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1. Pointer fundamentals

• Definition: A pointer is a variable that stores the memory address of another variable.
• Declaration syntax: type *name; e.g., int *p;
• Initialization examples:
  • int x = 10; int *p = &x;
  • int *p = NULL; // safe initialization
• Dereference: *p yields the object pointed to.
• Address-of operator: &x returns address of x.
• Size: sizeof(pointer) depends on architecture (commonly 4 or 8 bytes).

12. Examples (concise)

• Basic:
  • int x = 5; int *p = &x; printf("%d\n", *p);
• Swap using pointers:
  • void swap(int *a, int *b) int t = *a; *a = *b; *b = t;
• Dynamic array:
  • int *arr = malloc(n * sizeof *arr);
• Function pointer:
  • int add(int a,int b)return a+b; int (*fp)(int,int)=add; int s=fp(2,3);

Quick facts

• Core topics covered: pointer basics, pointer arithmetic, pointers and arrays, pointers to functions, pointers to pointers, pointer type-casting, dynamic memory allocation, strings and pointers, pointers in structures, const with pointers, void pointers, memory layout, common errors and debugging tips.
• Assumed C standard: Mostly C89/C90-style usage with notes where behavior differs in later standards (C99/C11).

4. Pointers and arrays

• Array name as pointer: For array int a[10]; expression a decays to &a[0] in most contexts.
• Equivalence: *(a + i) == a[i]
• Multidimensional arrays: int b[3][4]; b is pointer to an array of 4 ints for certain usages. Distinguish between contiguous 2D array and array-of-pointers.
• Passing arrays to functions: void f(int a[], int n) or void f(int *a, int n)

13. Quick reference tables

Pointer declaration examples:

• int *p; — pointer to int
• char *s; — pointer to char (string)
• void *v; — generic pointer
• int **pp; — pointer to pointer to int
• int (*arr)[10];— pointer to array of 10 ints
• int *arr[10]; — array of 10 pointers to int

Dynamic allocation idioms:

• single object: ptr = malloc(sizeof *ptr);
• array: ptr = malloc(n * sizeof *ptr);
• realloc: ptr = realloc(ptr, new_n * sizeof *ptr);

const variations:

• const T *p — read-only T via p
• T *const p — p cannot change
• const T *const p — neither can change

6. Dynamic memory and pointers

• Allocation: malloc(size), calloc(count, size), realloc(ptr, size)
• Deallocation: free(ptr)
• Usage pattern:
  • int *p = malloc(n * sizeof *p);
  • if (p == NULL) handle allocation failure.
  • free(p); p = NULL;
• realloc: preserves existing contents up to min(old,new); returns new pointer or NULL (old remains).
• Memory leaks & double free: avoid forgetting free and avoid freeing same pointer twice.
• Alignment and sizeof: allocate using sizeof *p rather than sizeof(int) for safer refactoring.