UNI

T-I
VPOI
NTERSAND
FUNCTI
ONS
Sy
ll
abus:
Poi
nter
s – De cl
arat
ions,Ini
ti
ali
zat
ion, Poi
nter Ar
it
hmeti
c, Memor
y
all
ocat
ionf
uncti
ons,Arr
aysandPoint
e r
s,Lval
ueandRval
ue.

Funct
ions – De signi
ng Struct
ured Pr ogr
ams ,Us er-
d ef
ined Functions,
Standa r
dF unct
ions,Par
ame terPa ssi
ngTe chniques,Pa ssi
ngAr r
ayt o
Fun ct
ions,
PassingPoint
erstoF unct
ion,Recur
sion,Storageclasses.

Pr
obl
ems olv
ing–Us ingfunct
ionsprintt
hes um ofallel
eme ntsoft
hea rray
usi
ngpointer
s,conver
tdecimalnumbe rtobinarynumbe rus i
ngfunct
ion,
cal
cul
atetheGCDoftwonon- negat
ivei
nteger
susingrecur
sion.

Poi
nter
s:
Point
eri
son eofthemostpower
fulf
eat
uresofC-
language,whi
chhave
numberofadvant
ages.
 Point
erse nabl
eust
oaccessav
a r
iabl
ethati
sdef
inedout
side
thefunct
ion.
 Thisi sb ecausethe me morya ddr
essesa regl
obaltoall
funct
ions,wh er
easlocalvar
iabl
en amesa remeani
ngf
ulonl
y
wit
hinthefuncti
oninwhichtheyar
ed ecl
ared.
 Poi
nter
sreducet
helengthandcompl
exi
tyofa pr
ogr
am. i
.e.
.,
poi
nter
sar
eusedforsavi
ngmemory
.
 Point
e r
sprov
ideawayt
oret
urnmor
ethanonev
a l
uef
rom a
funct
ion.
 Point
erscanbeusedt
opassar
raysandst
ri
ngsmor
econv
e ni
ent
ly
fr
om onefunct
iont
oanot
her
.
 Poi
nter
sincr
easet
hepr
ogr
amexecut
ionspeed.
 Poi
nter
spr
ovi
dedy
nami
cmemor
yal
locat
ions.

Decl
arat
ionofpoi
nter
s:
 Poi
nteri
sav
a r
iabl
ethathol
dst
headdr
essofanot
herv
a r
iabl
e.
 Whe nwedecl
areav ar
iabl
e,anappr
opri
atememory l
ocati
on is
al
locat
edtot
hevar
iabl
ebyt hecompi
lerto hol
dthe v
a l
ue of a
vari
abl
e.
 Thisme morylocati
onwil
lhaveitsowna ddr
e ss.
oCons i
derthestat
eme nt
,inti=10;
Thi
sstat
eme nttel
lst
h eCcomp i
lert
op er
formthef ol
lowingact
ions.
1) Reser
vesas paceinmemorytoholdt hei
ntegervalue.
 2) Assoc i
atet hen ame ‘i’witht his memor
y
locati
on .ilocati
onn ame
10  v alue atlocat
ion
65514 locat
ion
address
Nowwema ya ccessthev al
ue’10’byusingeit
hert
hename‘i’ortheaddress
65514.Si
n ceme mor ylocati
ona ddressesaresi
mplynumb ers,t
heyc an
bea ssignedt os omev ar
iabl
eswh ichc anbefor
c edinme mory
,like
anothervariable.Suchv ari
abl
est hatholdme mor
ya ddr
e ssa r
ec al
led
point
ers.

