Accessing Pointers

Accessing Pointer Values

• To access the value pointed to by a pointer, you use the dereference operator (*). Here's an example:

  int number = 42; int *pointerToNumber = &number; // Accessing the value through the pointer int value = *pointerToNumber;

The variable value now contains the content of the memory location pointed to by pointerToNumber.

Displaying a Pointer's Value

• You can display the value pointed to by a pointer using printf:

  printf("Value pointed to by the pointer: %d\n", *pointerToNumber);

This line prints the value pointed to by pointerToNumber.

Displaying an Address

• To display the memory address stored in a pointer, you use the %p format specifier with printf:

  printf("Memory address stored in the pointer: %p\n", (void *)pointerToNumber);

The (void *) typecast is used to match the %p format specifier's requirements.

Displaying the Number of Bytes a Pointer is Using

• You can determine the number of bytes a pointer is using with the sizeof operator:

  printf("Size of the pointer in bytes: %lu\n", sizeof(pointerToNumber));

This line prints the size of pointerToNumber in bytes.

Example

• Here's a complete example demonstrating accessing pointer values and displaying information:

  #include <stdio.h> int main() { int number = 42; int *pointerToNumber = &number; // Accessing the value through the pointer int value = *pointerToNumber; // Displaying the value pointed to by the pointer printf("Value pointed to by the pointer: %d\n", *pointerToNumber); // Displaying the memory address stored in the pointer printf("Memory address stored in the pointer: %p\n", (void *)pointerToNumber); // Displaying the size of the pointer in bytes printf("Size of the pointer in bytes: %lu\n", sizeof(pointerToNumber)); return 0; }

Running this program will provide insights into how to access pointer values and display related information.

This section gives you a comprehensive understanding of accessing pointers and displaying pertinent information. If you have specific questions or if there are additional topics you'd like to explore, feel free to ask!