Pointers to Pointers vs Normal Pointers in C – Key Differences

c++pointers

The purpose of a pointer is to save the address of a specific variable. Then the memory structure of following code should look like:

int a = 5;
int *b = &a;

…… memory address …… value
a … 0x000002 ………………. 5
b … 0x000010 ………………. 0x000002

Okay, fine. Then assume that now I want to save the address of pointer *b. Then we generally define a double pointer, **c, as

int a = 5;
int *b = &a;
int **c = &b;

Then the memory structure looks like:

…… memory address …… value
a … 0x000002 ………………. 5
b … 0x000010 ………………. 0x000002
c … 0x000020 ………………. 0x000010

So **c refers the address of *b.

Now my question is, why does this type of code,

int a = 5;
int *b = &a;
int *c = &b;

generate a warning?

If the purpose of pointer is just to save the memory address, I think there should be no hierarchy if the address we are going to save refers to a variable, a pointer, a double pointer, etc., so the below type of code should be valid.

int a = 5;
int *b = &a;
int *c = &b;
int *d = &c;
int *e = &d;
int *f = &e;

Best Answer

int a = 5;
int *b = &a;   
int *c = &b;

You get a warning because &b is of type int **, and you try to initialize a variable of type int *. There's no implicit conversions between those two types, leading to the warning.

To take the longer example you want to work, if we try to dereference f the compiler will give us an int, not a pointer that we can further dereference.

Also note that on many systems int and int* are not the same size (e.g. a pointer may be 64 bits long and an int 32 bits long). If you dereference f and get an int, you lose half the value, and then you can't even cast it to a valid pointer.

Related Solutions

C Pointers – Why Use Double Indirection or Pointers to Pointers

If you want to have a list of characters (a word), you can use char *word

If you want a list of words (a sentence), you can use char **sentence

If you want a list of sentences (a monologue), you can use char ***monologue

If you want a list of monologues (a biography), you can use char ****biography

If you want a list of biographies (a bio-library), you can use char *****biolibrary

If you want a list of bio-libraries (a ??lol), you can use char ******lol

... ...

^{yes, I know these might not be the best data structures}

Usage example with a very very very boring lol

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>

int wordsinsentence(char **x) {
    int w = 0;
    while (*x) {
        w += 1;
        x++;
    }
    return w;
}

int wordsinmono(char ***x) {
    int w = 0;
    while (*x) {
        w += wordsinsentence(*x);
        x++;
    }
    return w;
}

int wordsinbio(char ****x) {
    int w = 0;
    while (*x) {
        w += wordsinmono(*x);
        x++;
    }
    return w;
}

int wordsinlib(char *****x) {
    int w = 0;
    while (*x) {
        w += wordsinbio(*x);
        x++;
    }
    return w;
}

int wordsinlol(char ******x) {
    int w = 0;
    while (*x) {
        w += wordsinlib(*x);
        x++;
    }
    return w;
}

int main(void) {
    char *word;
    char **sentence;
    char ***monologue;
    char ****biography;
    char *****biolibrary;
    char ******lol;

    //fill data structure
    word = malloc(4 * sizeof *word); // assume it worked
    strcpy(word, "foo");

    sentence = malloc(4 * sizeof *sentence); // assume it worked
    sentence[0] = word;
    sentence[1] = word;
    sentence[2] = word;
    sentence[3] = NULL;

    monologue = malloc(4 * sizeof *monologue); // assume it worked
    monologue[0] = sentence;
    monologue[1] = sentence;
    monologue[2] = sentence;
    monologue[3] = NULL;

    biography = malloc(4 * sizeof *biography); // assume it worked
    biography[0] = monologue;
    biography[1] = monologue;
    biography[2] = monologue;
    biography[3] = NULL;

    biolibrary = malloc(4 * sizeof *biolibrary); // assume it worked
    biolibrary[0] = biography;
    biolibrary[1] = biography;
    biolibrary[2] = biography;
    biolibrary[3] = NULL;

    lol = malloc(4 * sizeof *lol); // assume it worked
    lol[0] = biolibrary;
    lol[1] = biolibrary;
    lol[2] = biolibrary;
    lol[3] = NULL;

    printf("total words in my lol: %d\n", wordsinlol(lol));

    free(lol);
    free(biolibrary);
    free(biography);
    free(monologue);
    free(sentence);
    free(word);
}

Output:

total words in my lol: 243

C – Pointer to Array vs Array of Pointers

int* arr[8]; // An array of int pointers.
int (*arr)[8]; // A pointer to an array of integers

The third one is same as the first.

The general rule is operator precedence. It can get even much more complex as function pointers come into the picture.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

C Pointers – Why Use Double Indirection or Pointers to Pointers

C – Pointer to Array vs Array of Pointers

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