Pointers and addresses

An introduction to memory addresses and pointers in C++. We show how memory is allocated, how addresses are referenced, and how to create and dereference a pointer.

Resources

• Pointers_and_addresses.pdf. Note: Slides include corrections to minor style errors in code presented in video.)

Additional reading (optional)

• Stroustrup, Bjarne, Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++, Section 17.3 Memory, addresses, and pointers. Pearson, 2009.
• http://www.cplusplus.com/doc/tutorial/pointers/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_address

Comprehension check:

Consider the following code:

double pi = 3.14159;
double* whatIsThis = π

1. Describe the value of the variable whatIsThis.
2. What will this print? std::cout << *whatIsThis << std::endl;.
3. What symbol is used for the “address of” unary operator?
4. True or false? The size of a pointer to a bool is smaller than the size of a pointer to a float.
5. True or false? We call the process of getting the address of a variable “dereferencing”.

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Copyright © 2023–2025 Clayton Cafiero

No generative AI was used in producing this material. This was written the old-fashioned way.