Decl
arat
ionofpoi
nter
:

Sy
n t
ax: dat
aty
pe*
var
iabl
ename;

 Li
keanotherv
a r
iabl
es,
p oi
nter
smustbedecl
aredbef
oret
heycan
beused.
 Datat
ypeisthetypeofthepoi
nter
.Itspeci
fi
est
het
ypeoft
heobj
ect
thatt
hepointercanpoi
ntto.
 Ex :i
nt*x;
 Theabov
estatementst
atest
hat‘
x’i
sap oi
nterv
a r
iabl
ean dis
goi
ngtocont
aintheaddr
essofavar
iabl
ewh i
chisofintegert
ype.
 Wec anreadas“
xisapoi
ntert
oint
”(or
)“xpoi
ntst
oanobj
ectoft
ype
i
nteger
”.
 Si
mil
arl
y,f
loat*
a;
 I
tdecl
ares‘
a’asapoi
ntert
oaf
loat
ing-
poi
ntv
a r
iabl
e.

I
nit
ial
izat
ionofPoi
nter
s:

 Poi
nter
sshoul
dbei
nit
ial
izedei
therwhent
heyar
edecl
aredori
nan
assi
gnment
.
 Aval
u ecannotbeassi
gnedt
oapoi
nterv
a r
iabl
edi
rect
lyasan
or
dinaryv
a r
iabl
e.
 I ns teadi tmu stbea ssi
gnedava l
ueofav
a r
iabl
ewhi
chisa l
ready
d eclare d.
Synt
a x:d a t
aty pev ariabl
en ame1;
dat at
y pe* variabl
ename=&v ar
iabl
ename1; /
*Ini
ti
ali
zati
onat
decl
arationt i
me */
(or)
dat atype* variablename ;
variablename=&v ari
ablename1;
E x:i n ta;
i
n t*b= 4a ;
(or)
 i
nta;
i
nt*b;
b=4a;
 I
nthea bovee xampl
e,‘
a’i
sa nordi
naryint
egerv
a r
iabl
eand‘
b’i
sa
poi
ntert
h atpoi
ntst
oa nint
egerv
a r
iabl
e‘a’
.
 Thea ddressofthevar
iabl
e‘a’i
sassi
gnedtopointer‘b’byusing&
(addr
es soperat
or)t
hatme anthev
a r
iabl
e‘b’hol
dst hea ddr
essof
vari
able‘a’
.
 Apoi
ntermaybei
nit
ial
izedt
o‘0’
(zer
o),
NULLoranaddr
ess.
 Apoi
nterwi
tht
hev
a l
ueNULLpoi
ntst
onot
hing.
 I
nit
ial
izi
ngapointer‘
0’(zer
o)i
sequi
val
entt
oini
ti
ali
zi
ngapoi
ntert
o
NULL,butNULLispref
err
ed.

 Ccont
ainst
wospeci
aloper
ator
s:‘
&’and‘
*’
.
 The‘
&’operat
orhasbeenusedt
odenot
etheaddr
essoft
hev
a r
iabl
e
i
nthescanff
unct
ion.
 Thisoperat
orisk nownasaddressoper
ator(
or)Unar
yoper
atorthat
ret
urnstheaddressofthev
a r
iabl
eitpr
ecedesanditi
snotr
estr
icted
tothescanffunct
ion.
 Itma ypr ecedeonlyav ari
abl
ename( or
)a r
rayelement
, nevera
cons t
ant(or)expr
essi
on.
Forexamp l
e,inti=10;
i
nt*ipt
r;
i
ptr
=&i; ( 1)
(
1)Statementa ssignst
h eaddressof‘
i
’topoint
ervari
able‘
i
p t
r’
.Vari
abl
e
‘
ipt
r’i
ss ai
dto“ point
stoi”.
 Bef
oreapoi
nteri
sini
ti
ali
zed,i
tshoul
dnotbeused.
 The‘*’operat
or,commonlyrefer
redt
oa st
heindi
rect
ionoperat
or(
or)
deref
e renci
ngope r
ator
,ret
urnsthev
a l
uest
oredatt
hea ddr
essthati
t
precedes .
o Forexample,
 pri
ntf
(“%d”
,*i
ptr
);
 Theabovest
a t
ementpr
int
stheval
ueofthevar
iable‘i
’
,namel
y 10.
Usi
ng‘*’
int
hismanneri
scall
edder
efer
enci
ngapoint
er.
 The‘
*’oper
atori
sal
socal
led“
val
ueataddr
ess”oper
ator
.
 Ther
efore‘
*i
ptr
’and‘i
’bot
hrepr
es ent
sthesamedat
ait
em[
i.
e..
,the
cont
entsoft
hes amememorycel
l]
.
Accessi
ngav
ari
abl
ethr
oughi
tsPoi
nter
:

