Pointers

A pointer is a variable that holds a memory location (an address)

Declaration

As any variable, pointers also can be of any data type. The * operator is used before the name to indicate a pointer

int variable;
int *pointer_variable;

Also as any variable, it must be initialized before using it. This is done assigning the address of another variable

int variable = 5;
int *pointer_variable = &variable;

Dual Nature

A pointer can represent two things according to how it is used:

1. If used without the *, it represents a memory location, an address
2. If used with the *, it represents the value at its location

int a = 4;
    int *pointer;

    pointer = &a;

    printf("At address %p there is a value of %d", pointer, *pointer);
    // Prints At address 000000000061FE14 there is a value of 4

Table of contents

• Pointer Arithmetic
• Pointers in Functions