Chapter-8

Pointer

A pointer is a fundamental concept in programming languages, including C. In

simple terms, a pointer is a variable that holds the memory address of another
variable.

In other words, a pointer "points" to the memory location of another variable. By

using pointers, we can indirectly access and manipulate the value of the variable
being pointed to.

for Ex:

int x=5;

int *ptr=&x;

In above example, x is a variable which hold 5 numeric value and when memory
address of x is passes to pointer *ptr, then *ptr manipulate the value hold by x
variable.

What is the relation between array and pointer?

An array and a pointer are closely related. In fact, an array can be seen as a special
kind of pointer.

In C, when we declare an array, we are essentially creating a contiguous block of

memory that can hold multiple elements of the specified type. The name of the
array acts as a constant pointer to the first element of the array.

int arr[5];

The variable arr represent the memory address of first element i.e. arr[0].

int *ptr=arr;
Then using pointer, we can access the all element of array. *(ptr+0) means array
element of a[0],*(ptr+1) means second array element of a[1],*(ptr+2) means third
array element of a[2]. Similary ,*ptr pointer access all the element of array.

for example:

#include<stdio.h>
int main(){
int i;
int arr[5]= {2,3,4,5,6};
int *ptr=arr;
for(i=0;i<5;i++){
printf("%d\t",*(ptr+i));
}
return 0;
}

output: 2 3 4 5 6

What is void pointer?

A void pointer in C is a special type of pointer that can hold the address of an
object of any type. It is a generic pointer that does not have any specific type
associated with it. It is declared using the void * type.

For example:

void *ptr;

Since a void pointer does not have a specific type associated with it, we cannot
directly dereference a void pointer or perform pointer arithmetic on it. Before using
a void pointer, it needs to be explicitly cast to the appropriate type.
What is null pointer?

A null pointer is a special value that a pointer variable does not point to a valid
memory address. In other words, a null pointer does not point to any specific
object or memory location.

Null pointers are commonly used to indicate the absence of a valid object or to
initialize a pointer before assigning it a valid memory address. They are
particularly useful in conditional statements and error handling.

int* ptr = NULL; // ptr is a null pointer

In this code, ptr is initialized as a null pointer. It does not point to any valid
memory location.

for example :

What is the output of following code?

#include<stdio.h>
int main(){
if(!NULL){
printf("C programming is easy");
}
else {
printf(" c programming is not easy");
}
return 0;
}

Output: C programming is easy

In the if condition, !NULL is used. Since NULL represents a null pointer, !NULL
evaluates to true. That means any non-zero value is considered true in a conditional
statement.Inside the if block, the statement printf("C programming is easy"); is
executed, which prints "C programming is easy" to the console.
Pointer to function:

A pointer to a function, also known as a function pointer, is a variable that holds

the address of a function. It allows you to treat functions as data and manipulate
them dynamically during program execution.

example: to sum two integer value using function pointer:

#include<stdio.h>
int sum(int a, int b) {
return a + b;
}

int main() {
int (*sum_ptr)(int, int);
sum_ptr = sum;
// Calling the function through the function pointer
int result = sum_ptr(3, 5); // result will be 8
printf("the result is %d",result);
return 0;
}

output: the result is 8

Reason of using Pointer:

A pointer enables us to access a variable that is defined outside the function.
They are used to pass the array to function.
Pointers are more efficient in handling the data tables.
Tutorial:
Write a program to sort the array element using pointer as arguments in user
defined function.
#include <stdio.h>
void read(int*,int);
void Sort(int*,int);
void printArray(int*,int);

int main() {
int arr[50],size;
printf("enter the size of array:");
scanf("%d",&size);
read(arr,size);
printf("Original array: ");
printArray(arr,size);
Sort(arr,size);
printf("Sorted array: ");
printArray(arr, size);
return 0;
}
void read(int *arr,int size){
int i;
printf("enter the element of array:");
for(i=0;i<size;i++){
scanf("%d",arr+i);
}
}

void Sort(int *arr, int size) {

for (int i = 0; i < size - 1; i++) {
for (int j =i+1; j < size; j++) {
if (*(arr+i) > *(arr+j)) {
// Swap elements
int temp = *(arr+i);
*(arr+i)=*(arr+j);
 *(arr+j)= temp;
}
}
}
}

void printArray(int* arr, int size) {

for (int i = 0; i < size; i++) {

printf("%d ",*(arr+i));
}

printf("\n");
}

#write a program in c to find the second largest element of array using

pointer.
#include <stdio.h>
void read(int*,int);
void Sort(int*,int);
int main() {
int arr[50],size;
printf("enter the size of array:");
scanf("%d",&size);
read(arr,size);

Sort(arr, size);
printf("The second largest element is %d:",arr[size-
2]);

return 0;
}

void read(int *arr,int size){

int i;
printf("enter the element of array:");
for(i=0;i<size;i++){
scanf("%d",arr+i);
}
}

void Sort(int *arr, int size) {

for (int i = 0; i < size - 1; i++) {
for (int j =i+1; j < size; j++) {
if (*(arr+i) > *(arr+j)) {
// Swap elements
int temp = *(arr+i);
*(arr+i)=*(arr+j);
*(arr+j)= temp;
}
}
}
}