Onceapoint
erha sbeenassignedtheaddr
essofavariabl
e,wec anaccesst
he
vari
ableusingthepointerbypl aci
nganindi
rect
ionope r
atorbefor
e the
point
er.
Consi
derthefoll
owingstat
eme n t
s,
i
nta,*aptr,b;
aptr
= &a;
a=5;
b=*aptr;
 Thefi
rstl
inedecl
ares‘a’
and‘b’asint
egerv
a r
iabl
esand‘
p’asa
poi
ntervari
abl
epoint
ingtoanint
e ger
.
 Thesecondl
i
neassi
gnst
headdr
essof‘
a’t
othepoi
nterv
a r
iabl
e‘apt
r’
.
 Thet
hir
dli
neassi
gnst
hev
a l
ue‘
5’t
o‘a’
.
 Thef
our
thl
i
n econt
ainst
hei
ndi
rect
ionoper
ator
s.
 Whent heope r
ator‘*’isplaced befor
eapoi nt
erv ari
able in a n
expr
e ssi
on(ontherighthands i
deof t he equals i
gn),
the poi
nter
r
eturnstheval
ueofwhi cht
hepointerval
ueisaddress.I
nthiscase,
*apt
rr etur
nsthev a l
ueoft hev ar
iabl
e‘a’
.Be causea pt
rist he
addressofquanti
ty.
 The‘
*’canber
emember
edas‘
val
ueataddr
ess’
.
 Thust
hev
a l
ueof‘
n’woul
dbe‘
5’
.
Exampl e:
#inc l
ude<stdi
o.h>
#inc l
ude<conio.h>
voidmai n()
{ intx,y ;
int*pt r
;
x=10;
ptr=&x ;
y=*ptr;
pri
ntf(
“valueofxi s%d”,
x);
pri
n t
f(“
%di ss tor
e dataddress%u\
n”,
x,
&x );
pri
n t
f(“
%di ss tor
e dataddress%u\
n”,
*&x,&x);
pri
n t
f(“
%di ss tor
e dataddress%u\
n”,
*ptr,ptr
);
pri
n t
f(“
%di ss tor
e dataddress%u\
n”,
y,
&* ptr)
;
pri
n t
f(“
%di ss tor
e dataddress%u\
n”,
ptr
,&p t
r);
pri
n t
f(“
%di ss tor
e dataddress%u\
n”,
y,
&y );
*ptr
=25;
pri
ntf(
“\nnowx =%d\n”,
x);
}
Out
put
:
Val
ueofxis10
10i
sstor
edataddr
ess4104
10i
sstor
edataddr
ess4104
10i
sstor
edataddr
ess4104
 10isst
oredataddr
ess4104
4104i
ss t
oredataddr
ess4106
10isst
oredataddr
ess
4108Nowx=25

Poi
nterOper
ati
ons:
Poi
nterexpr
essi
onsandpoi
nterar
it
hmet
ic:

I
ng ener
al,poi
nter
sma yb eusedli
keotherv
a r
iabl
es.So,
p oi
nter
scanbe
usedinexpressi
ons.
Forexample,assumingthedecl
arat
ions.
intp=5;
intq=7;
int*xptr
,*ypt
r,
Z1,Z2;

