CE 204: Computer Programming Sessional

Pointers
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Tazwar Bakhtiyar Zahid

Lecturer,
Department of Civil Engineering,
BUET

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 Pointers
• The type of the variable that stores an address is
called a pointer
• Pointer variables have the derived type “pointer to
T”, where T is the type of the object to which the
pointer points
• A memory bin has an address and is usually
expressed in hexadecimal
• We can store the address of a memory bin (i.e. of a
variable name) in a pointer
• Then we can access that bin by the pointer as well as
by the variable name 3
 Declaring Pointers

• long* pnumber; //declares pnumber of type pointer

to long

• long *pnumber;

• int *pa, *pb;

• double *pmark;

• Note: The asterisk may be attached to either type

name or variable name.

• int* pnumber, number; //declare pnumber as pointer

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to int and number as int
 Indirection Operator
• When we put * immediately before a pointer, (in
statements other then declaration) it refers to the
contents of the memory bin pointed to by the
pointer variable

• Thus if px is a pointer then *px (in statements other

then declaration) means the value stored in the
address referred to by px

• The symbol * is used as multiplication operator, as

indirection operator and also to declare a pointer,
the compiler is able to distinguish the meaning by
the context 5
 Address of Operator
• The address-of operator ‘&’ is a unary operator that
obtains the address of a variable in the memory

• int *pnumber;

• pnumber = &number; //&number means the

address of number and it is stored in pnumber

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 Address of Operator
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int x, y;
int *px;
int *py;
x=10;
px=&x;
py=&y;
y=*px;
cout<<" x ="<<x<<" y ="<<y<<endl;
cout<<"\n *px ="<<*px<<" *py ="<<*py<<endl;
} 7
Address of Operator

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 Initializing Pointers
• It is easy to initialize a pointer with the address of a
variable

• However, the variable must have to be declared

prior to the pointer declaration

int age = 0; //initialized integer variable

int* page = &age; //initialized pointer

• We can also initialize a pointer as below

int* pnum=0; //pointer not pointing to anything

• A pointer initialized in this way is called a null

pointer 9
 References
• A reference is an alias or synonym for another
variable, it is declared by the syntax

type& ref-name = var-name;

• where type is the variable’s type, ref-name is the

name of the reference, and var-name is the name of
the variable

• For example, in the declaration

int& rn=n; //r is a synonym for n

rn is declared to be a reference to the variable n,

which must already have been declared 10
 Using References
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int n=44;
int& rn=n; // rn is a synonym for n
cout << "n = " << n << ", rn = " << rn << endl;
--n;
cout << "n = " << n << ", rn = " << rn << endl;
rn *= 2;
cout << "n = " << n << ", rn = " << rn << endl;
}
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 Using References
Output: n = 44, rn = 44
n = 43, rn = 43
n = 86, rn = 86
• The two identifiers n and rn are different names for the
same variable; they always have the same value
• Like constants, references must be initialized when
they are declared
• But unlike a constant, a reference must be initialized to
a variable, not a literal
• Although a reference must be initialized to a variable,
references are not variables
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 References Are Not Separate Variables
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int n=44;
int& rn=n; // rn is a synonym for n
cout <<"&n = " << &n << ", &rn = " << &rn
<< endl;
int& rn2=n; // rn2 is another synonym for n
int& rn3=rn; // rn3 is another synonym for n
cout <<"&rn2="<<&rn2<<",&rn3=" <<&rn3
<< endl;
} 13
 References Are Not Separate Variables

Output:
&n = 0064fde4, &rn = 0064fde4
&rn2 = 0064fde4, &rn3 = 0064fde4
• N.B.: This output varies from program to program
• The first line of output shows that n and rn have the
same address: 0064fde4
• Thus they are merely different names for the same
object

