C Pointers
Systems Programming
Pointers
Pointers and Addresses
Pointers
Using Pointers in Call by
Reference
Swap – A Pointer Example
Pointers and Arrays
Operator Precedence Example
Systems Programming: Pointers 2
Variables
Variable names correspond to memory
locations in memory. Every variable
has a type, a name and a value.
int i; i
i = 4;
32212242 4
(the address of i ) &i
Systems Programming: Pointers 3
Print an Address
int main ()
{
int i;
i = 4;
printf(‘i = %d, address of i = %u\n”, i, &i);
return 0;
}
$./ptr1
i = 4, address of i = 3220392980
Systems Programming: Pointers 4
Pointers
What is a pointer?
– a variable that contains a memory
address as its value.
– Pointers contain the address of a
variable that has a specific value (an
indirect reference).
Pointers in C are typed.
– a pointer to a variable of type int
– a pointer to a variable of type char
– a pointer to a defined type or an object.
2007 Pearson Ed -All rights reserved.
Systems Programming: Pointers 5
Fig. 7.1 Directly and indirectly
referencing a variable
2007 Pearson Ed -All rights reserved.
Systems Programming: Pointers 6
Pointers
/* Welcome to the world of Pointers!
Pointers are a powerful tool */
int main ()
{
int i;
int *ptr; /* pointer declaration */
i = 4;
ptr = &i;
printf(" i = %d\n address of i = %u\n address of pointer = %u\n",
i, ptr, &ptr);
return 0; ./ptr2
} i=4
address of i = 3219352564
address of pointer = 3219352560
Systems Programming: Pointers 7
Pointers
/* Do you think in Hex ?*/ ptr
int main ()
{ bfe07240 bfe07244
int i; bfe07244 4
int *ptr;
i = 4; i
ptr = &i;
printf(" i = %d\n address of i = %p\n address of pointer = %p\n",
i, ptr, &ptr);
return 0;
./ptr3
}
i=4
address of i = 0xbfe07244
address of pointer = 0xbfe07240
Systems Programming: Pointers 8
Pointers
/* Never trust a Compiler. */
int j, i; /* think globally! */
int *ptr1, *ptr2; ptr1 8049654
void printit ()
{
ptr2 804964c
printf(" i = %2d, ptr1 = %p\n", i, ptr1);
printf(" j = %2d, ptr2 = %p\n", j, ptr2);
}
int main () j 19
8
9
{
i = 4; j = 8; i 4
6
ptr1 = &i;
ptr2 = &j;
printit (); ./ptr4
*ptr2 = *ptr2 + 1;
ptr1 = ptr1 - 2; /* You cannot know i =this4,*/ptr1 = 0x8049654
printit (); j = 8, ptr2 = 0x804964c
i = 6;
*ptr1 = *ptr1 + 10; i = 4, ptr1 = 0x804964c
printit (); j = 9, ptr2 = 0x804964c
return 0;
} i = 6, ptr1 = 0x804964c
j = 19,Pointers
Systems Programming: ptr2 = 0x804964c 9
7.4 Calling Functions by Reference
Call by reference with pointer arguments
– Pass address of argument using & operator
– Allows you to change the actual location in memory
– Arrays are not passed with & because the array
name is already a pointer.
* operator
– Used as alias/nickname for variable inside of function
void double( int *number )
{
*number = 2 * ( *number );
}
– *number used as nickname for the variable passed.
2007 Pearson Ed -All rights reserved.
Systems Programming: Pointers 10
Using Pointers in Call by Reference
1 /* Fig. 7.7: fig07_07.c
2 Cube a variable using call-by-reference with a pointer argument */
2007 Pearson Ed -All rights reserved.
3
4 #include <stdio.h>
5
6 void cubeByReference( int *nPtr ); /* prototype */
7
8 int main( void )
Function prototype takes a pointer argument
9 {
10 int number = 5; /* initialize number */
11
12 printf( "The original value of number is %d", number );
13
Function cubeByReference is
14 /* pass address of number to cubeByReference */
15 cubeByReference( &number ); passed an address, which can be the
16 value of a pointer variable
17 printf( "\nThe new value of number is %d\n", number );
18
19 return 0; /* indicates successful termination */
20
21 } /* end main */
22
23 /* calculate cube of *nPtr; modifies variable number in main */
24 void cubeByReference( int *nPtr )
25 { In this program, *nPtr is number, so this
26 *nPtr = *nPtr * *nPtr * *nPtr; /* cube *nPtr */ statement modifies the value of number
27 } /* end function cubeByReference */
itself.