Thef
oll
owingstat
ement
sar
eval
id.
xpt
r=4p;
y
ptr
=4q;
Z1=(
*xpt
r)*(*
ypt
r);
*
xpt
r=*
xpt
r+3;
Z2=xpt
r-
ypt
r;
*
ypt
r=*
ypt
r-
1;
 I
na ddi
ti
ontot he‘
*’and‘&’oper
ators,t
her
ea reonlyfourot
her
ar
it
hme t
icoper
ator
sthatmaybea ppl
iedtopoi
nterv
a r
iabl
es+,
++,
-and-
-.
 Apoi nt
erma ybei ncr
eme nted(++)orde cr
e ment
ed( --
),ani nteger
ma ybea ddedtoapoi nter(
+or+=) ,ani nt
egerma ybe s ubtracted
f
rom apoi nter(-or-=),orone pointer ma y be subtr
act
ed f rom
anotherpoint
erprovi
dedt hatt
heya r
epointi
ngtothesamea rr
ay.
 Pointerar
ithmeti
cd i
ff
ersfr
om “nor
ma l
”ari
thmeti
cinthema nner
thatiti
spe r
for
me drel
ati
vetot
heb aset
ype(suchasi
nt,
float
,char
etc.
.)ofthepoi
n t
er.
 Eachti
meap oi
nteri
sincrement
ed,i
twil
lpoi
nttothenextit
em,
a s
def
inedbyi
tsbasety
p e,
b ey
ondtheonecur
rent
lypoi
ntedto.
 Forexampl
e,assumet
hatani
ntegerpoi
ntercal
ledpt
rcont
ainst
he
addr
ess2000.
 Aft
erthes t
atement
,p t
r++;Execut
es,ptr++ wi
l
lhavet
hev
a l
ue
2002,assumingi
nteger
sa r
etwob ytesl
ong.
 I
fthesy
stem usedf
ourby
test
ost
oreani
nteger
,then pt
r++wi
l
lhave
t
heval
ue2004.
 Si
milar
ly,i
fanintegerpoi
ntercal
led‘
y’cont
ainst
headdr
ess
4104,
thent
hest
atement
  y
+=2;
 Woul
dproduce4112(
4104+2*
4)assumi
ngani
ntegeri
sst
oredi
n4
by
tesofmemory.
 Thest
atementy
- =2,woul
dsetbackt
o4104.
 I
nge neral
,i
ncrementi
ngapoint
erusi
ngthe++ operat
or,i
ncrements
theaddressi
tstor
esbyav al
ueequalt
os i
zeof
(ty
pe)wher
etypeisthe
dataty
peofthev ar
iabl
epoi
ntedto
 (
i.
e..
,1by
tef
orchar
,2by
tesf
ori
nt,4 by
tesf
or
f
loat
).
 Wema ynotusepoi
nter
sinmult
ipl
icat
ion(
or)divisi
on,orma y not
t
aket
hemodulusofapoint
erandtwopoint
erscannotbeadded.
 Apoi
ntercanbeassi
gnedt
oanot
herpoi
nteri
fbot
hpoi
nter
sar
eof
t
hesametype.
 Other
wise,acastoperat
ormu stbeusedtoconver
tthepoi
nteron
t
her i
ghtofthea ssi
gnme ntt
ot hepoi
ntert
ypeont hel
eftofthe
assi
gnment.
 Wec anapplytheincr
eme ntanddecr
eme ntoper
ator
stoei
thert
he
poi
ntsi
tsel
f(or
)theobjectt
owhichi
tpoint
sto.
 Forexampl
e,assumet
hat‘
i
’poi
ntt
oani
ntegert
hatcont
ainst
he
v
a l
ue’
3’
.
 Thes t
atement(*
i)++;(not
e:parent
hesesar
enecessar
y.)wi
l
l
i
ncrementt
heval
uep oi
ntedby‘
i
’.

Ex:mai n()
{
i
n t*i,
j;j
=3;
i
= &j;
printf
(“\
nAddr
essofj
=%u”,
i)
;
(*
i)++;
Pr i
ntf
(“\
n i
=%uj=%d”
,i
,j
);
}

Out
pu t:
Addre ssof
j=65524I=65524
j=4
 Ina ddi
ti
ont oa ri
thmeti
cop erat
ions,poi
n t
erscanbecompared
usi
ngrelati
on aloper
ators.
 Howe ver
,pointercompari
sonsonlyma kesenseoft
hepoi
nterr
elat
eto
eachother,
iftheybothpointtothes ameobject.
v
oidpoi
nter
 Iti
sas peci
altypeofp oint
eranditcanpointanydatatype.
 Thelimitat
ionisthatthepointeddat
ac annotber ef
erenced
dir
ectl
ybyus ing‘
* ’
ope r
ator.
 Sinceitslengthi
sa lwaysu ndet
ermi
ne d.
 Therefore,
typecasti
ngmus tbeusedtoturnt
hev oi
dpointert
opoi
nter
ofdatatypewhichwec anref
er.

