Pointers

A pointer is a variable that represents the memory address (location) of a piece of information. Memory is allocated for each variable instantiation and varies by the type of variable specified.

Source code

char 1 byte (8 bits)

short 2 bytes

long 4 bytes

float 4 bytes

double 8 bytes

pointer 4 bytes

< Show a diagram of the memory space for a more physical representation of how a pointer operates >

The memory address of any variable may be accessed by prepending an & to the variable name

       int i = 1;

       printf ( "The value of i is %d and the address of i is 0x%x\n", i,
                (unsigned int) &i );

results in something like

       The value of i is 1 and the address of i is 0xbffff7b4

`char`	1 byte (8 bits)
`short`	2 bytes
`long`	4 bytes
`float`	4 bytes
`double`	8 bytes
`pointer`	4 bytes