Chapter 9:

Pointers

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Null Pointers
– When you begin a program, you may have some
pointers declared, but are not yet set to any value, in
this case you should set them to NULL.
– NULL is a special value that indicates a pointer is
unused.
– For each pointer type, there is a special value -- the
"null pointer" -- which is distinguishable from all other
pointer values and which is not the address of any
object.
– NULL is defined as 0 (zero) in C++.

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 Null Pointers
• Pointers should be initialized to 0, NULL,
or to an address of some variable (of the
same type).
– int *aPtr = 0;
– int *bPtr = NULL;
• A pointer with a value 0 points to “nothing”.

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 9.7
Pointers as Function Parameters

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 Pointers as Function
Parameters
• A pointer can be a parameter
• Works like reference variable to allow change to
argument from within function
• Requires:
1) asterisk * on parameter in prototype and heading
void getNum(int *ptr); // ptr is pointer to an int
2) asterisk * in body to dereference the pointer
*ptr = 100;
3) address as argument to the function
getNum(&num); // pass address of num to getNum

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Example
void swap(int *x, int *y)
{ int temp;
temp = *x;
*x = *y;
*y = temp;
}

int num1 = 2, num2 = -3;

swap(&num1, &num2);

• Compare with reference parameters

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 Passing Arguments to a Function
• In C++, there are three ways to pass
arguments to a function:
– Pass-by-value
– Pass-by-reference with reference arguments
– Pass-by-reference with pointer arguments.

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 Passing Arguments to a Function
• In C++, there are three ways to pass
arguments to a function:
– Pass-by-value
– Pass-by-reference with reference arguments
– Pass-by-reference with pointer arguments.
• Pass-by-value
– When an argument is passed by value, a copy of
the argument is made, and passed to the function.
– Changes to the copy (inside the function) do NOT
affect the original variable.

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 Passing Arguments to a Function
• Pass-by-reference with reference arguments
• To pass by reference, you need to use
reference parameters.
• When passing by reference, you give the
function a permission to modify the parameters.
• To indicate that a parameter is passed by
reference, follow the parameter’s type by an
ampersand (&) in the functions’
header/prototype.

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• Pass-by-value
int squareByValue(int);
int main()
{ int x = 2;
cout<<" x = "<< x <<" before the
squareByValue\n";
cout<<“squareByValue:
"<<squareByValue(x)<<"\n";
cout<<" x = "<< x <<" after the squareByValue\n";
return 0;
}
int squareByValue(int number)
{
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• Pass-by-value
int squareByValue(int);
int main()
{ int x = 2;
cout<<" x = "<< x <<" before the
squareByValue\n";
cout<<“squareByValue:
"<<squareByValue(x)<<"\n";
cout<<" x = "<< x <<" after the squareByValue\n";
return 0;
}
x = 2 before the squareByValue
Value returned by squareByValue: 4
int squareByValue(int number)
x = 2 after the squareByValue
{
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• Pass-by-reference with reference arguments
void squareByReference(int &);
int main()
{
int x = 2;
cout<<" x = "<< x <<" before
squareByReference\n";
squareByReference(x);
cout<<" x = "<< x <<" after squareByReference\n";
return 0;}
void squareByReference(int &numberRef)
{
numberRef *= numberRef;
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• Pass-by-reference with reference arguments
void squareByReference(int &);
int main()
{
int x = 2;
cout<<" x = "<< x <<" before
squareByReference\n";
squareByReference(x);
cout<<" x = "<< x <<" after squareByReference\n";
return 0;}
x = 2 before the squareByReference
void squareByReference(int &numberRef)
{ x = 4 after the squareByReference
numberRef *= numberRef;
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• Pass-by-reference with pointer arguments
void squareByReference_withPointer(int *);
int main()
{ int n = 2;
cout<<" n = "<< n <<" before
squareByReference_withPointer\n";
squareByReference_withPointer(&n);
cout<<" n = "<< n <<" after the
squareByReference_withPointer\n";
return 0;}
void squareByReference_withPointer(int *nPtr)
{
*nPtr = *nPtr * *nPtr;
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} Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Pass-by-reference with pointer arguments
void squareByReference_withPointer(int *);
int main()
{ int n = 2;
cout<<" n = "<< n <<" before
squareByReference_withPointer\n";
squareByReference_withPointer(&n);
cout<<" n = "<< n <<" after the
squareByReference_withPointer\n";
return 0;}
void
n = 2squareByReference_withPointer(int
before the squareByReference_withPointer *nPtr)
{n = 4 after the squareByReference_withPointer
*nPtr = *nPtr * *nPtr;
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} Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
Pointers to Constants
• If we want to store the address of a
constant in a pointer, then we need to
store it in a pointer-to-const.

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Pointers to Constants
• Example: Suppose we have the following
definitions:

const int SIZE = 6;

const double payRates[SIZE] =
{ 18.55, 17.45, 12.85,
14.97, 10.35, 18.89 };
• In this code, payRates is an array of
constant doubles.

9-19
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 Pointers to Constants
• Suppose we wish to pass the payRates array to
a function? Here's an example of how we can do
it.

void displayPayRates(const double *rates, int size)

{
for (int count = 0; count < size; count++)
{
cout << "Pay rate for employee " << (count + 1)
<< " is $" << *(rates + count) << endl;
}
}

The parameter, rates, is a pointer to const double.

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Declaration of a Pointer to
Constant

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Constant Pointers
• A constant pointer is a pointer that is
initialized with an address, and cannot
point to anything else.

• Example

int value = 22;

int * const ptr = &value;

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Constant Pointers

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 9.8
Dynamic Memory Allocation

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Dynamic Memory Allocation
• Variables & Arrays defined in previous lectures had
static memory allocation; which means that memory
is allocated to them at compile-time.

• But sometimes we need to allocate memory at run-

time.
For example: suppose the user will enter an arrays
of student scores where the number of students is
not known beforehand but rather entered by the
user.
Then you need to allocate your array based on the
value entered by the user at run-time. This is called
Dynamic Memory Allocation.

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Dynamic Memory Allocation
• Can allocate storage for a variable while
program is running.
• Computer returns address of newly
allocated variable
• Uses new operator to allocate memory:
double *dptr;
dptr = new double;
• new returns address of memory location

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Dynamic Memory Allocation
• Can also use new to allocate array:
double * arrayPtr;
const int SIZE = 25;
arrayPtr = new double[SIZE];
• Can then use [] or pointer arithmetic to access array:
for(i = 0; i < SIZE; i++)
arrayPtr[i] = i * i;
or
for(i = 0; i < SIZE; i++)
*(arrayPtr + i) = i * i;
• Program will terminate if not enough memory available to
allocate

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Releasing Dynamic Memory

• Use delete to free dynamic memory:

delete dptr;
• Use [] to free dynamic array:
delete [] arrayPtr;
• Only use delete with dynamic memory!

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Program 9-14 (Continued)

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Notice that in line 49 the value 0 is assigned to the sales pointer. It is a
good practice to store 0 in a pointer variable after using delete on it. First,
it prevents code from inadvertently using the pointer to access the area of
memory that was freed. Second, it prevents errors from occurring if
delete is accidentally called on the pointer again. The delete operator
is designed to have no effect when used on a null pointer.

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