UMBC CS 201, Fall 06
Pointer arithmetic
Another word of warning: you are allowed to add constants to
a pointer, but the result may not be what you think.
The following example shows that adding 1 to a character pointer, an
integer pointer and a double pointer, adds 1, 4 and 8 respectively to
the addresses stored in the pointers.
ptr_add
The Program
<![CDATA[
/*********************************************
File: ptr_add.c
Author: R. Chang
Modified by: S. Bogar
Date: 1/1/99
Section: 101
EMail: bogar@cs.umbc.edu
Pointer addition is not what you think - adding
1 to a pointer adds different amounts depending
on the type being pointed to.
**********************************************/
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
char c, *cPtr ;
int i, *iPtr ;
double d, *dPtr ;
cPtr = &c ;
iPtr = &i ;
dPtr = &d ;
printf("\nThe addresses of c, i and d are:\n") ;
printf("cPtr = %p, iPtr = %p, dPtr = %p\n",
cPtr, iPtr, dPtr) ;
cPtr = cPtr + 1 ;
iPtr = iPtr + 1 ;
dPtr = dPtr + 1 ;
printf("\nThe new values of cPtr, iPtr and dPtr are:\n") ;
printf("cPtr = %p, iPtr = %p, dPtr = %p\n\n",
cPtr, iPtr, dPtr) ;
printf("Sizeof char = %d\n", sizeof(char) ) ;
printf("Sizeof int = %d\n", sizeof(int) ) ;
printf("Sizeof double = %d\n", sizeof(double) ) ;
return 0;
}
]]>
The Sample Run
<![CDATA[
The addresses of c, i and d are:
cPtr = 0x7ffffaa7, iPtr = 0x7ffffa9c, dPtr = 0x7ffffa90
The new values of cPtr, iPtr and dPtr are:
cPtr = 0x7ffffaa8, iPtr = 0x7ffffaa0, dPtr = 0x7ffffa98
Sizeof char = 1
Sizeof int = 4
Sizeof double = 8
]]>
Why?
Pointer addition is defined this way because we want to make it easy
for pointers to point to successive elements of an array.
Here is an example:
array1
The Program
<![CDATA[
/*********************************************
File: array1.c
Author: R. Chang
Date: ?
Modified by: Sue Evans
Date: 3/5/04
Section: 01XX & 02XX
Email: bogar@cs.umbc.edu
Using pointers to point into array
*********************************************/
#include <stdio.h>
#define SIZE 10
int main()
{
int array[SIZE], *ptr, i ;
/* store some values in the array */
for(i = 0 ; i < SIZE ; i++)
{
array[i] = i ;
}
/* printf the values in the array */
for(i = 0 ; i < SIZE ; i++)
{
printf("array[%d] = %d\n", i, array[i]) ;
}
printf("\n") ;
/* let p point to the beginning of the array */
ptr = array ;
for(i = 0 ; i < SIZE ; i++)
{
/* add 1 to the element that p is pointing to */
*ptr = *ptr + 1 ;
/* move the pointer to the next element */
ptr = ptr + 1 ;
}
/* printf the values in the array */
for(i = 0 ; i < SIZE ; i++)
{
printf("array[%d] = %d\n", i, array[i]) ;
}
return 0;
}
]]>
The Sample Run
<![CDATA[
array[0] = 0
array[1] = 1
array[2] = 2
array[3] = 3
array[4] = 4
array[5] = 5
array[6] = 6
array[7] = 7
array[8] = 8
array[9] = 9
array[0] = 1
array[1] = 2
array[2] = 3
array[3] = 4
array[4] = 5
array[5] = 6
array[6] = 7
array[7] = 8
array[8] = 9
array[9] = 10
]]>
In fact, if a variable array is a pointer to the
beginning of an array, then the first element of the
array can be accessed by deferencing array using
the expression *array or by the array element
notation array[0].
When a formal parameter is declared to be an array, it is
really a pointer to an array as shown in the following
array2
The Program
<![CDATA[
/*********************************************
File: array2.c
Author: R. Chang
Modified by: S. Evans
Date: 3/5/04
Section: 01XX & 02XX
EMail: bogar@cs.umbc.edu
When is an array not any array?
When it is really a pointer ?
**********************************************/
#include <stdio.h>
#define SIZE 10
/* function prototype */
void UseArray(int a[]);
int main()
{
int a[SIZE] ;
UseArray(a) ;
return 0;
}
/*********************************************
** Function: UseArray
** Input: an array of integers
** Output: TBD
**
** This function demonstrates how a function
** uses the array name as a pointer - once the array
** name has been passed to a function it is no
** longer subject to the restrictions of an array
** name and is now treated as just a pointer.
*********************************************/
void UseArray(int a[])
{
int b[SIZE], *temp, i ;
/* keep track of where a originally pointed */
temp = a ;
/* let a point to the array b */
a = b ;
/* fill the array (b) with 2 * index */
/* by using the pointer a */
for(i = 0 ; i < SIZE ; i++)
{
*a = 2 * i ;
a++ ;
}
/* print out the contents of the array b */
for(i = 0 ; i < SIZE ; i++)
{
printf("b[%d] = %d\n", i, b[i]) ;
}
printf("\n") ;
/* let a point back to the original array a */
a = temp ;
/* fill the array a with 3 * index */
for(i = 0 ; i < SIZE ; i++)
{
a[i] = 3 * i ;
}
/* print out the contents of the array a */
for(i = 0 ; i < SIZE ; i++)
{
printf("a[%d] = %d\n", i, a[i]) ;
}
}
]]>
The Sample Run
<![CDATA[
b[0] = 0
b[1] = 2
b[2] = 4
b[3] = 6
b[4] = 8
b[5] = 10
b[6] = 12
b[7] = 14
b[8] = 16
b[9] = 18
a[0] = 0
a[1] = 3
a[2] = 6
a[3] = 9
a[4] = 12
a[5] = 15
a[6] = 18
a[7] = 21
a[8] = 24
a[9] = 27
]]>
Last Modified - Tuesday, 22-Aug-2006 07:14:18 EDT
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