is present, the compiler will check that
no assignment to an element of a appears in the
body of find_largest.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Array Arguments (Revisited)

• Consequence 2: The time required to pass an
array to a function doesn’t depend on the size of
the array.
• There’s no penalty for passing a large array, since
no copy of the array is made.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Array Arguments (Revisited)

• Consequence 3: An array parameter can be
declared as a pointer if desired.
• find_largest could be defined as follows:
int find_largest(int *a, int n)
{
…
}
• Declaring a to be a pointer is equivalent to
declaring it to be an array; the compiler treats the
declarations as though they were identical.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Array Arguments (Revisited)

• Although declaring a parameter to be an array is
the same as declaring it to be a pointer, the same
isn’t true for a variable.
• The following declaration causes the compiler to
set aside space for 10 integers:
int a[10];
• The following declaration causes the compiler to
allocate space for a pointer variable:
int *a;

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Array Arguments (Revisited)

• In the latter case, a is not an array; attempting to
use it as an array can have disastrous results.
• For example, the assignment
*a = 0; /*** WRONG ***/
will store 0 where a is pointing.
• Since we don’t know where a is pointing, the
effect on the program is undefined.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Array Arguments (Revisited)

• Consequence 4: A function with an array
parameter can be passed an array “slice”—a
sequence of consecutive elements.
• An example that applies find_largest to
elements 5 through 14 of an array b:
largest = find_largest(&b[5], 10);

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Using a Pointer as an Array Name

• C allows us to subscript a pointer as though it
were an array name:
#define N 10
…
int a[N], i, sum = 0, *p = a;
…
for (i = 0; i < N; i++)
sum += p[i];
The compiler treats p[i] as *(p+i).

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Processing the Elements

of a Multidimensional Array
• Just as pointers can point to elements of one-
dimensional arrays, they can also point to elements of
multidimensional arrays.
• Chapter 8 showed that C stores two-dimensional
arrays in row-major order. Layout of an array with r
rows:

• If p initially points to the element in row 0, column 0,

we can visit every element in the array by
incrementing p repeatedly.
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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Processing the Elements

of a Multidimensional Array
• Consider the problem of initializing all elements of the following
array to zero:
int a[NUM_ROWS][NUM_COLS];
• The obvious technique would be to use nested for loops:
int row, col;
…
for (row = 0; row < NUM_ROWS; row++)
for (col = 0; col < NUM_COLS; col++)
a[row][col] = 0;
• If we view a as a one-dimensional array of integers, a single loop
is sufficient:
int *p;
…
for (p = &a[0][0]; p <= &a[NUM_ROWS-1][NUM_COLS-1]; p++)
*p = 0;
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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Processing the Rows

of a Multidimensional Array
• A pointer variable p can also be used for
processing the elements in just one row of a two-
dimensional array.
• To visit the elements of row i, we’d initialize p to
point to element 0 in row i in the array a:
p = &a[i][0];
or we could simply write
p = a[i];

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Processing the Rows

of a Multidimensional Array
• For any two-dimensional array a, the expression
a[i] is a pointer to the first element in row i.
• To see why this works, recall that a[i] is
equivalent to *(a + i).
• Thus, &a[i][0] is the same as &(*(a[i] + 0)),
which is equivalent to &*a[i].
• This is the same as a[i], since the & and *
operators cancel.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Processing the Rows

of a Multidimensional Array
• A loop that clears row i of the array a:
int a[NUM_ROWS][NUM_COLS], *p, i;
…
for (p = a[i]; p < a[i] + NUM_COLS; p++)
*p = 0;
• Since a[i] is a pointer to row i of the array a, we
can pass a[i] to a function that’s expecting a one-
dimensional array as its argument.
• In other words, a function that’s designed to work
with one-dimensional arrays will also work with a
row belonging to a two-dimensional array.
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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Processing the Rows

of a Multidimensional Array
• Consider find_largest, which was originally
designed to find the largest element of a one-
dimensional array.
• We can just as easily use find_largest to
determine the largest element in row i of the two-
dimensional array a:
largest = find_largest(a[i], NUM_COLS);

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Processing the Columns

of a Multidimensional Array
• Processing the elements in a column of a two-
dimensional array isn’t as easy, because arrays are
stored by row, not by column.
• A loop that clears column i of the array a:
int a[NUM_ROWS][NUM_COLS], (*p)[NUM_COLS], i;
…
for (p = &a[0]; p < &a[NUM_ROWS]; p++)
(*p)[i] = 0;

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Using the Name of a

Multidimensional Array as a Pointer
• The name of any array can be used as a pointer, regardless
of how many dimensions it has, but some care is required.
• Example:
int a[NUM_ROWS][NUM_COLS];
a is not a pointer to a[0][0]; instead, it’s a pointer to
a[0].
• C regards a as a one-dimensional array whose elements are
one-dimensional arrays.
• When used as a pointer, a has type int (*)[NUM_COLS]
(pointer to an integer array of length NUM_COLS).

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Using the Name of a

Multidimensional Array as a Pointer
• Knowing that a points to a[0] is useful for
simplifying loops that process the elements of a
two-dimensional array.
• Instead of writing
for (p = &a[0]; p < &a[NUM_ROWS]; p++)
(*p)[i] = 0;
to clear column i of the array a, we can write
for (p = a; p < a + NUM_ROWS; p++)
(*p)[i] = 0;

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Using the Name of a

Multidimensional Array as a Pointer
• We can “trick” a function into thinking that a
multidimensional array is really one-dimensional.
• A first attempt at using find_largest to find the largest
element in a:
largest = find_largest(a, NUM_ROWS * NUM_COLS);
/* WRONG */
This an error, because the type of a is int (*)[NUM_COLS]
but find_largest is expecting an argument of type int *.
• The correct call:
largest = find_largest(a[0], NUM_ROWS * NUM_COLS);
a[0] points to element 0 in row 0, and it has type int *
(after conversion by the compiler).

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Pointers and Variable-Length Arrays (C99)

• Pointers are allowed to point to elements of
variable-length arrays (VLAs).
• An ordinary pointer variable would be used to
point to an element of a one-dimensional VLA:
void f(int n)
{
int a[n], *p;
p = a;
…
}

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Pointers and Variable-Length Arrays (C99)

• When the VLA has more than one dimension, the
type of the pointer depends on the length of each
dimension except for the first.
• A two-dimensional example:
void f(int m, int n)
{
int a[m][n], (*p)[n];
p = a;
…
}
Since the type of p depends on n, which isn’t
constant, p is said to have a variably modified type.
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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Pointers and Variable-Length Arrays (C99)

• The validity of an assignment such as p = a can’t
always be determined by the compiler.
• The following code will compile but is correct
only if m and n are equal:
int a[m][n], (*p)[m];
p = a;
• If m is not equal to n, any subsequent use of p will
cause undefined behavior.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Pointers and Variable-Length Arrays (C99)

• Variably modified types are subject to certain
restrictions.
• The most important restriction: the declaration of
a variably modified type must be inside the body
of a function or in a function prototype.

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Chapter 12: Pointers and Arrays

Pointers and Variable-Length Arrays (C99)

• Pointer arithmetic works with VLAs.
• A two-dimensional VLA:
int a[m][n];
• A pointer capable of pointing to a row of a:
int (*p)[n];
• A loop that clears column i of a:
for (p = a; p < a + m; p++)
(*p)[i] = 0;

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