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C++ DSA Pointers

This document covers the topic of pointers in C++, explaining their role as variables that store memory addresses of other variables. It includes examples of declaring pointers, assigning addresses, and accessing values using dereferencing. The document also illustrates how changing the value at a pointer's address affects the original variable.

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8 views5 pages

C++ DSA Pointers

This document covers the topic of pointers in C++, explaining their role as variables that store memory addresses of other variables. It includes examples of declaring pointers, assigning addresses, and accessing values using dereferencing. The document also illustrates how changing the value at a pointer's address affects the original variable.

Uploaded by

chanduramcharanroyal
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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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CONT_23CSH-103 :: ELEMENTARY DATA STRUCTURES USING C++

Home My courses CONT_23CSH-103 :: ELEMENTARY DATA STRUCTURES USING C++ Chapter 2.3

Lecture Topic 2.3.1 Pointers

Lecture Topic 2.3.1 Pointers

CO3 - Analyze and explain the behavior of linear data structure operations using the
programming addressed in the course.

C++ Pointers
In C++, pointers are variables that store the memory addresses of other variables.

Address in C++
If we have a variable var in our program, &var will give us its address in the memory. For example,

Example 1: Printing Variable Addresses in C++


#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
// declare variables
int var1 = 3;
int var2 = 24;
int var3 = 17;

// print address of var1


cout << "Address of var1: "<< &var1 << endl;

// print address of var2


cout << "Address of var2: " << &var2 << endl;

// print address of var3


cout << "Address of var3: " << &var3 << endl;
}

Output
Address of var1: 0x7fff5fbff8ac
Address of var2: 0x7fff5fbff8a8
Address of var3: 0x7fff5fbff8a4

Here, 0x at the beginning represents the address is in the hexadecimal form.

Notice that the first address differs from the second by 4 bytes and the second address differs from the third by 4
bytes.

This is because the size of an int variable is 4 bytes in a 64-bit system.

Note: You may not get the same results when you run the program.
C++ Pointers
As mentioned above, pointers are used to store addresses rather than values.

Here is how we can declare pointers.

int *pointVar;

Here, we have declared a pointer pointVar of the int type.

We can also declare pointers in the following way.

int* pointVar; // preferred syntax

Let's take another example of declaring pointers.

int* pointVar, p;

Here, we have declared a pointer pointVar and a normal variable p.

Note: The * operator is used after the data type to declare pointers.

Assigning Addresses to Pointers


Here is how we can assign addresses to pointers:

int* pointVar, var;


var = 5;

// assign address of var to pointVar pointer


pointVar = &var;

Here, 5 is assigned to the variable var. And, the address of var is assigned to the pointVar pointer with the code pointVar
= &var.

Get the Value from the Address Using Pointers


To get the value pointed by a pointer, we use the * operator. For example:

int* pointVar, var;


var = 5;

// assign address of var to pointVar


pointVar = &var;

// access value pointed by pointVar


cout << *pointVar << endl; // Output: 5

In the above code, the address of var is assigned to pointVar. We have used the *pointVar to get the value stored in
that address.

When * is used with pointers, it's called the dereference operator. It operates on a pointer and gives the value pointed
by the address stored in the pointer. That is, *pointVar = var.

Note: In C++, pointVar and *pointVar is completely different. We cannot do something like *pointVar = &var;

Example 2: Working of C++ Pointers


#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int var = 5;

// declare pointer variable


int* pointVar;

// store address of var


pointVar = &var;

// print value of var


cout << "var = " << var << endl;

// print address of var


cout << "Address of var (&var) = " << &var << endl
<< endl;

// print pointer pointVar


cout << "pointVar = " << pointVar << endl;

// print the content of the address pointVar points to


cout << "Content of the address pointed to by pointVar (*pointVar) = " << *pointVar << endl;

return 0;
}
Output
var = 5
Address of var (&var) = 0x61ff08

pointVar = 0x61ff08
Content of the address pointed to by pointVar (*pointVar) = 5

Changing Value Pointed by Pointers


If pointVar points to the address of var, we can change the value of var by using *pointVar.

For example,

int var = 5;
int* pointVar;

// assign address of var


pointVar = &var;

// change value at address pointVar


*pointVar = 1;

cout << var << endl; // Output: 1

Here, pointVar and &var have the same address, the value of var will also be changed when *pointVar is changed.

Example 3: Changing Value Pointed by Pointers


#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main() {
int var = 5;
int* pointVar;

// store address of var


pointVar = &var;

// print var
cout << "var = " << var << endl;

// print *pointVar
cout << "*pointVar = " << *pointVar << endl
<< endl;

cout << "Changing value of var to 7:" << endl;

// change value of var to 7


var = 7;

// print var
cout << "var = " << var << endl;

// print *pointVar
cout << "*pointVar = " << *pointVar << endl
<< endl;

cout << "Changing value of *pointVar to 16:" << endl;

// change value of var to 16


*pointVar = 16;

// print var
cout << "var = " << var << endl;

// print *pointVar
cout << "*pointVar = " << *pointVar << endl;
return 0;
}

Output
var = 5
*pointVar = 5

Changing value of var to 7:


var = 7
*pointVar = 7

Changing value of *pointVar to 16:


var = 16
*pointVar = 16

Last modified: Tuesday, 26 December 2023, 10:26 AM

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