What is a Pointer in C?

What is a Pointer in C?

A pointer is defined as a derived data type that can store the address of other C variables or a memory location. We can access and manipulate the data stored in that memory location using pointers....

Syntax of C Pointers

The syntax of pointers is similar to the variable declaration in C, but we use the ( * ) dereferencing operator in the pointer declaration....

How to Use Pointers?

The use of pointers in C can be divided into three steps:...

C Pointer Example

C // C program to illustrate Pointers #include void geeks() { int var = 10; // declare pointer variable int* ptr; // note that data type of ptr and var must be same ptr = &var; // assign the address of a variable to a pointer printf("Value at ptr = %p \n", ptr); printf("Value at var = %d \n", var); printf("Value at *ptr = %d \n", *ptr); } // Driver program int main() { geeks(); return 0; }...

Types of Pointers in C

Pointers in C can be classified into many different types based on the parameter on which we are defining their types. If we consider the type of variable stored in the memory location pointed by the pointer, then the pointers can be classified into the following types:...

Size of Pointers in C

The size of the pointers in C is equal for every pointer type. The size of the pointer does not depend on the type it is pointing to. It only depends on the operating system and CPU architecture. The size of pointers in C is...

C Pointer Arithmetic

The Pointer Arithmetic refers to the legal or valid arithmetic operations that can be performed on a pointer. It is slightly different from the ones that we generally use for mathematical calculations as only a limited set of operations can be performed on pointers. These operations include:...

C Pointers and Arrays

In C programming language, pointers and arrays are closely related. An array name acts like a pointer constant. The value of this pointer constant is the address of the first element. For example, if we have an array named val then val and &val[0] can be used interchangeably....

Uses of Pointers in C

The C pointer is a very powerful tool that is widely used in C programming to perform various useful operations. It is used to achieve the following functionalities in C:...

Advantages of Pointers

Following are the major advantages of pointers in C:...

Disadvantages of Pointers

Pointers are vulnerable to errors and have following disadvantages:...

Conclusion

In conclusion, pointers in C are very capable tools and provide C language with its distinguishing features, such as low-level memory access, referencing, etc. But as powerful as they are, they should be used with responsibility as they are one of the most vulnerable parts of the language....

FAQs on Pointers in C

Q1. Define pointers....