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Computer Programming in C++: Practical#15)

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31 views

Computer Programming in C++: Practical#15)

Uploaded by

Tooba Akhtar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Computer Programming

in
C++

(PRACTICAL#15)
Objective: Pointers in C++.
 Background
 Memory is a collection of bytes. Every byte in the computer’s memory has an
address where the data/variables values are stored.
10
 These addresses are numbers. X=

Example int x = 10; 0x22ff

Data Type variable’s name/ identifier value Memory Address


The Address of Operator &

 You can find the address occupied by a variable by using the address-of operator.
 The address of a variable can be obtained by preceding the name of a variable with an
ampersand sign (&), known as address-of operator. For example: 
Example int var1 = 10;
Cout<<&var1 // print the address of var1
Remember that the address of a variable is not the same as its
contents
 The 0x in the beginning represents the address is in hexadecimal form.
You can find the address occupied by a variable by using the address-of operator.
Example
int var1 = 10; Memory Representation
int var2=20;
Cout<<&var1 var1 10
ff0
Cout<<&var2 var2 20 ff2
Pointer Variables

 A pointer is a variable which stores the address of a variable.


 OR Variables that holds address values.
 OR A pointer provides a way of accessing a variable without referring to the variable
directly, the mechanism used for this is the address of the variable.

 How to declare a pointer?

int* p; // The asterisk means pointer to and read as pointer to int


// this variables can hold the address of integer //variable.
Pointer Variables

Examples

int* p; // pointer to int

char* ch; // pointer to char

float* p; // pointer to float


Advantages

 They increase execution speed.


 Obtaining memory from the system
 Pointers are more efficient in handling the data tables.
 The use of a pointer array of character strings results in saving of data
storage space in memory.
Advantages

 It allows management of structures which are allocated memory dynamically.

 It allows passing of arrays and strings to functions more efficiently.

 It makes possible to pass address of structure instead of entire structure to the


functions.

 It makes possible to return more than one value from the function.
Reference operator (&) and Deference operator (*)

Reference operator (&) gives the address of a variable.

Referencing means taking the address of an existing variable (using &) to set a pointer
variable.

Example

int var1=10;

char ch=‘a’;

int* ptr1;

char* prt2;

ptr1=&var1; //pinter points to var1;

Pt2=&ch; //pinter points to var1;


Reference operator (&) and Deference
operator (*)

 To get the value stored in the memory address, we use the dereference operator (*).
 Dereferencing a pointer means using the * operator (asterisk character) to access the value
stored at a pointer: 
 Dereferencing means access value of a variable pointed to by the pointer.

For example: int var1=10;
 int* ptr1;
 ptr1=&var1 // set pointer to address var1;

 cout<<*ptr1; // print contents pointed to by the pointer
Pointer to void

 The address that you want to put in a pointer must be the same type as the pointer,
 You can’t assign the address of a float variable to a pointer to int. For example
 float f=10.25;
 Int* ptr=&f; // ERROR: can’t assign float * to int *
 Pointer to void is a general-purpose pointer that can point to any data type.

 Void* ptr=&f; //OK


reinterpret_cast

 You can assign one kind of pointer type to another by using reinterpret_cast.
 Example
 float f=10.25;
 Int* ptr;
 ptr=reinterpret_cast<int*>(f);
Tasks for Lab #
Task # 1
Write a program that reads a group of numbers from the user and places them in an array of type float.
Once the numbers are stored in the array, the program should print them. Use pointer notation whenever possible.

Task # 2

Task # 2

Task # 2

Task # 2

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