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Week 11 Pointers

The document explains pointers in C programming, defining them as variables that hold memory addresses of other objects. It covers the syntax for declaring pointers, the use of reference and dereference operators, and how pointers can be utilized as function arguments. Additionally, it discusses pointer arithmetic and provides exercises for practice.

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aya boumelha
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
9 views

Week 11 Pointers

The document explains pointers in C programming, defining them as variables that hold memory addresses of other objects. It covers the syntax for declaring pointers, the use of reference and dereference operators, and how pointers can be utilized as function arguments. Additionally, it discusses pointer arithmetic and provides exercises for practice.

Uploaded by

aya boumelha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Week 11- Pointers

What is a pointer ?
▪ A pointer is …
o A variable that holds a memory address
o This address is the location of another
object in the memory.
o Pointers as an address indicates where to
find an object
o Not all pointers actually contain an address
o Value of NULL pointer is 0
• Syntax:
type *Variable;
Example:
int *P; /* P is var that can point to an int var */
float *Q; /* Q is a float pointer */
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char *R; /* R is a char pointer */
What is an address in C ?
▪ Int var = 2;
▪ Var = the actual value of the variable
▪ &var contains the address of the
variable
▪ & is called the reference operator

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Pointer basics
▪ Variables are allocated at addresses in computer
memory (address depends on computer/operating
system)
▪ Name of the variable is a reference to that memory
address
▪ A pointer variable contains a representation of an
address of another variable (P is a pointer variable in
the following):

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Reference Operator (&)
VS. Dereference Operator (*)

▪ & is called the reference operator and


it gives the address of the variable
▪ * gets the actual value from the
address. It is called a dereference
operator. (value of)
▪ The next example shows the use of
pointers and both operators.
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Reference Operator (&)
VS. Dereference Operator (*)

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Examples

Output: 3 Output: 6487572 Output:


62fe14

Output: 62FE14

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Use of Pointers in Functions
▪ Pointer can be used as a function argument
□ Example:
void myFunction (int* p){
*p = 5;
}
▪ When calling a function with a pointer argument, we need
to provide the ADDRESS of the Variable
□ Example:
myFunction(&pr);
□ In this case we say that myFunction() is called by
reference
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Uses of Pointers in Functions
▪ Pointer can be used as a function argument
□ Example:
void myFunction (int* p){
*p = 5;
}
▪ When calling a function with a pointer argument, we need
to supply ADRESS of Varibale
□ Example:
myFunction(&pr);
□ In this case we say that myFunction() is called by
reference
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Exercise #1

● Write function that adds up the two numbers where parameters are
passed by reference. The function stores the sum of the two
numbers in the first one.
● Use your function in a loop to scan N integers entered by the user
and accumulate the sum in a variable.

11
Exercise #2
● Write a C function that takes two integers (passed by reference) and swaps their values.

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Correction #2

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Pointer Arithmetic
▪ There are ONLY two arithmetic operations that
can be used on pointers : Addition and
Subtraction
▪ This is allows moving between different
memroy zones.
▪ The pointer arithmetic is performed relative to
base type of the pointer.
□ Example:
int* ip = 100;
Then ip + 1 = 104 because the size of int
is 4 bytes 14
Example 1

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Example 2

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Example 3

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Practice Exercise
int i = 12, *ip = &i;
double d = 2.3, *dp = &d;
char ch = 'a', *cp = &ch;
Suppose the address of i, d, and ch are 1000, 2000, and
3000, respectively.
Compute the following:
ip = ip + 1;
ip = ip + 5;
ip = ip – 2;
dp = dp + 3;
cp = cp + 4;

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Arithmetic Rules
▪ You cannot multiply two pointers
▪ You cannot divide two pointers
▪ You cannot add two pointers
▪ You can only add an integer to a pointer
▪ You can only subtract an integer from a pointer
▪ You can only subtract two pointers of the same data type.

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