the & operator is used to retrieve a memory address
dataType variableName = {arbitraryValue};
dataType *ptrName = &variableName;
* the ptrName will receive the memory address of "variableName" along with the "variableName's" data
USAGE
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int variableName = 2;
int *ptrName = &variableName; // Declare a pointer to an integer and assign the address of 'variableName'
printf("Memory Address: %p\n", (void*)ptrName); // Print the memory address stored in 'ptrName' (which currently holds the address of 'variableName')
return 0;
}
* the output is the memory address of 'variableName'
* Standardization: The %p format specifier in printf is designed to work with void*. While some compilers might be lenient, the C standard recommends casting to void* for consistency and portability.
DEREFERENCING
this means accessing the value stored at the memory location pointed to by a pointer
dataType variableName = {arbitraryValue};
dataType *ptrName = &variableName;
* ptrName will receive the memory address of "variableName" along with the "variableName's" data
printf("%d", *ptrName);
USAGE
#include <stdio.h>
int main() {
int variableName = 2;
int *ptrName = &variableName; // Declare a pointer to an integer and assign the address of 'variableName'
printf("Value: %d\n", *ptrName); // Print the VALUE at the memory address pointed to by 'ptrName'
return 0;
}
* The output is the value (2) stored at the memory location where 'variableName' resides.
