The Essence of Pointers

For some, working with pointers can be confusing; however, there are only a few things to remember about using pointers:

How to declare one:

     int *ip;

How to create one:

     ip = &x;

How to access one: *ip = 5; x = ? x = *ip + 3; x = ? *ip = ?

What will this do?

         *ip = x + *ip;

Things to remember:

The & (address of operator) creates a pointer. The * (dereference operator) follows a pointer. An <Lvalue> can now be either:

• a variable name, x (for direct access)
• a dereferenced pointer, *ip (for indirect access)

The value of a pointer variable IS an arrow.