Unit 04 :

Pointers and Polymorphism

in c++

Written by
 Unit Outcome 1 : Create C++
programs to perform the given
arithmetic operations using
pointers

Written by
 Learning Outcome 1 : student will be
able to use pointers.

Written by
What we will learn today

1. Concept of Pointers Key takeaways

2. Arithmetic operation on pointers Concept of Pointers

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Concept Map

Pointer
Declaration

Working Of
Pointer Pointer
Initialization

Pointer

Memory
Allocation Operation
on Pointer

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Learning Objective/ Key learning

► To use pointer and perform operations on pointers.

► Write program to perform arithmetic operation on pointers.

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Concept Explanation: Pointers

► Every variable is a memory location and every memory location has its address defined
► Address can be accessed using ampersand (&) operator which denotes an address
► C++ tasks are performed more easily with pointers
► C++ tasks, such as dynamic memory allocation, cannot be performed without them
► Pointer is a variable in C++ that holds the address of another variable.
► Pointers have data type just like variables.
► Pointers are variables which display value at the memory address.
► Like any variable or constant, you must declare a pointer before you can work with it
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Declaring and initializing pointer
► The variable which store address of integer variable it is called as an integer pointer.

► Similarly if we stores address of character variable it is called as character pointer

► Declaring Pointers
► Syntax:

data_type *pointer_name;
int *ptr; //declaration
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ptr=&a; //initialization

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C++ Pointer Operators : Reference and Dereference Operators

► Pointer operators used in C++ are :

► ‘value at’ operator
► * is the dereference operator and can be read as “value pointed by”.
► ‘address’ operator
► & is the reference operator and can be read as “address of”.

Pointer Operator

Address Operator Indirection

(&) Operator (*)

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Example By Using Pointer

#include<iostream.h>
void main()
{ ptr a
int a=10;
int *ptr; Value of ptr 1024 10
ptr=&a; 1000 1024
cout<<"\n Value of a:"<<a; //a=10 Value of a

cout<<"\n Value at ptr:"<<*ptr; //*ptr=10

cout<<"\n Address of a:"<<&a; //&a=1024
cout<<"\n Address of a:"<<ptr; //ptr=1024
cout<<"\n Address of ptr:"<<&ptr; //&ptr=1000 Address of Address of ‘a’ (&a)
} ptr

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Pointer Arithmetic

► Operation
► Increment operator (++)
► Decrement operator (–)
► Addition (+)
► Subtraction (-)

► Valid statements
► p2-p1;
► ptr1+1;
► ptr=ptr+2;

► Invalid statements
► p1+p2;
► p2 * p1;
► p2/p1;
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Pointer Arithmetic

► C++ allows pointers to perform some arithmetic operations like :

⮚ A pointer can be incremented (++) or decremented(--).

⮚ Any integer can be added to or subtracted from a pointer.

⮚ One pointer can be subtracted from another.

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Example

► int a=10, b=5;

0000 a
► Assign p1=&a and p2=&b
P1 0001 Value
► So value of p1 will become 0000 (starting address of a) 0002 is 10
► Value of p2 will become 0004 (starting address of b) 0003
0004 b
P2 0005 Value
0006 is 5
► When we perform p1 - p2 0007
► It will not calculate difference of how many bytes fall between the two addresses, but rather how
many elements are there.
► P1+P2 Its not valid as we cannot perform addition of addresses

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Example Of Arithmetic Operation On Pointer

Program code

Output

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What we will learn today

1. Pointer to Object Key takeaways

2. This Pointer Concept Of Pointer To Object

3. Pointer To Derived Class

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Concept Map

Pointer to
Object Pointee derived
class

Pointer This pointer

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Learning Objective/ Key learning

► To use pointer to object.

► To use This pointer.

► Write program using This pointer.

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Concept Explanation: Pointers To Objects

⮚ A pointer can point to an object created by class. ⮚ Syntax:

⮚ Object pointers are useful in creating objects at Class_name * variable name;

run time. Variable_name=&Object_name;

⮚ Object pointers can be used to access public ⮚ Example:

members of an object. Item obj;

Item *ptr;
⮚ We can refer to public member of object using
ptr=&obj;
two ways
obj->getdata();
⮚ dot operator ( . )
obj->putdata();
⮚ arrow operator (->) 18

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Concept Explanation: Pointers To Objects

⮚ As object pointer is an alias of object ⮚ ptr can be used to refer to member

variable, we can also use ptr->getdata();
(*object_pointer).member_function() ⮚ We can also create an array of objects
► We can also create object using pointers using pointers
and new operatora ⮚ item *ptr=new item[10];
► Example: item *ptr=new item; ⮚ This statement creates memory space for
⮚ This statement allocates enough memory an array of 10 objects.
for the data members in the object and
assign address of the memory space to 19

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This Pointer

► C++ uses a unique keyword called ‘this’ to represent an object that invokes a
member function.
► This unique pointer is automatically passed to a member function when it is invoked.
► ‘this’ is a pointer that always point to the object for which the member function was
called.
► The ‘this’ pointer can be treated like any other pointer to an object.
► For example, the function call
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A.max () will set the pointer ‘this’ to the address of the object A.
Next time suppose we call B.max(), the pointer ‘this’ will store address of object B.

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Program using This pointer:

If we try to write
x=x;
It will give garbage Value

Output :

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Pointer To Derived Classes

► Pointers can be used to the base class objects ► Example:

as well as objects of derived class. B *cptr; // pointer to B class
B b; //Base object
► Pointers to objects of base class are
D d; // Derived object
compatible with pointers to objects of a cptr=&b; //ptr points to object b
derived class.
► We can make cptr to point to the
► Single pointer variable can be made to point
object d as follows:
objects belonging to different classes.
cptr=&d; //ptr points to object d
► If B is base and D is derived class, then pointer
declared as a pointer to B can also be a pointer

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Pointers to derived class

► Example:
B *cptr; // pointer to B class
B b; //Base object
D d; // Derived object
cptr=&b; //ptr points to object b

► We can make cptr to point to the object d as follows:

► cptr=&d; //ptr points to object d
► Problem is by using cptr to access the public members of the derived class D.
► The pointer cptr can point to both b and d.
► Using cptr, we can access only those members which are inherited from B and not the members that
originally belongs to D.
► If a member of D has the same name as one of the members of B, then any reference to that member
by cptr will always access the base class member.
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Pointer to Derived class

Output :

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Advantages of pointer

► Pointers save the memory.

► Pointers reduce the length and complexity of a program.

► Pointers allow passing of arrays and strings to functions more efficiently.
► Pointers make possible to return more than one value from the function.

► Pointers increase the processing speed.

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