[Basic] Pointer in C

What is a pointer?

Pointer is a kind of data structure, just like int, char etc., it can let code blocks in different place share a same memory. It can also make some complicate opreation possible, such as linked list.

How do we define a pointer?

Just like define a variable, if you want to define a pointer, you just need to add a * before the variable name.

//Define a integer variable
int a;

//Define a integer pointer variable
int * a;

The code on the second line save the value of a variable, but the code on the fifth line save the address of a variable.

Different kinds of pointer

There are four kinds of pointer:

1. a non-constant pointer to non-constant data

2. a constant pointer to non-constant data

3. a non-constant pointer to constant data

4. a constant pointer to constant data

int * ptr = &x

const int * ptr = &x

int *const ptr = &x 

const int *const ptr = &x;