datastructure_c_basicpointer

Why hava?

• allow different sections of code  to share information easily
• enable complex "linked" data structures like linked lists and binary trees

 

What is?

• a pointer stores a reference to another value
  
• The variable the pointer refers to is sometimes known as its "pointee"
  

Basic operation and idea:

• The "dereference" operation follows a pointer's reference to get the value of its pointee. The value of the dereference of numPtr above is 42.
  
• The only restriction is that the pointer must have a pointee for the dereference to access.
  
• The constant NULL is a special pointer value which encodes the idea of "points to nothing."
  
• The C language uses the symbol NULL for this purpose. NULL is equal to the integer constant 0, so NULL can play the role of a boolean false. Official C++ no longer uses the NULL symbolic constant — use the integer constant 0 directly. Java uses the symbol null.
  
• The assignment operation (=) between two pointers makes them point to the same pointee.
  
• Two pointers which both refer to a single pointee are said to be "sharing". That two or more entities can cooperatively share a single memory structure is a key advantage of pointers in all computer languages.
  
• One function passes a pointer to the value of interest to another function. Both functions can access the value of interest, but the value of interest itself is not copied. This communication is called "shallow" since instead of making and sending a (large) copy of the value of interest, a (small) pointer is sent and the value of interest is shared.
  
• Deep copies are simpler in a way, since each function can change their copy without interfering with the other copy, but deep copies run slower because of all the copying.
  
• When a pointer is first allocated, it does not have a pointee. The pointer is "uninitialized" or simply "bad". A dereference operation on a bad pointer is a serious runtime error.
• Pointers in dynamic languages such as Perl, LISP, and Java work a little differently. The run-time system sets each pointer to NULL when it is allocated and checks it each time it is dereferenced.
  
• One way to think about pointer code is that operates at two levels — pointer level and pointee level. The trick is that both levels need to be initialized and connected for things to work.
  

 

C Syntax:

• Pointer variables are declared just like any other variable. The declaration gives the type and name of the new variable and reserves memory to hold its value. The declaration does not assign a pointee for the pointer — the pointer starts out with a bad value.
  
• The & Operator — Reference To : compute a reference to a pointee suitable for storing in a pointer
  
• The * Operator — Dereference
  

 

Rules Summary :

1. A pointer stores a reference to its pointee. The pointee, in turn, stores something useful.
2. The dereference operation on a pointer accesses its pointee. A pointer may only be dereferenced after it has been assigned to refer to a pointee. Most pointer bugs involve violating this one rule.
   
3. Allocating a pointer does not automatically assign it to refer to a pointee. Assigning the pointer to refer to a specific pointee is a separate operation which is easy to forget.
   
4. Assignment between two pointers makes them refer to the same pointee which introduces sharing.
   

 

PS:

Java:

• In Java, simple data types such as int and char operate just as in C. More complex types such as arrays and objects are automatically implemented using pointers. The language automatically uses pointers behind the scenes for such complex types, and no pointer specific syntax is required.
  

Machine Level:

• Every area of memory in the machine has a numeric address like 1000 or 20452. A pointer to an area of memory is really just an integer which is storing the address of that area of memory.
  
• The dereference operation looks at the address, and goes to that area of memory to retrieve the pointee stored there.
  
• Pointer assignment just copies the numeric address from one pointer to another.
  
• The NULL value is generally just the numeric address 0 — the computer just never allocates a pointee at 0 so that address can be used to represent NULL.

"Reference" :

• The word "reference" means almost the same thing as the word "pointer". The difference is that "reference" tends to be used in a discussion of pointer issues which is not specific
  to any particular language or implementation. The word "pointer" connotes the common C/C++ implementation of pointers as addresses. The word "reference" is also used in the phrase "reference parameter" which is a technique which uses pointer parameters for twoway communication between functions.
  

 

转载于:https://www.cnblogs.com/lxjlucoding/p/6407899.html