Exampl e:
v
oidmai n()
{
i
nta =5;
doubleb=3.48;
voi
d* vp;
vp=4a ;
pri
ntf(
“\na=%d”
,*(
(i
nt*)v
p))
;vp=ab;
pri
ntf(
“\nb=%d”
,*(
(doubl
e*)
vp))
;
}

NULLpoi
nter
 Anu l
lpointerisas pec i
alpoint
ervaluethatpointer
sn owhere.
 Themos tst
r ai
gh tf
or wardwa ytogetan u l
lpointeri
nthep rogr
am
i
sb yu si
ngt hep r
e defi
nedc onstantNUL L,wh ichisd efi
nedb y
severalstandardh e aderfil
es,incl
uding<stdi
o.h>,< stdl
ib.
h>a nd
<st
ring.h>
 Toinit
ial
izeapoi ntertoa nullpoint
er,the foll
owing code can be
used.
 #i nclude <st
dio.
h>
 I nt*i
p=NUL L;

Dy
n ami
cMemor
yAl
locat
ion:
Theprocessofa l
locat
ingme morya tr unt i
mei sk nowna s“Dynamic
memorya l
locati
on s”.
 Th ee xacts izeofarrayisunk nownu nt
ilt
hec omp i
leti
mei .
e..
.,t
ime
wh enac omp i
lerc omp i
lesc ode wr it
teni nap rogr
a mming
l
a nguagei ntoae xecutabl
efor m.
 Th es izeofa narrayyouh av ede cl
a r
ediniti
all
yc anbes ome t
imes
i
n suff
icientan dsome t
ime smor eth anrequir
ed.
 Dy na mic me mor ya l
locati
on a l
lows a p rogram t o obt
ain more
me mor ysp acewh il
eru nni
ng( or)tor el
eases pacewh enn ospace
i
sr equired.
 Me mor yma nagementfu nct
ionsa reu sedforall
ocati
nga ndfreei
ng
me mor ydu ri
nge xecut
ionofap r
og ram.
 Th e me mor y ma nageme ntf unctionsa red ef
inedi n“s t
dli
b.h”
head erfi
le.

Memor
yal
l
ocat
ionpr
ocess:
 Globalv
a r
iabl
esandprogr
aminst
ruct
ionsar
est
oredi
nper
manent
stor
agea r
ea.
 Localvar
iabl
esar
es t
oredinst
ack.
  Theme moryspacebet
weentheset
woregionsi
sk nownas
Heap.Ther
egi
onisusedfordynami
cme mor
ya l
locat
ion.

Localv
a r
iabl
es st
ack

Fr
eememor
y  Heap

Gl
obalv
a r
iabl
es

Pe r
ma nent
Pr
ogr
ami
nst
ruct
ions storagearea

Fi
g:St
orageofa‘
C’pr
ogr
am.

