CC213:Programming Applications

Week05

Pointers
 Outline

• What is a Pointer variable?

• Functions returning multiple results
• Triple use for Asterisk (*)
• More Examples

2
What is a Pointer Variable?
⚫ Pointer is a variable just like other
variables of c but only difference is
unlike the other variable it stores the
memory address of any other variables
of c.
⚫ This variable may be type of int, char,
array, structure, function or any other
pointers.
Pointer Variable vs Normal
Variable
⚫ Normal variables
⚫ Contain a specific value (direct reference)

⚫ Pointer variables
⚫ Contain memory addresses as their values

countPtr count count

7 7
Pointer Variable Declarations
⚫ Pointer declarations
⚫ ‘*’ used with pointer variables
int *myPtr;
float *Ptr;
Char *strPtr;
⚫ Multiple pointers require using a * before each
variable declaration
int *myPtr1, *myPtr2;
⚫ Can declare pointers to any data type
Pointer Variable Initialization
⚫ Initialize pointers to:
⚫ 0 or NULL,
⚫ points to nothing (NULL preferred)
⚫ an address
⚫ points to certain place/address in memory

int y = 5;
int *yPtr;
yPtr = &y; // yptr is the address of y
// yPtr “points to” y
 Pointer Variable Initialization
(cont.)
• Pointers like any other variables must be declared before they can be used.
• A pointer variable is declared by preceding its name with an asterisk.

Example: int *p;

int n = 84;
p = &n;
• Suppose that the int variable n is stored in the memory cell # 1024, then the
following figure shows the relationship between n and p.
n p
84 1024

4
 Pointer Variable Initialization
(cont.) n p

84 1024

• A pointer variable such as p above, has two associated values:

• Its direct value, which is referenced by using the name of the
variable, p. In this example, this value is 1024. We can print
the direct value of a pointer variable using printf by using %p as
the place holder.
• Its indirect value, which is referenced by using the indirection
operator (*). So the value of *p is 84.
Reference Value
p Pointer(1024)
*p 84
5
Pointer Variable Initialization
(cont.)
int a=5;
int * ptr;
ptr=&a;

About variable a:
About variable ptr:
⚫ 1. Name of variable : a
⚫ 4. Name of variable : ptr
⚫ 2. Value of variable which it
⚫ 5. Value of variable which it
keeps: 5
keeps: 1025
⚫ 3. Address where it has stored
⚫ 6. Address where it has stored
in memory : 1025 (assume)
in memory : 5000 (assume)
 Example 1:
• The following example demonstrate the relationship between
a pointer variable and the character variable it is pointing to.
/* Shows the relationship between a pointer variable
* and the character variable it is pointing to */
#include<stdio.h>
int main(void) {
char g= 'z';
char c= 'a';
char *p;
p= &c;
printf("%c\n", *p);
p=&g;
printf("%c\n", *p);
*p='K';
printf("%c\n", g);
return 0;
}
6
Functions returning one result
(using Call by Reference)
⚫ Call by reference with pointer arguments
⚫ Pass address of argument using & operator

⚫ Allows you to change actual location in memory

⚫ Arrays are not passed with & because the array name is
already a pointer
⚫ * operator
⚫ Used as nickname for variable inside of function

void mydouble( int *number )

{ *number = 2 * ( *number ); }

Inside main(): mydouble(&y); 7

1 /* Example (2)
2 Cubing a variable using call-by-reference Outline
3 with a pointer argument */
Notice that the function prototype takes
4
a pointer to an integer (int *).
5 #include <stdio.h>
6 Notice how the address of number
7 void cubeByReference( int * ); is given
/* - cubeByReference
prototype */ Function prototype
8 expects a pointer (an address of a
9 int main() variable).
10 {
11 int number = 5; 1 Initialize variables
12
13 printf( "The original value of number is %d", number );
2. Call function
14 cubeByReference( &number );
15 printf( "\nThe new value of number is %d\n", number );
16 Inside cubeByReference, *nPtr is
17 return 0; used (*nPtr is number).
18 }
19
20 void cubeByReference( int *nPtr ) 3. Define function
21 {
22 *nPtr = *nPtr * *nPtr * *nPtr; /* cube number in main */
23 }
Program Output
The original value of number is 5
The new value of number is 125
Functions returning multiple results
(using Call by Reference)

