C++ Pointers

C++ Pointers tutorial for beginners and professionals with examples on constructor, if-else, switch, break, continue, comments, arrays, object and class, exception, static, structs, inheritance, aggregation etc.

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C++ Pointers

The pointer in C++ language is a variable, it is also known as locator or indicator that points to an address of a value.

Advantage of pointer

1) Pointer reduces the code and improves the performance, it is used to retrieving strings, trees etc. and used with arrays, structures and functions.

2) We can return multiple values from function using pointer.

3) It makes you able to access any memory location in the computer's memory.

Usage of pointer

There are many usage of pointers in C++ language.

1) Dynamic memory allocation

In c language, we can dynamically allocate memory using malloc() and calloc() functions where pointer is used.

2) Arrays, Functions and Structures

Pointers in c language are widely used in arrays, functions and structures. It reduces the code and improves the performance.

Symbols used in pointer

Symbol	Name	Description
& (ampersand sign)	Address operator	Determine the address of a variable.
∗ (asterisk sign)	Indirection operator	Access the value of an address.

Declaring a pointer

The pointer in C++ language can be declared using ∗ (asterisk symbol).

int ∗	a; //pointer to int  
char ∗	c; //pointer to char

Pointer Example

Let's see the simple example of using pointers printing the address and value.

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int number=30;  
int ∗	p;    
p=&number;//stores the address of number variable  
cout<<"Address of number variable is:"<<&number<<endl;  
cout<<"Address of p variable is:"<<p<<endl;  
cout<<"Value of p variable is:"<<*p<<endl;  
   return 0;
}

Output:

Address of number variable is:0x7ffccc8724c4
Address of p variable is:0x7ffccc8724c4
Value of p variable is:30

Pointer Program to swap 2 numbers without using 3rd variable

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
int a=20,b=10,∗p1=&a,∗p2=&b;  
cout<<"Before swap: ∗p1="<<∗p1<<" ∗p2="<<∗p2<<endl;  
∗p1=∗p1+∗p2;  
∗p2=∗p1-∗p2;  
∗p1=∗p1-∗p2;  
cout<<"After swap: ∗p1="<<∗p1<<" ∗p2="<<∗p2<<endl;  
   return 0;
}

Output:

Before swap: ∗p1=20 ∗p2=10
After swap: ∗p1=10 ∗p2=20

Next Topicsizeof() operator in C++

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C++ Pointers

C++ Pointers

Symbols used in pointer

Declaring a pointer

Pointer Example

Pointer Program to swap 2 numbers without using 3rd variable

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Java

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