Di
ff
erencesbet
weenSt
ati
cMemor
yandDy
nami
cMemor
yAl
locat
ion
BASI
SOF STATI CMEMORY DYNAMI CMEMORY
COMPARISON ALLOCATI ON ALLOCATI ON
Me mor yisa ll
oc a ted Me mor yisa l
l
oc a t
ed
beforethee xec utionofthe duri
n g t
he exec uti
o nof
Al
locati
onTime
program be gins( Duri
ng t
h ep r
og ram.
Comp i
lati
on ).
Me mor yca nb ea l
located
Na t
ureOf Va r
iablesre ma in
Al
locati
on
atan ytimea ndc anb e
perma nentlya ll
oc a t
ed.
r
e l
ea seda tanyt ime .
Memor yArea Itusess tac kf orma nagingI
tu sesh eapf orma naging
UsedIn thes t
aticalloca tionof t
hedy namica l
locationof
All
ocati
on me mor y. me mor y.
Ins t
aticme mor y I
nd y namicme mor y
all
oc at
ion ,onc et h e al
loc ati
on,wh enme mory
ChangeOf
me mor yisa l
loc a t
ed, i
s all
o catedthe me mo r
y
Memor ySize
the si
zec a nb ech ange d.
me mor ysizec a nnot
ch ange.
Ins t
aticme mor y I
nd y namicme mor y
Executi
on all
oc at
ions che me , al
loc ati
on sche me ,
Spe ed exec ut
ioni sf as terthan execu ti
oniss lowe rthan
d y
n amicme mor y stat
ic me mo r
y al
loca t
ion.
al
locati
on.
I
tislesse f
fi
cientt
han
I
tismor ee f
fici
e ntthan
Ef
fi
ciency ad y
n amicall
ocati
on
as t
atica l
location
scheme .
scheme .
I
mpl eme ntat
ionofstat
ic I
mpl eme ntati
onofdy nami c
I
mplementat
ion me mor yal
locati
onis me morya l
loc at
ionis
simp l
e . comp lex.
I
nt hi
st ypeofa ll
ocati
on
Inthistypeofa l
locati
on
me mor yca nb e
Resizi
ng me mor ycannotberesized
dynami call
ye xp andedan d
aftertheinit
ialal
locat
ion.
shrunka s
necess ary
.
Me moryc anbef reedwhe n
Me mor ycannotbereused
i
tisnol onge rneededa nd
Me mory whe nitisnolonger
r
e usedorr eall
oc at
edduring
neede d.
execution.
Use I
tisusedi
nanar
ray. I
tisusedi
nal
i
n kedl
i
s t
.
Memor
ymanagementf
unct
ions:
 mal loc()
 calloc()
 free()
 realloc()

mal
loc():
Thena mema l
locstandsfor“me moryal
locat
ion”
.Thef unct
ionma l
l
oc()
reser
vesablockofme moryofspecif
iedsi
zeandr et
urnoftypevoi
dwhich
canbec ast
edi
ntopoi
nterofanyform.

Funct
ionprot
otypeis:
voi
d*ma l
l
oc (
size-
tsi
ze)
;

sy
ntaxf
ormall
oc:
pt
r=(cast
-t
ype*)mal
l
oc(
byt
e-si
ze)
;

Here,“
p t
r”i
sp oi
nterofcast
-t
ype.Thema ll
ocfunct
ionret
urnsap oi
nter
t
oa na reaofmemor ywithsi
zeofb yt
e-si
ze.I
fthespaceisi
n suf
fi
cient
,
al
locat
ionfai
lsandretur
nsNULLp oi
nter
.

Example:
Ptr=(int*)mall
oc (
100*s i
zeof(
int
));
Thi
sstateme ntwill
a l
l
oc at
e200by tes(si
ncet
hesi
zeofi
nti
s2by
tes)andt
he
poi
nterpoi
ntst othea ddressoffi
rstbyt
eofmemory.

cal
loc():
Thenamecall
ocs t
a ndsfor“c onti
guosal
locat
ion”
. The only di
ff
erence
bet
weenmall
oc()a ndc al
loc()i sthat
,mall
oc() a l
locat
ess i
ngl
e block
memorywhereasca l
loc()a l
loca t
esmult
ipleblocksofme moryeachof
samesi
zeandsetsallbyt
estoz er
o.

Funct
ionprot
otypei
s:
voi
d*cal
loc(
size-
tcount
,si
ze-
tel
tsi
ze)
;
sy
ntaxf
orcal
l
oc:
pt
r=(
cast
-t
ype*)cal
l
oc(
n,el
ement
-si
ze)
;
Thi
sstatementwi
l
l al
locat
ec ont
iguousspaceinmemoryforanarr
ay‘
n’
el
emen t
s.Ift
hespaceisi nsuf
fi
cient
,al
locat
ionfai
lsandret
urnsNULL
poi
nter
.