• So far, we know how to pass inputs into a function and how to

use the return statement to send back at most one result from a
function.
• However, there are many situations where we would like a
function to return more than one result. Some Example are:
▪ Function to convert time in seconds into hours, minutes and seconds
▪ Function to find the quotient and remainder of a division
▪ Function to return maximum, minimum and average from a set of
values
• This ability to indirectly access a variable is the key
to writing functions that return multiple results.
• We declare such functions to have pointer variables
as their formal parameters.
 Example 3:
/* shows how function can return void test1(int m, int n) {
multiple results */ m=5;
#include <stdio.h> n=24;
}
void test1(int m, int n);
void test2(int *m, int *n); void test2(int *m, int *n) {
void test3(int a, int *b); *m=5;
*n=24;
int main(void) { }
int a=10, b=16;
printf("a=%d, b=%d\n",a,b); void test3(int a, int *b) {
test1(a,b); a=38;
printf("a=%d, b=%d\n",a,b); *b=57;
test2(&a,&b); }
printf("a=%d, b=%d\n",a,b);
test3(a,&b);
printf("a=%d, b=%d\n",a,b);
system("pause");
return 0;
} 8
 Three uses of Asterisk (*)
• We have now seen three distinct meanings of the symbol *
• As Multiplication operator: x * y => x times y
• In declaration int * p
▪ * tells the compiler that a new variable is to be a pointer
(read as “pointer to”)
▪ Thus, in this case, it is a part of the name of the type of the
variable.
• As unary indirection operator : x = * p
▪ It provides the content of the memory location specified by
a pointer. It mean “follow the pointer”.
▪ It can also stand on the left side of an assignment. * p = ‘K’
▪ Here the type depends on the variable being pointed – char
in the above case.
▪ It is a common mistake by students to interpret the above as
a pointer type. 9
 Example 4:
/* computes the area and circumference of a circle, given its radius */
#include <stdio.h>
void area_circum (double radius, double *area, double *circum);
int main (void) {
double radius, area, circum ;
printf ("Enter the radius of the circle > ") ;
scanf ("%lf", &radius) ;
area_circum (radius, &area, &circum) ;
printf ("The area is %f and circumference is %f\n", area, circum) ;
return 0;

void area_circum (double radius, double *area, double *circum) {

*area = 3.14 * radius * radius ;
*circum = 2 * 3.14 * radius ;
}

10
 Example 5:
/* Takes three integers and returns their sum, product and average */
#include<stdio.h>

void myfunction(int a,int b,int c,int *sum,int *prod, double *average);

int main (void) {

int n1, n2, n3, sum, product;
double av_g;
printf("Enter three integer numbers > ");
scanf("%d %d %d",&n1, &n2,&n3);
myfunction(n1, n2, n3, &sum, &product, &av_g);
printf("\nThe sum = %d\nThe product = %d\nthe avg =%f\n",sum, product,av_g);
system("pause");
return 0;
}

void myfunction(int a,int b,int c,int *sum,int *prod, double *average) {

*sum=a+b+c;
*prod=a*b*c;
*average=(a+b+c)/3.0;
}
11
 Example 6:
/* takes the coefficients of quadratic
equation a, b and c and returns its roots
*/
#include<stdio.h>
#include<math.h>
void quadratic(double a,double b,
double c, double *root1, double *root2)
void quadratic(double a,double b, double c, double *root1,
{
double *root2);
double desc;
int main(void) { desc =b*b-4*a*c;
double a,b,c,r1,r2; if(desc < 0) {
printf("Please enter coefficients of the equation: [a b c] > "); printf("No real roots\n");
scanf("%lf%lf%lf",&a,&b,&c); system("pause");
exit(0);
quadratic(a,b,c,&r1,&r2); }
else {
printf("\nThe first root is : %f\n",r1); *root1=(-b+sqrt(desc))/(2*a);
printf("The second root is : %f\n",r2); *root2=(-b-sqrt(desc))/(2*a);
system("pause"); }
return 0;
}
}
 Example 7:
/* reads & swaps the values between 2 integer variables
*/
#include <stdio.h>
void readint(int *a, int* b);
void swap (int *a, int *b); void swap (int *a, int*b) {
int main (void ) { int temp;
int num1,num2; temp=*a;
readint(&num1,&num2); *a=*b;
printf("before swapping num1= %d, num2=%d\n", num1,num2); *b=temp;
swap(&num1,&num2); }
printf("after swapping num1= %d, num2=%d\n", num1,num2);
system("pause");
return 0;
}

