What exactly is a pointer?

What exactly is a pointer? Stated simply, a pointer is nothing more than a variable that holds an address in the computer’s memory. A pointer variable holds the address of a certain piece of memory in the computer; in other words, a pointer points at a specific location in memory.

What happens when we declare a pointer in C?

When a pointer is declared, it does not have any memory, it has to be explicitly initialized by assigning it to some already existing variable or memory be allocated by using the malloc() C library function.

Why are pointers used in C?

Pointers are used for file handling. Pointers are used to allocate memory dynamically. In C++, a pointer declared to a base class could access the object of a derived class. However, a pointer to a derived class cannot access the object of a base class.

What is a pointer explain how the pointer variable declared and initialized?

Pointer is declared using special character ‘*’ along with datatype pointer points and name of the pointer as an identifier. Pointer initialization is a programming technique in which pointer is assigned an address of a varible so that pointer points to specific value.

Where do pointers point?

The name pointer comes from the dog’s instinct to point, by stopping and aiming its muzzle towards game. This demonstrates to the hunter the location of their quarry and allows them to move into gun range. Pointers were selectively bred from dogs who had abundant pointing and backing instinct.

Why are pointers needed?

Uses of pointers: To return multiple values. Dynamic memory allocation. To implement data structures. To do system level programming where memory addresses are useful.

What is the use of pointers in C programming?

Pointers provide an efficient way for accessing the elements of an array structure. Pointers are used for dynamic memory allocation as well as deallocation. Pointers are used to form complex data structures such as linked list, graph, tree, etc. Disadvantages of Pointers in C

How do you declare a pointer variable in C?

Like any variable or constant, you must declare a pointer before using it to store any variable address. The general form of a pointer variable declaration is −. type *var-name; Here, type is the pointer’s base type; it must be a valid C data type and var-name is the name of the pointer variable.

What is a void pointer in C programming?

Void pointers are of great use in C. Library functions malloc () and calloc () which dynamically allocate memory return void pointers. qsort (), an inbuilt sorting function in C, has a function as its argument which itself takes void pointers as its argument. A dangling pointer points to a memory address which used to hold a variable.

What is the difference between variables and pointers in C++?

Pointers are comparatively slower than that of the variables. Programmers find it very difficult to work with the pointers; therefore it is programmer’s responsibility to manipulate a pointer carefully. A pointer is nothing but a memory location where data is stored. A pointer is used to access the memory location.