Exampl
e:
pt
r=(f
loat*
)cal
l
oc(
25,
sizeof
(fl
oat
));
 Thi
sst
a t
emental
locat
escont
iguousspacei
nmemor
yforanar
ray
of25el
ement
sea chofsi
zefl
oati.
e.,
4bytes.
 cal
loc()f
unct
ionisnor
mal
lyusecf
order
iveddat
aty
p esi
.e.
..
,
Ar
ra y
s,St
ruct
ures.
f
ree()
:
Dynamical
lyal
locat
edmemor
ywit
heit
hermall
oc()orcal
loc()doesnotget
ret
urnonitsown.Thepr
ogrammermustusefree()expli
cit
lytorelease
space.

f
unct
ionprotot
ypei
s:
voi
dfree(
voi
d*bl
ock)
;

sy
ntaxf
orfree()
:
fr
ee(
ptr)
;

r
eal
loc():
I
fthepre v
iousl
ya l
l
oca t
edme morybyus i
ngma l
loc()or cal
loc()i s
i
nsuf
fi
cientormor ethans uf
fici
ent.Then,youcanc hangememorysi
ze
pr
evi
ousl
ya ll
ocat
edusingreal
loc()
.

Funct
ionpr
otot
ypeis:
voi
d*real
loc(
voi
d*bl
ock,
siz
e -
tsi
ze)
;

sy
ntaxf
orr
eall
oc():
pt
r=real
loc(
ptr
,newsi
ze)
;

Her
e,“
ptr
”isal
locat
edwi
th“
newsi
ze”
.

Poi
nter
sandAr
ray
s(1-
DAr
ray
s )
 I
nCl anguaget
heel
ement
sofana r
raycanbea ccessedt
hrough
i
ndex.But‘
C’al
sopr
ovi
desaspeci
alwayofar
rayhandli
ngt
hrough
poi
nter
s.
 Ana r
raynamein‘C’i
sv erymuchl
i
kea poi
nter but t
her
e i
s a
di
ff
erencebet
weeneachother
.
 Thep oi
nterisav ar
iabl
ethatcanappearont
hel
eftsi
deofan
assi
gnme ntoper
ator
.
 Thear
raynameisac onst
antandcannotappearont
hel
eftsi
deof
anassi
gnmentoper
ator
.
 Whenanarr
ayi
sd ecl
a r
ed,t
hecompil
erall
ocat
esaba seaddr
ess
andabl
ockofcont
iguousmemoryl
ocati
onstosui
tthenumberof
el
ement
s.
 Thef
ir
stel
ementofanar
rayhast
hei
ndex.
 Thea r
raynamewi thoutanindexhass peci
almeaning i
n‘C’
. I
t
repr
esent
stheaddr
es soft
hef
irstel
ementofanar
ray.
 Thebaseaddr
essi
sthel
ocat
ionoft
hef
ir
stel
ementi
nthear
ray.
 Comp i
leral
sod ef
inesthearr
aynameasaconst
antpoi
ntert
othe
f
ir
stel
ement.
Supposewedecl
areanarrayasf
oll
ows:
i
nta[
5]={
1,2,
3,
4,5}
 Thef
ir
stel
ement
sofawil
lbest
oredasfol
l
ows :
a[
0] a[
1] a[ 2] a[3] a[
4]

Baseaddr
ess 100 102 104 106 108

 Wecanal
sor
eferel
ement
sofanar
rayasf
oll
ows:
 *
a or*
(a+0)r
efer
stot
hez
e r
oet
hel
ementoft
hear
rayi
.e.
..
,1.
 Si
mil
arl
y,*
(a+1)r
efer
stot
hef
ir
stel
ementoft
hear
rayi
.e.
..
.,
2and
soon.

Thi
sisi
l
lust
rat
edbyt
hef
oll
owi
ngpr
ogr
am.