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 Pointers to Pointers
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int n=44;
cout << " n = " << n << endl;
cout << " &n = " << &n << endl;
int* pn=&n; // pn holds the address of n
cout << " pn = " << pn << endl;
cout << " &pn = " << &pn << endl;
cout << " *pn = " << *pn << endl;
int** ppn=&pn; // ppn holds the address of pn
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 Pointers to Pointers
cout << " ppn = " << ppn << endl;
cout << " &ppn = " << &ppn << endl;
cout << " *ppn = " << *ppn << endl;
cout << "**ppn = " << **ppn << endl;
}
Output: n = 44
&n = 0064fd78
pn = 0064fd78
&pn = 0064fd7c
*pn = 44
ppn = 0064fd7c
&ppn = 0064fd80
*ppn = 0064fd78
**ppn = 44 16
 Array and Pointers
• The array and a pointer have similarity in that both
contain an address

• Most significant difference between a pointer and

an array is that you can modify the address stored
in a pointer, while the address that an array refers
to is fixed

• double value[5];

• double* pvalue = value; // stores the address of the

array values in pvalues

• Now pvalue+1 will mean the address of value[1]

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 Array and Pointers
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
double value[5], *pvalue;
pvalue = value;
cout<<"\n pvalue = "<<pvalue;
cout<<"\n value[0]="<<&value[0];
cout<<"\n pvalue+1 ="<<pvalue+1;
cout<<"\n value[1]="<<&value[1];
cout<<"\n pvalue+2 ="<<pvalue+2;
cout<<"\n value[2]="<<&value[2];
cout<<"\n pvalue+3 ="<<pvalue+3; 18
 Array and Pointers
cout<<"\n value[3]="<<&value[3];
cout<<"\n pvalue+4 ="<<pvalue+4;
cout<<"\n value[4]="<<&value[4];
cout<<endl;
}

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 Array and Pointers
• We can also use the name of an array as though it
was a pointer

• We can address the elements of an array such as:

*(value+i) refers to value[i] of the array

• For a two dimensional array value[ ][ ],

*(*(value+i)+j) refers to the element value[i][j];

• *(value+i) refers to the address of the first element

of row i

• *(value+i)+j refers to the address of offset j at row i

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 Array and Pointers
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
double value[10][10];
int m,n;
cout<<" No. of rows (max 10)? ";
cin>>m;
cout<<" No. of columns (max 10)? ";
cin>>n;
cout<<" Input the elements of the matrix
(row wise)\n ";
int i,j; 21
 Array and Pointers
for(i=0; i<m; i++)
{for(j=0; j<n; j++)cin>>value[i][j];}
for(i=0; i<m; i++)
{for(j=0; j<n; j++)cout<<setw(7)<<value[i][j];
cout<<endl;}
cout<<"value[1][2] = "<<value[1][2]<<endl;
cout<<"*(*(value+1)+2)="<<*(*(value+1)+2)
<<endl;
}

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 Dynamic Memory Allocation
• When we declare a variable or an array in the source
code in the form

int salary;

string address;

double ce204[50];

the corresponding memory requirement is decided at

compile time

• All of this amount of memory will be allocated, at

execution of the program, whether we need them or
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 Dynamic Memory Allocation
• Such a situation can be avoided by using dynamic
memory allocation

• Dynamic memory allocation means that the amount

of memory to be allocated will be decided at run time

• By definition, dynamically allocated variables cannot

be declared at compile time and so they cannot be
named in the source code

• When we run programs, there may be unused

memory in the computer

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 Dynamic Memory Allocation
• This unused memory is called free store or heap

• We can allocate space within this free store for a new

variable by using a special c++ operator new

• Also we can de-allocate a previously allocated

memory by the operator delete

• Memory once allocated by the new operator won’t be

available for other variables unless it is de-allocated
by delete operator

double *pvalue;

pvalue = new double; 25

 Dynamic Memory Allocation
#include <iostream>
#include <iomanip>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int n, i;
cout<<" How many numbers? ";
cin>>n;
double *number= new double[n];
double sum=0.0;
cout<<" Input the numbers\n ";
for(i=0; i<n; i++){cin>>*(number+i);}
for(i=0; i<n; i++){sum += *(number+i);}
cout<<"Average = "<<sum/n<<endl;
delete [] number;
} 26
Thank You!
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