Pointers

 A pointer is a variable which stores the address

of another variable.
 A pointer is a derive data type in ‘C’.
 Pointers can be used to access and manipulate
data stored in memory.

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 1

Advantages of Pointers
 Pointers are more efficient in handling arrays and data
tables.
 Pointers can be used to return multiple values from a
function.
 Pointers allow ‘C’ to support dynamic memory
management.
 Pointers provide an efficient tool for manipulating
dynamic data structures such as stack, queue etc.

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 2

Declaring Pointer variable
DataType *Pointer_var_name;

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Declaring Pointer variable
DataType *Pointer_var_name;

Example:
int *ptr;
int Var;

Var=10;
ptr=&Var;

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Example Program
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int a, *p;

a=38;
p=&a;

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 5

Example Program
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int a, *p;

a=38;
p=&a;

printf("&a=%x a=%d\n", &a,a);

printf("p=%x *p=%d\n",p,*p);

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 6

Example Program
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int a, *p;

a=38;
p=&a;

printf("&a=%x a=%d\n", &a,a);

printf("p=%x *p=%d\n",p,*p);

Output:
}
&a=fb6f9c a=38
p=fb6f9c *p=38

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 7

Question
Find the output of following program
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int a, *p;
float b, *q;

a=38;
p=&a;
printf("&a=%x a=%d\n",&a,a);
printf("p=%x *p=%d\n",p,*p);

b=47.5;
q=&b;
printf("&b=%x b=%f\n",&b,b);
printf("q=%x *q=%f\n",q,*q);
}

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 8

Question
Find the output of following program
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int a, *p;
float b, *q;

a=38;
p=&a;
printf("&a=%x a=%d\n",&a,a);
printf("p=%x *p=%d\n",p,*p);

b=47.5;
q=&b; Output:
printf("&b=%x b=%f\n",&b,b); &a=a0e98050 a=38
printf("q=%x *q=%f\n",q,*q); p=a0e98050 *p=38
} &b=a0e98054 b=47.50
q=a0e98054 *q=47.50

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 9

 Pointer Expressions and Pointer Arithmetic

Write a program to find area and printf ( "Enter radius of a circle " ) ;
perimeter of a circle using pointers scanf ( "%d", &radius ) ;

#include<stdio.h> areaperi ( radius, &area, &perimeter ) ;

void areaperi ( int r, float *a, float *p )
{ printf ( "Area = %f", area ) ;
*a = 3.14 * r * r ; printf ( "Perimeter = %f", perimeter ) ;
*p = 2 * 3.14 * r ; }
}
Output
void main( )
{
int radius ;
float area, perimeter ;

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 10

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{

int *p;
char *cp;
float *fp;
printf(" size of char =%d\n",sizeof(char));
printf(" size of float =%d\n",sizeof(float));
printf(" size of double =%d\n",sizeof(double));
printf(" size of integer pointer p =%d\n",sizeof(p));
printf(" size of character pointer p =%d\n",sizeof(cp));
printf(" size of floating pointer p =%d\n",sizeof(fp));
return 0;
}
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Write a c program to test whether a number is
positive, negative ,or equal to zero

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#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
int i=10;
int *ptr;
ptr=&i;
printf(" VALUE OF i =%d\n",i);
printf("VALUE OF ptr=%d\n",ptr);
printf("VALUE OF &i= %d\n",&i);
printf("VALUE OF *ptr = %d\n",*ptr);
printf("VALUE of *(&i)= %d\n",*(&i));
printf("VALUE OF &ptr =%d\n",&ptr);
return 0;
}

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 13

 Like other variables, pointer variables can also be used in expressions.
 For example, if ptr1 and ptr2 are pointers, then the following statements
are valid.
 int num1=2 ,num2=3, sum=0, mul=0, div=1;
 int *ptr1,*ptr2;
 ptr1 = &num1;
 ptr2 = &num2;
 Sum = *ptr1 + *ptr2;
 Mul = sum * *ptr1;
 *ptr2 +=1;
 In C, programmers may add or subtract integers from pointers. We can
also subtract one pointer from the other.
 We can also use shorthand operators as we use with other variables.

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 C also allows to compare pointers by using relational
operators in the expressions.
 For example,
 p1 > p2
 p1 ==p2
 p1! = p2 are all valid in C.

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 15

 When using pointers, unary (++0 increment and unary (--)
decrement operators have higher
 precedence than *(dereference operator). Therefore the
expression,
 *ptr++
 Is equivalent to *(ptr++) as ++ has higher precedence than
*. Thus the expression will first increase the
 value by 1, (pointing to a next memory location).Thus
doesn’t perform the intended task.
 The correct way of writing is:
 (*ptr)++
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Lets now summarize the rules of pointers operation:

1. A pointer variable can be assigned the address of another variable (of the same
datatype).
2. A pointer variable can be assigned the value of another variable (of same
datatype).
3. A pointer variable can be initialized with the null value.
4. Prefix or postfix increment or decrement operators can be applied on a pointer
variable.
5. An integer value can be added or subtracted from a pointer variable.
6. A pointer variable can be compared with another pointer variable of the same
type using relational operators.
7. A pointer variable cannot be multiplied by a constant.
8. A pointer variable cannot be added to another pointer variable.

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 17

Program to add two numbers using pointers

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
int num1, num2, sum;
int *ptr1, *ptr2;

ptr1 = &num1; // ptr1 stores the address of

num1
ptr2 = &num2; // ptr2 stores the address of
num2

printf("Enter any two numbers: ");

scanf("%d%d", ptr1, ptr2);

sum = *ptr1 + *ptr2;

printf("Sum = %d", sum);

return 0;
}

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 18

Arithmetic Operations on Pointer variables

Example Program
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int u=20, v=5;
int *p, *q;

p=&u;
q=&v;

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 19

Arithmetic Operations on Pointer variables

Example Program
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int u=20, v=5;
int *p, *q;

p=&u;
q=&v;

printf("%d %d\n", *p+*q, u+v);

}

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 20

Arithmetic Operations on Pointer variables

Example Program
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int u=20, v=5;
int *p, *q;

p=&u;
q=&v;

Output:
printf("%d %d\n", *p+*q, u+v);
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}

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 21

Arithmetic Operations on Pointer variables

Example Program
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int u=20, v=5;
int *p, *q;

p=&u;
q=&v;

printf("%d %d\n", *p+*q, u+v);

printf(“%d\n”,*p*u);
}

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 22

Arithmetic Operations on Pointer variables

Example Program
#include <stdio.h>
main() {
int u=20, v=5;
int *p, *q;

p=&u;
q=&v;

Output:
printf("%d %d\n", *p+*q, u+v);
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printf(“%d\n”,*p*u);
400
}

March 29, 2024 CSE, BMSCE 23