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Pointers 3 slides

Pointers, arrays, arithmetic.
Mithat Konar
October 23, 2021

Pointers and arrays

Pointers and arrays

The relationship is so close that you can use pointer operators with array names:

int nums[] = {2, 4, 6, 8};
 
cout << nums[0] << endl;    // prints 2
cout << nums << endl;       // prints address where the array storage begins
cout << *nums << endl;      // prints 2

Pointers and arrays

You can use array subscripting operations with pointers:

int *myPtr = &nums[0];      // myPtr points to first element of nums
cout << *myPtr << endl;     // prints 2
cout << myPtr[0] << endl;   // prints 2
cout << myPtr[1] << endl;   // prints 4
cout << myPtr[2] << endl;   // prints 6

Pointers and arrays

The following are equivalent:

int *myPtr = &nums[0];      // myPtr points to first element of nums
int *myPtr = &*nums;        // myPtr points to first element of nums
int *myPtr = nums;          // myPtr points to first element of nums

Pointer arithmetic

pointer-math.cpp
/** Pointer arithmetic. */
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
    int v[] = {2, 4, 6, 8, 12};
    int *vPtr = v;
 
    cout << *vPtr << endl;  // prints 2
    vPtr = vPtr + 3;        // vPtr now points to address vPtr + 3*sizeof(int),
                            // i.e., v[3]
    cout << *vPtr << endl;  // prints v[3]
    vPtr--;                 // vPtr now points to address vPtr - 1*sizeof(int),
                            // i.e., v[2]
    cout << *vPtr << endl;  // prints v[2]
    cout << *(vPtr + 2) << endl;  // prints v[4]
 
    return 0;
}

Pointer arithmetic: pointer difference

Subtracting one pointer from another returns the number of elements between two addresses:

subtracting-pointers.cpp
/** Subtracting pointers */
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
    int v[] = {2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 0};
    int *vPtr = &v[0];
    int *vPtr2 = &v[3];
 
    cout << vPtr2 - vPtr << endl;   // prints 3
 
    return 0;
}

Walking down an array

A common technique used to visit every element in an array is to walk down an array with a pointer:

walk-down-array.cpp
/** Walking down an array. */
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
    int v[] = {2, 4, 6, 8, 12};
    int *vPtr = v;
 
    for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
    {
        cout << *vPtr << endl;
        vPtr++;
    }
 
    return 0;
}

Especially common with zero-terminated (i.e., NULL terminated) partially-filled arrays:

walk-null-terminated.cpp
/** Walking down a null-terminated array. */
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
    int v[20] = {2, 4, 6, 8, 12};
    int *vPtr = v;
 
    while (*vPtr != 0)
    {
        cout << *vPtr << endl;
        vPtr++;
    }
 
    return 0;
}

Summary

The following examples below assume:

int vals[] = {4, 7, 11};
int *valptr = vals;

Array access techniques

Access technique Example
arrayName[N]
vals[2] = 17;
pointerName[N]
valptr[2] = 17;
arrayName and subscript arithmetic
*(vals + 2) = 17;
pointerName and subscript arithmetic
*(valptr + 2) = 17;

Array arithmetic

Operation Example
pointer++
valptr++;  // points at 7
pointer--
valptr--;  // now points at 4
pointer + int
cout << *(valptr + 2); // prints 11
pointer += int
valptr = vals; // points at 4
valptr += 2;   // points at 11
pointer - pointer
cout << valptr - vals; // # of ints between valptr and vals