The original value of number is 5
The new value of number is 125
Systems Programming: Pointers 11
Swap: A Pointer Example
/* A simple memory swap using pointers */
void swap (int *i, int *j)
{
int temp;
temp = *i;
*i = *j;
*j = temp;
}
Systems Programming: Pointers 12
Swap: A Pointer Example
int main ( ) ./swap
{ mem1: 81 mem2: 12
int i; ray1[0] = 0 ray1[1] = 10 ray1[2] = 20 ray1[3] = 30
int mem1, mem2, ray1[4];
mem1 = 12;
mem2 = 81;
swap (&mem1, &mem2); /* swap two integers */
printf("mem1:%4d mem2:%4d\n", mem1, mem2);
for (i = 0; i < 4; i++)
{
ray1[i] = 10*i;
printf("ray1[%d] =%4d ", i, ray1[i]);
}
printf("\n");
Systems Programming: Pointers 13
Swap: A Pointer Example
swap (&mem1, &ray1[3]);
swap (&mem2, &ray1[2]);
printf("mem1:%4d mem2:%4d\n", mem1, mem2);
for (i = 0; i < 4; i++)
printf("ray1[%d] =%4d ", i, ray1[i]);
printf("\n");
return 0;
}
mem1: 30 mem2: 20
ray1[0] = 0 ray1[1] = 10 ray1[2] = 12 ray1[3] = 81
Systems Programming: Pointers 14
Pointers and Arrays
r 1 1 1 0 0 0
r[0] r[1] r[2] r[5]
int main ()
ptr {
int i, r[6] ={1,1,1};
int *ptr;
ptr = r;
*ptr = 83;
*(ptr +2) = 33;
for (i=0; i < 6; i++)
printf (" r[%d] = %d\n", i, r[i]);
Systems Programming: Pointers 15
Pointers and Arrays
r 83 1 33 0 0 0
r[0] r[1] r[2] r[5]
ptr r[4] = *ptr;
ptr++;
*ptr = 6;
*(ptr +2) = 7;
for (i=0; i < 6; i++)
printf (" r[%d] = %d\n", i, r[i]);
return 0;
}
Systems Programming: Pointers 16
Pointers and Arrays
r 83 6 33 7 83 0
r[0] r[1] r[2] r[5]
ptr r[4] = *ptr;
ptr++;
*ptr = 6;
*(ptr +2) = 7;
for (i=0; i < 6; i++)
printf (" r[%d] = %d\n", i, r[i]);
return 0;
}
Systems Programming: Pointers 17
Operator Precedence Example
/* An example of operator precedence trouble */
int main ()
{
$ ./prec
float x,y,z;
float *ptr1, *ptr2, *ptr3; 3220728372 3220728368 3220728364
2.000000 8.000000 4.000000
x =2.0; y = 8.0; z = 4.0; 3220728372 3220728368 3220728368
2.000000 8.000000 8.000000
ptr1 = &x;
ptr2 = &y;
ptr3 = &z;
printf (" %u %u %u\n", ptr1, ptr2, ptr3);
*ptr3++;
printf (" %f %f %f\n", x, y, z);
printf (" %u %u %u\n", ptr1, ptr2, ptr3);
printf (" %f %f %f\n", *ptr1, *ptr2, *ptr3);
Systems Programming: Pointers 18
Precedence Example
(*ptr1)++;
printf (" %f %f %f\n", *ptr1, *ptr2, *ptr3);
--*ptr2;
printf (" %f %f %f\n", *ptr1, *ptr2, *ptr3);
return 0;
}
3.000000 8.000000 8.000000
3.000000 7.000000 7.000000
Systems Programming: Pointers 19
Summary
This section demonstrated the
relationship between pointers and
addresses and introduced the
respective operators & and * .
Showed the use of pointers in simple
examples.
Introduced call by reference with
pointers.
Detailed the relationship between
pointers and arrays.
Systems Programming: Pointers 20
