Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Scribd
Upload
112 views

C Programming Pointers and Arrays

Arrays and pointers in C are closely related but have an important difference - array elements have fixed addresses while pointer variables can point to different addresses. An example prints the addresses of elements in an array c, showing they are sequentially allocated with a difference of 1 byte. The document also explains: - The name of an array represents the address of its first element. &arr[0] is equivalent to arr. - arr[0] is equivalent to *arr as both represent the value at the address arr. - Pointer arithmetic can be used to access array elements - &arr[i] is equivalent to (arr+i) and arr[i] is equivalent to *(arr+i). -

Uploaded by

slspa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
112 views

C Programming Pointers and Arrays

Arrays and pointers in C are closely related but have an important difference - array elements have fixed addresses while pointer variables can point to different addresses. An example prints the addresses of elements in an array c, showing they are sequentially allocated with a difference of 1 byte. The document also explains: - The name of an array represents the address of its first element. &arr[0] is equivalent to arr. - arr[0] is equivalent to *arr as both represent the value at the address arr. - Pointer arithmetic can be used to access array elements - &arr[i] is equivalent to (arr+i) and arr[i] is equivalent to *(arr+i). -

Uploaded by

slspa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

C Programming Pointers and Arrays

Arrays are closely related to pointers in C programming but the important difference between them is that, a
pointer variable can take different addresses as value whereas, in case of array it is fixed. This can be
demonstrated by an example:
#include <stdio.h>
int main(){
char c[4];
int i;
for(i=0;i<4;++i){
printf("Address of c[%d]=%x\n",i,&c[i]);
}
return 0;
}
Address of c[0]=28ff44
Address of c[1]=28ff45
Address of c[2]=28ff46
Address of c[3]=28ff47

Notice, that there is equal difference (difference of 1 byte) between any two consecutive elements of array.
Note: You may get different address of an array.

Relation between Arrays and Pointers


Consider and array:
int arr[4];

In arrays of C programming, name of the array always points to the first element of an array. Here, address of
first element of an array is &arr[0] . Also, arr represents the address of the pointer where it is pointing.
Hence, &arr[0] is equivalent to arr.
Also, value inside the address &arr[0] and address arr are equal. Value in address &arr[0] is arr[0] and
value in address arr is *arr . Hence, arr[0] is equivalent to *arr .
Similarly,
&a[1] is equivalent to (a+1)

AND, a[1] is equivalent to *(a+1).

&a[2] is equivalent to (a+2)

AND, a[2] is equivalent to *(a+2).

&a[3] is equivalent to (a+1)

AND, a[3] is equivalent to *(a+3).

.
.
&a[i] is equivalent to (a+i)

AND, a[i] is equivalent to *(a+i).

In C, you can declare an array and can use pointer to alter the data of an array.
//Program to find the sum of six numbers with arrays and pointers.
#include <stdio.h>
int main(){
int i,class[6],sum=0;
printf("Enter 6 numbers:\n");
for(i=0;i<6;++i){
scanf("%d",(class+i)); // (class+i) is equivalent to &class[i]
sum += *(class+i); // *(class+i) is equivalent to class[i]
}
printf("Sum=%d",sum);
return 0;
}

Output
Enter 6 numbers:
2
3
4
5
3
4
Sum=21

You might also like