C - Pointers
Some C programming tasks are performed more easily with pointers, and other tasks, such as
dynamic memory allocation, cannot be performed without using pointers.
What are Pointers?
A pointer is a variable whose value is the address of another variable, i.e., direct address of the
memory location.
Uses of Pointers?
a) To create dynamic data structure
b) To pass and handle variable parameters passed to functions
c) To access information stored in arrays
d) To avoid wastage of memory
Pointer Declaration
Every pointer starts with a *. The general form of a pointer variable declaration is :
type *var-name;
valid pointer declarations −
int *ip; /* pointer to an integer */
double *dp; /* pointer to a double */
float *fp; /* pointer to a float */
char *ch /* pointer to a character */
int **pptr; /* pointer to integer pointer */
Important points about Pointers?
a) An address of a type (e.g int) is put into a pointer to a type (e.g int) by using & operator infront of the type
(e.g int)
e.g #include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x;
int *ptr; /* declare a pointer*/
x=5; /* initialise x */
ptr=&x; /* assign to ptr the address of x */
return 0;
}
b) To access the value of the interger that is being pointed to, you have to dereference the pointer by using the
*
e.g #include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int x, y;
int *ptr;
x=5;
ptr=&x;
y=*ptr; /* dereference the pointer */
printf("%d\n", y);
return 0;
}
How to Use Pointers?
(a) We define a pointer variable,
(b) assign the address of a variable to a pointer and
(c) finally access the value at the address available in the pointer variable.
The following example makes use of these operations −
Live Demo
e.g #include <stdio.h>
int main () {
int var = 20; /* actual variable declaration */
int *ip; /* pointer variable declaration */
ip = &var; /* store address of var in pointer variable*/
printf("Address of var variable: %x\n", &var );
/* address stored in pointer variable */
printf("Address stored in ip variable: %x\n", ip );
/* access the value using the pointer */
printf("Value of *ip variable: %d\n", *ip );
return 0;
}
NULL Pointers
A pointer that is assigned NULL is called a nullpointer.
The NULL pointer is a constant with a value of zero defined in several standard libraries.
Consider the following program −
Live Demo
#include <stdio.h>
int main () {
int *ptr = NULL;
printf("The value of ptr is : %x\n", ptr );
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
The value of ptr is 0
To check for a null pointer, you can use an 'if' statement as follows −
if(ptr) /* succeeds if p is not null */
if(!ptr) /* succeeds if p is null */
POINTER TO POINTER
A pointer to a pointer is a form of multiple indirection, or a chain of pointers. Normally, a
pointer contains the address of a variable. When we define a pointer to a pointer, the first
pointer contains the address of the second pointer, which points to the location that contains the
actual value as shown below.
A variable that is a pointer to a pointer must be declared as such. This is done by placing an
additional asterisk in front of its name. For example, the following declaration declares a
pointer to a pointer of type int −
int **var;
example
#include <stdio.h>
int main () {
int var;
int *ptr;
int **pptr;
var = 3000;
/* take the address of var */
ptr = &var;
/* take the address of ptr using address of operator & */
pptr = &ptr;
/* take the value using pptr */
printf("Value of var = %d\n", var );
printf("Value available at *ptr = %d\n", *ptr );
printf("Value available at **pptr = %d\n", **pptr);
return 0;
}
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result −
Value of var = 3000
Value available at *ptr = 3000
Value available at **pptr = 3000
Tutorial
By using C comments, indicate the output or what happens at the end of each code statement.
1. int a;
int *ptr;
a=42;
ptr=&a;
printf("%d", *ptr);
*ptr=56;
2. Give the output of the following program.
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
int i=5, j;
int *p;
p=&i;
j=*p;
*p=8;
p=&j;
*p=2;
printf("%d %d %d", i,j,*p);
return 0;
}
3.Write a C program to add two numbers using pointers
