Pointers, arrays, arithmetic.
Mithat Konar
October 23, 2021

• Arrays and pointers are closely related.
• Array names are like a constant pointers:
  • the block of memory where an array name points cannot be changed,
  • what is stored there can change.

The relationship is so close that you can use pointer operators with array names:

int nums[] = {2, 4, 6, 8};
 
cout << nums[0] << endl;    // prints 2
cout << nums << endl;       // prints address where the array storage begins
cout << *nums << endl;      // prints 2

You can use array subscripting operations with pointers:

int *myPtr = &nums[0];      // myPtr points to first element of nums
cout << *myPtr << endl;     // prints 2
cout << myPtr[0] << endl;   // prints 2
cout << myPtr[1] << endl;   // prints 4
cout << myPtr[2] << endl;   // prints 6

The following are equivalent:

int *myPtr = &nums[0];      // myPtr points to first element of nums
int *myPtr = &*nums;        // myPtr points to first element of nums
int *myPtr = nums;          // myPtr points to first element of nums

• Pointer arithmetic works differently than normal arithmetic.
• +, +=, -, -=, ++, – do math in terms of the size of the pointed data type.
• E.g., adding 1 to a pointer makes it point to the next block of memory corresponding to the size of the underlying type.

pointer-math.cpp

/** Pointer arithmetic. */
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
    int v[] = {2, 4, 6, 8, 12};
    int *vPtr = v;
 
    cout << *vPtr << endl;  // prints 2
    vPtr = vPtr + 3;        // vPtr now points to address vPtr + 3*sizeof(int),
                            // i.e., v[3]
    cout << *vPtr << endl;  // prints v[3]
    vPtr--;                 // vPtr now points to address vPtr - 1*sizeof(int),
                            // i.e., v[2]
    cout << *vPtr << endl;  // prints v[2]
    cout << *(vPtr + 2) << endl;  // prints v[4]
 
    return 0;
}

Subtracting one pointer from another returns the number of elements between two addresses:

subtracting-pointers.cpp

/** Subtracting pointers */
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
    int v[] = {2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 0};
    int *vPtr = &v[0];
    int *vPtr2 = &v[3];
 
    cout << vPtr2 - vPtr << endl;   // prints 3
 
    return 0;
}

A common technique used to visit every element in an array is to walk down an array with a pointer:

walk-down-array.cpp

/** Walking down an array. */
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
    int v[] = {2, 4, 6, 8, 12};
    int *vPtr = v;
 
    for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
    {
        cout << *vPtr << endl;
        vPtr++;
    }
 
    return 0;
}

Especially common with zero-terminated (i.e., NULL terminated) partially-filled arrays:

walk-null-terminated.cpp

/** Walking down a null-terminated array. */
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 
int main()
{
    int v[20] = {2, 4, 6, 8, 12};
    int *vPtr = v;
 
    while (*vPtr != 0)
    {
        cout << *vPtr << endl;
        vPtr++;
    }
 
    return 0;
}

The following examples below assume:

int vals[] = {4, 7, 11};
int *valptr = vals;