void readint (int *a, int *b) {

Because a and b
printf("enter first integer number > ");
are pointer
scanf("%d",a);
variables, we do not
printf("enter second integer number > ");
use the & operator
scanf("%d",b);
for scanf.
} 13
Pointer Expressions and
Arithmetic
⚫ Arithmetic operations can be performed
on pointers
⚫ Increment/decrement pointer (++ or --)
⚫ Add an integer to a pointer
( + or += , - or -=)
⚫ Pointers may be subtracted from each other
⚫ Operations meaningless unless performed
on an array
Pointer Expressions and
Arithmetic
operation Description

p++, p-- Increment(decrement) p to point to the next element,

it is equivalent to p+=1 (p-=1)
p+i, (p-i) Point to i-th element beyond (in front of) p but value
of p is fixed
p[i] Equivalent to p+i

p+n(integer) n must be an integer, its meaning is offset

p-q Offset between pointer p and pointer q

p+q, p*q, p/q, p%q invalid

Relational operator of valid, including p>q, p<q, p==q,

two pointers p, q p>=q ,p<=q, p!=q
Pointer Expressions and
Arithmetic
⚫ Pointer comparison ( <, == , > )
⚫ See which pointer points to the higher numbered
array element (index)
⚫ Also, see if a pointer points to 0
 Example 8:
#include<stdio.h> #include<stdio.h>
int main() int main()
{ {
int *ptr=( int *)1000; double *p=(double *)1000;
ptr=ptr+1;
p=p+3;
printf(" %d",ptr);
return 0;
printf(" %d",p);
return 0;
}
}

Output: 1004 Output: 1024

Example 9:
#include<stdio.h> #include<stdio.h>
int main() int main()
{ {
int *p=(int *)1000; float *p=(float *)1000;
int *temp; float *q=(float *)2000;
temp=p; printf("Difference= %d",q-p);
p=p+2; return 0;
printf("%d %d\n",temp,p); }
printf("difference= %d",p-temp); Output: Difference= 250
return 0;
}
Output: 1000 1008
Difference= 2
Arrays and Pointers
Arrays and Pointers
Note

a &a[0]
a is a pointer only to the first element—not the whole array.

Note
The name of an array is a pointer constant;
it cannot be used as an lvalue.
Example 10:
Example 11:
Example 12:

To access an array, any pointer to the first element can be

used instead of the name of the array.
Example – 3 (Array and pointers)
Example 13:
#include <stdio.h>
int my_array[] = {1,23,17,4,-5,100};
int *ptr;
int main(void)
{ int i;
ptr = &my_array[0]; /* point our pointer to the first element of the array */
printf("\n\n");
for (i = 0; i < 6; i++)
{ printf("my_array[%d] = %d ", i , my_array[i] );
printf(“\t ptr + %d = %d\n", i , *(ptr + i) ); }
return 0;
}
 Example 14:
Example – 5 (swap with array index)
(swap with array index)
#include<stdio.h>
# define N 5
void swap (int *a, int *b){
int temp = *a;
*a = *b;
*b = temp; }

int main() {
int i, j;
int Arr[N]={1,2,3,4,5};
for (i=0; i < N/2 ; i++)
swap ( & Arr [ i ] , & Arr [ (N-1) – i ] );
return0;
}
 Example 15:
Example – 6 (swap with pointers)
(swap with pointers)
#include<stdio.h>
# define N 5
void swap (int *a, int *b){
int temp = *a;
*a = *b;
*b = temp; }
int main() {
int i, j;
int Arr[N]={1,2,3,4,5};
for (i=0; i < N/2 ; i++)
swap ( Arr + i , Arr + (N-1) – i );
return0;
}
Arrays of Pointers
⚫ Arrays can contain pointers to …..
Array of Pointers
Arrays of Pointers
int x = 4;
int *y = &x;
int *z[4] = {NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL};
int a[4] = {1, 2, 3, 4};

z[0] = a; // same as &a[0];

z[1] = a + 1; // same as &a[1];
z[2] = a + 2; // same as &a[2];
z[3] = a + 3; // same as &a[3];

for (x=0;x<4;x++)
printf("\n %d --- %d ",a[x],*z[x]);
Arrays of Pointers
⚫ Arrays can contain pointers to (array)
The End