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C Pointers for Beginners

The document explains the concept of pointers in C programming, detailing how to create a pointer that stores the memory address of a variable using the reference operator '&' and the dereference operator '*'. It provides examples demonstrating the declaration of an integer variable and a corresponding pointer, as well as how to output both the memory address and the value of the variable through the pointer. The document emphasizes the importance of matching the pointer type with the variable type.

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38 views2 pages

C Pointers for Beginners

The document explains the concept of pointers in C programming, detailing how to create a pointer that stores the memory address of a variable using the reference operator '&' and the dereference operator '*'. It provides examples demonstrating the declaration of an integer variable and a corresponding pointer, as well as how to output both the memory address and the value of the variable through the pointer. The document emphasizes the importance of matching the pointer type with the variable type.

Uploaded by

gautamsinghtit2025
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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C Pointers-:

Creating Pointers

------------------

You learned from the previous chapter, that we can get the memory address of a variable with the
reference operator &:

1. Example

int myAge = 43; // an int variable

printf("%d", myAge); // Outputs the value of myAge (43)

printf("%p", &myAge); // Outputs the memory address of myAge (0x7ffe5367e044)

-> A pointer is a variable that stores the memory address of another variable as its value.

A pointer variable points to a data type (like int) of the same type, and is created with the * operator.

The address of the variable you are working with is assigned to the pointer:

2. Example

int myAge = 43; // An int variable

int* ptr = &myAge; // A pointer variable, with the name ptr, that stores the address of myAge

// Output the value of myAge (43)

printf("%d\n", myAge);

// Output the memory address of myAge (0x7ffe5367e044)


printf("%p\n", &myAge);

// Output the memory address of myAge with the pointer (0x7ffe5367e044)

printf("%p\n", ptr);

Example explained

Create a pointer variable with the name ptr, that points to an int variable (myAge). Note that the
type of the pointer has to match the type of the variable you're working with (int in our example).

Use the & operator to store the memory address of the myAge variable, and assign it to the pointer.

Now, ptr holds the value of myAge's memory address.

Dereference

In the example above, we used the pointer variable to get the memory address of a variable (used
together with the & reference operator).

You can also get the value of the variable the pointer points to, by using the * operator (the
dereference operator):

3. Example

int myAge = 43; // Variable declaration

int* ptr = &myAge; // Pointer declaration

// Reference: Output the memory address of myAge with the pointer (0x7ffe5367e044)

printf("%p\n", ptr);

// Dereference: Output the value of myAge with the pointer (43)

printf("%d\n", *ptr);

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