Programming in C

Pointers
Pointers
● Pointers are one of the most sophisticated features of the C
programming language.

● The power and flexibility that C provides in dealing with pointers

serve to set it apart from many other programming languages.

● Pointers enable you to:

○ Effectively represent complex data structures
○ To change values passed as arguments to functions
○ To work with memory that has been allocated “dynamically”
○ Concisely and efficiently deal with arrays.

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 A
Defining a Pointer Variable
10
Suppose you define a variable as follows:
int
int count = 10; count

This reserves space in memory at some address A that is large enough

to hold an integer value, in this case, the value 10.

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 D A
Defining a Pointer Variable
A 10
Suppose you define a variable as follows:
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

This reserves space in memory at some address A that is large enough

to hold an integer value, in this case, the value 10.

We can then define a pointer as follows:

int* int_pointer = &count;

This reserves space in memory that is large enough to hold a pointer

value. A pointer value is an address of a location in memory.
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 D A
Defining a Pointer Variable
A 10
Suppose you define a variable as follows:
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

This reserves space in memory at some address A that is large enough

to hold an integer value, in this case, the value 10.

We can then define a pointer as follows:

int* int_pointer = &count;

The & when prepended to a variable is the address of operator. It

returns the address of the variable it operates on.
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 D A
Defining a Pointer Variable
A 10
Suppose you define a variable as follows:
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

This reserves space in memory at some address A that is large enough

to hold an integer value, in this case, theThe
value 10. count is an
variable
We can then define a pointer as follows:int, so &count is a
pointer to an int, that is,
int* int_pointer = &count; an int *.

The & when prepended to a variable is the address of operator. It

returns the address of the variable it operates on.
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 D A
Defining a Pointer Variable
A 10
Here is another depiction of what this looks like.
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

int* int_pointer = &count;

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 D A
Retrieving a Pointer Value
A 10
The prefix * operator retrieves a pointer value.
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

int* int_pointer = &count;

B
int value = *int_pointer;

?
int
value

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 D A
Retrieving a Pointer Value
A 10
The prefix * operator retrieves a pointer value.
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

int *int_pointer = &count;

B
int value = *int_pointer;

?
This dereferences the
int
pointer. In other words, it
value
“follows” the pointer to
return the value.
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 D A
Retrieving a Pointer Value
A 10
The prefix * operator retrieves a pointer value.
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

int *int_pointer = &count;

B
int value = *int_pointer;

?
Thus, the value that results int
from evaluating this value
expression is 10.
10
 D A
Retrieving a Pointer Value
A 10
The prefix * operator retrieves a pointer value.
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

int *int_pointer = &count;

B
int value = *int_pointer;

10
10 is then assigned to the int
left-hand side of the value
assignment.
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 D A
Retrieving a Pointer Value
A 10
The prefix * operator retrieves a pointer value.
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

int *int_pointer = &count;

B
int value = *int_pointer;

int_pointer = &value; 10
int
What do you think this
value
does?
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 D A
Retrieving a Pointer Value
A 10
The prefix * operator retrieves a pointer value.
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

int *int_pointer = &count;

B
int value = *int_pointer;

int_pointer = &value; 10
First, we get the address of int
the integer variable value, value
which in this case is B.
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 D A
Retrieving a Pointer Value
B 10
The prefix * operator retrieves a pointer value.
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

int *int_pointer = &count;

B
int value = *int_pointer;

int_pointer = &value; 10
Then, we assign the
int
address B to the memory
value
location represented by the
variable int_pointer.
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 D A
Retrieving a Pointer Value
B 10
The prefix * operator retrieves a pointer value.
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

int *int_pointer = &count;

B
int value = *int_pointer;

int_pointer = &value; 10
*int_pointer = 86; Now, what do you think this int
value
does?
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 D A
Retrieving a Pointer Value
B 10
The prefix * operator retrieves a pointer value.
int * int
int_point
int count = 10; er
count

int *int_pointer = &count;

B
int value = *int_pointer;

int_pointer = &value; A dereference of a pointer 86

on the left-side of an
*int_pointer = 86; assignment evaluates to int
value
the location where we can
store a value into. Here, B.
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More Pointer Basics

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More Pointer Basics

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More Pointer Basics
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More Pointer Basics
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More Pointer Basics
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More Pointer Basics
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 Play with the code!

More Pointer Basics

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( (

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Working with Pointers and Structures
You have seen how a pointer can be
defined to point to a basic data type, such
as an int or a char.

But pointers can also be defined to point

to structures.

Remember this struct:

struct date {
int month;
int day;
int year;
}

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Working with Pointers and Structures
You have seen how a pointer can be struct date today = {9, 25, 2004};
defined to point to a basic data type, such
as an int or a char.

But pointers can also be defined to point

to structures.

Remember this struct:

struct date {
int month;
int day;
int year;
}

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Working with Pointers and Structures
You have seen how a pointer can be struct date today = {9, 25, 2004};
defined to point to a basic data type, such
as an int or a char. struct date *datePtr;

But pointers can also be defined to point

to structures.

Remember this struct:

struct date {
int month;
int day;
int year;
}

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Working with Pointers and Structures
You have seen how a pointer can be struct date today = {9, 25, 2004};
defined to point to a basic data type, such
as an int or a char. struct date *datePtr;

But pointers can also be defined to point datePtr = &today;

to structures.

Remember this struct:

struct date {
int month;
int day;
int year;
}

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Working with Pointers and Structures
You have seen how a pointer can be struct date today = {9, 25, 2004};
defined to point to a basic data type, such
as an int or a char. struct date *datePtr;

But pointers can also be defined to point datePtr = &today;

to structures.
(*datePtr).day = 21;
Remember this struct:

struct date {
int month;
int day;
int year;
}
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Working with Pointers and Structures
You have seen how a pointer can be struct date today = {9, 25, 2004};
defined to point to a basic data type, such
as an int or a char. struct date *datePtr;

But pointers can also be defined to point datePtr = &today;

to structures.
(*datePtr).day = 21;
Remember this struct:
datePtr->day = 21; // the more
struct date { usual form
int month;
int day;
int year;
}
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