UMBC CMSC 201 & 201H Fall '98 | CSEE | 201 | 201 F'98 | lectures | news | help |
The "container" has a location and a type.
Pointers might or might not be directly supported by a programming language, but the logical concept is still useful in languages such as Fortran and Basic.
A location is a memory address -- i.e., a number that identifies which byte in the computer's memory we are talking about.
The type determines how many bytes after the address are involved.
It's just a convenience and helps get the right side of your brain engaged.
Many advanced higher-level languages (e.g., Java, Lisp) do not need or use pointers.