UNIT-III

Pointer

The pointer in C language is a variable which stores the address of another variable. This variable can be of
type int, char, array, function, or any other pointer. The size of the pointer depends on the architecture.
However, in 32-bit architecture the size of a pointer is 2 byte.

Consider the following example to define a pointer which stores the address of an integer.

1. int n = 10;
2. int* p = &n; // Variable p of type pointer is pointing to the address of the variable n of type integer.

Declaring a pointer

The pointer in c language can be declared using * (asterisk symbol). It is also known as indirection pointer
used to dereference a pointer.

1. int *a;//pointer to int

2. char *c;//pointer to char

Pointer Example

An example of using pointers to print the address and value is given below.

As you can see in the above figure, pointer variable stores the address of number variable, i.e., fff4. The value
of number variable is 50. But the address of pointer variable p is aaa3.

By the help of * (indirection operator), we can print the value of pointer variable p.

Let's see the pointer example as explained for the above figure.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. int main(){
3. int number=50;
4. int *p;
5. p=&number;//stores the address of number variable
6. printf("Address of p variable is %x \n",p); // p contains the address of the number therefore printing p gives t
he address of number.
7. printf("Value of p variable is %d \n",*p); // As we know that * is used to dereference a pointer therefore if w
e print *p, we will get the value stored at the address contained by p.
8. return 0;
9. }

Output

Address of number variable is fff4

Address of p variable is fff4
Value of p variable is 50

Pointer to an Array
Array and Pointers in C Language hold a very strong relationship. Generally, pointers are the variables which
contain the addresses of some other variables and with arrays a pointer stores the starting address of the array.
Array name itself acts as a pointer to the first element of the array and also if a pointer variable stores the base
address of an array then we can manipulate all the array elements using the pointer variable only. Pointers can
be associated with the multidimensional arrays (2-D and 3-D arrays) as well. Also, We can create an array of
pointers to store multiple addresses of different variables.
Consider this example:

int *ptr;
int arr[5];

// store the address of the first

// element of arr in ptr
ptr = arr;

Here, ptr is a pointer variable while arr is an int array. The code ptr = arr; stores the address of the first
element of the array in variable ptr.
Notice that we have used arr instead of &arr[0]. This is because both are the same. So, the code below is
the same as the code above.

int *ptr;
int arr[5];
ptr = &arr[0];

The addresses for the rest of the array elements are given by &arr[1], &arr[2], &arr[3], and &arr[4].
Point to Every Array Elements

Suppose we need to point to the fourth element of the array using the same pointer ptr.
Here, if ptr points to the first element in the above example then ptr + 3 will point to the fourth element. For
example,

int *ptr;
int arr[5];
ptr = arr;

ptr + 1 is equivalent to &arr[1];

ptr + 2 is equivalent to &arr[2];
ptr + 3 is equivalent to &arr[3];
ptr + 4 is equivalent to &arr[4];

Similarly, we can access the elements using the single pointer. For example,

// use dereference operator

*ptr == arr[0];
*(ptr + 1) is equivalent to arr[1];
*(ptr + 2) is equivalent to arr[2];
*(ptr + 3) is equivalent to arr[3];
*(ptr + 4) is equivalent to arr[4];

Suppose if we have initialized ptr = &arr[2]; then

ptr - 2 is equivalent to &arr[0];

ptr - 1 is equivalent to &arr[1];
ptr + 1 is equivalent to &arr[3];
ptr + 2 is equivalent to &arr[4];
 C Function Pointer
As we know that we can create a pointer of any data type such as int, char, float, we can also create a pointer
pointing to a function. The code of a function always resides in memory, which means that the function has
some address.

Declaration of a function pointer

Till now, we have seen that the functions have addresses, so we can create pointers that can contain these
addresses, and hence can point them.

Syntax of function pointer

1. return type (*ptr_name)(type1, type2…);

For example:

1. int (*ip) (int);

In the above declaration, *ip is a pointer that points to a function which returns an int value and accepts an
integer value as an argument.

1. float (*fp) (float);

In the above declaration, *fp is a pointer that points to a function that returns a float value and accepts a float
value as an argument.

We can observe that the declaration of a function is similar to the declaration of a function pointer except that
the pointer is preceded by a '*'. So, in the above declaration, fp is declared as a function rather than a pointer.

Till now, we have learnt how to declare the function pointer. Our next step is to assign the address of a function
to the function pointer.