A#incl
ude< s t
dio.h>
#incl
ude< conio.h>
voidmain()
{
inti;
intx [5]={1,2,
3,4,
5};
for(i
=0; i<n;
i++)
printf(“
\ n x [
%d]=%d *
(x+%d)
=%d”
,i
,x,
*(x+i
))
;
}
Ou tput
:
x[0]
=1 *(x+0)=1
x[1]
=2 *(x+1)=2
x[2]
=3 *(x+2)=3
x[3]
=4 *(x+3)=4
x[4]
=5 *(x+4)=5

Lv
alueandRv
alue:
Everyexpr
es si
onh asaval
ue.I
nC,anexpr
essi
oniseitheranl
val
ueoran
rval
ue.Butthev aluei
nane xpr
essi
on(
aftereval
uat
ion)canbeu sedi
n
twod i
ff
erentwa y
s.

1.Anlvalueexpressi
onmu stbeusedwheneveri
tisr
ecei
vi
n gaval
uei.e,
i
tisbe i
ngmod if
ied.
2.Anrvalueexpr
essioncanbeusedt
osuppl
yav al
ueforf
urt
herusei
.e,
to
examineorcopyitsval
ue.

Di
ff
erencesbet
weenl
val
ueandr
val
ue
Lvalue Rval
ue
1)suppos eifa=b,lv
a l
ue 1)supposeifa=b,r
val
uerepr
esent
s
represent
st headdress‘a’ contentoft
hea ddr
ess‘
b’
refer
s
2)Itisknowna tcompi l
et i
me 2)I
tisnotknownunti
lrunt
ime
3)lvaluetel
lswheretos torethe 3)r
valuet
ell
swhatistobestor
ed
value
4)lvaluecannotbea ne xpr
e ssi
on 4)r
valuecanbeanexpr
essi
onora
orac on st
an t const
a nt
Theyar
esevent
ypesofexpr
essi
onst
hatar
elv
a l
ueexpr
essi
ons

Expr
essi
onTy
pe Comment
s
1)i
dent
if
ier Var
iabl
eident
if
ier

2)expr
essi
on[
…..
] Ar
rayi
ndexi
ng

3)(
expr
essi
on) Expr
essi
onmustal
readybel
val
ue

4)*
expr
essi
on Der
efer
encedexpr
essi
on

5)expr
essi
on.
name St
ruct
uresel
ect
ion

6)expr
essi
on-
>name St
ruct
urei
ndi
rectsel
ect
ion

7)f
unct
ioncal
l I
ffunct
ionusesr
etur
nbyaddr
ess

Eg: x=5; //xi

slv
a l
ue,
5i sr
val
ue
Y=(
x+1)
;//yi
slval
ue,x+1i
srval
ue

 Ev
e ni
fanexpr
essi
oni
sanl
val
ue,i
fiti
susedaspar
tofal
arger
expr
essi
oni
nwhi
cht
heoper
ator
scr
eat
eonl
yrv
a l
ueexpr
essi
ons,
t
hent
hewhol
eexpr
essi
oni
sanr
val
ue.
 Forexampl
e,a[
2]i
sanl
val
ue.Butwheni
tisusedi
ntheexpr
essi
on
a[
2]+3,t
hewhol
eexpr
essi
oni
sanr
val
ue,
n otanl
val
ue.
 Onl
ysi
xoper
ator
sneedanl
val
ueexpr
essi
onasanoper
and.They
ar
eaddr
essoper
ator
,post
fi
xincr
ement
,post
fi
xdecr
ement
,pr
efi
x
i
ncr
ement
,pr
efi
xdecr
ement
,andassi
gnmentoper
ator
.

NOTE:Av
a r
iabl
enamecanassumet
her
oleofei
theranl
val
ueoran
r
val
uedependi
ngonhow i
tisusedi
nanexpr
essi
on.I
nanexpr
essi
on
a=b,‘
a’i
sanl
val
uebecausei
tisont
hel
eftsi
deoft
heassi
gnment
oper
atorand‘
b’i
sanr
val
uebecausei
tison t
her
ightsi
deoft
he
assi
gnmentoper
ator
.