Explain the concept of pointers in C language

The pointer is a variable that stores the address of another variable.

Features of Pointers

Pointer saves the memory space.
The execution time of a pointer is faster because it directly accesses to memory location.
The memory is accessed efficiently with the help of a pointer.
Memory is allocated and deallocated dynamically.
Pointers are used with data structures.

The syntax for the pointer is as follows −

pointer = &variable;

Example

Following is the C program for the pointer −

Live Demo

#include <stdio.h>
int main(){
   int x=40; //variable declaration
   int *p; //pointer variable declaration
   p=&x; //store address of variable x in pointer p
   printf("address in variable p is:%d\n",p); //accessing the address
   printf("value in variable p is:%d\n",*p); //accessing the value
   return 0;
}

Output

When the above program is executed, it produces the following result −

Address in variable p is:5ff678
Value in variable p is:40

Operator * serves two purposes which are as follows −

Declaration of a pointer.
Returns the value of the referenced variable.

Operator & serves only one purpose, which is as follows −

Returns the address of a variable.

Bhanu Priya

Published on 08-Mar-2021 06:33:17

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