1. float (*fp) (int , int); // Declaration of a function pointer.

2. float func( int , int ); // Declaration of function.
3. fp = func; // Assigning address of func to the fp pointer.
Structure Pointer in C
A structure pointer is defined as the pointer which points to the address of the memory block that stores
a structure known as the structure pointer. Complex data structures like Linked lists, trees, graphs, etc. are
created with the help of structure pointers. The structure pointer tells the address of a structure in memory
by pointing the variable to the structure variable.
Example:

// C program to demonstrate structure pointer

#include <stdio.h>
 struct point {
int value;
};

int main()
{

struct point s;

// Initialization of the structure pointer

struct point* ptr = &s;

return 0;
}

In the above code s is an instance of struct point and ptr is the struct pointer because it is storing the
address of struct point.

Accessing the Structure Member with the Help of Pointers

There are two ways to access the members of the structure with the help of a structure pointer:
1. With the help of (*) asterisk or indirection operator and (.) dot operator.
2. With the help of ( -> ) Arrow operator.
Below is the program to access the structure members using the structure pointer with the help of the dot
operator.
Dynamic memory allocation in C

The concept of dynamic memory allocation in c language enables the C programmer to allocate memory
at runtime. Dynamic memory allocation in c language is possible by 4 functions of stdlib.h header file.

1. malloc()
2. calloc()
3. realloc()
4. free()

Before learning above functions, let's understand the difference between static memory allocation and
dynamic memory allocation.

static memory allocation dynamic memory allocation

memory is allocated at compile time. memory is allocated at run time.

memory can't be increased while executing memory can be increased while executing
program. program.
 used in array. used in linked list.

Now let's have a quick look at the methods used for dynamic memory allocation.

malloc() allocates single block of requested memory.

calloc() allocates multiple block of requested memory.

realloc() reallocates the memory occupied by malloc() or calloc() functions.

free() frees the dynamically allocated memory.

malloc() function in C
The malloc() function allocates single block of requested memory.

It doesn't initialize memory at execution time, so it has garbage value initially.

It returns NULL if memory is not sufficient.

The syntax of malloc() function is given below:

1. ptr=(cast-type*)malloc(byte-size)

Let's see the example of malloc() function.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include<stdlib.h>
3. int main(){
4. int n,i,*ptr,sum=0;
5. printf("Enter number of elements: ");
6. scanf("%d",&n);
7. ptr=(int*)malloc(n*sizeof(int)); //memory allocated using malloc
8. if(ptr==NULL)
9. {
10. printf("Sorry! unable to allocate memory");
11. exit(0);
12. }
13. printf("Enter elements of array: ");
14. for(i=0;i<n;++i)
15. {
16. scanf("%d",ptr+i);
17. sum+=*(ptr+i);
18. }
19. printf("Sum=%d",sum);
20. free(ptr);
21. return 0;
22. }

Output

Enter elements of array: 3

Enter elements of array: 10
10
10
Sum=30

calloc() function in C
The calloc() function allocates multiple block of requested memory.

It initially initialize all bytes to zero.

It returns NULL if memory is not sufficient.

The syntax of calloc() function is given below:

1. ptr=(cast-type*)calloc(number, byte-size)

Let's see the example of calloc() function.

1. #include<stdio.h>
2. #include<stdlib.h>
3. int main(){
4. int n,i,*ptr,sum=0;
5. printf("Enter number of elements: ");
6. scanf("%d",&n);
7. ptr=(int*)calloc(n,sizeof(int)); //memory allocated using calloc
8. if(ptr==NULL)
9. {
10. printf("Sorry! unable to allocate memory");
11. exit(0);
12. }
13. printf("Enter elements of array: ");
14. for(i=0;i<n;++i)
15. {
16. scanf("%d",ptr+i);
17. sum+=*(ptr+i);
18. }
19. printf("Sum=%d",sum);
20. free(ptr);
21. return 0;
22. }

Output

Enter elements of array: 3

Enter elements of array: 10
10
10
Sum=30

realloc() function in C
If memory is not sufficient for malloc() or calloc(), you can reallocate the memory by realloc() function. In
short, it changes the memory size.

Let's see the syntax of realloc() function.

1. ptr=realloc(ptr, new-size)

free() function in C

The memory occupied by malloc() or calloc() functions must be released by calling free() function. Otherwise,
it will consume memory until program exit.

Let's see the syntax of free() function.

1. free(ptr)