C++ References & Pointers | C++ Programming for Beginners - Class 10 PDF Download

Creating References

A reference variable is a "reference" to an existing variable, and it is created with the & operator:

string food = "Pizza";  // food variable

string &meal = food;    // reference to food

Now, we can use either the variable name food or the reference name meal to refer to the food variable:
Example

string food = "Pizza";

string &meal = food;

cout << food << "\n";  // Outputs Pizza

cout << meal << "\n";  // Outputs Pizza

Memory Address

• In the example from the previous page, the & operator was used to create a reference variable. But it can also be used to get the memory address of a variable; which is the location of where the variable is stored on the computer.
• When a variable is created in C++, a memory address is assigned to the variable. And when we assign a value to the variable, it is stored in this memory address.
• To access it, use the & operator, and the result will represent where the variable is stored:

Example

• string food = "Pizza";
• cout << &food; // Outputs 0x6dfed4

Note: The memory address is in hexadecimal form (0x..). Note that you may not get the same result in your program.

Creating Pointers

You learned from the previous chapter, that we can get the memory address of a variable by using the & operator:

Example

string food = "Pizza"; // A food variable of type string

cout << food;  // Outputs the value of food (Pizza)

cout << &food; // Outputs the memory address of food (0x6dfed4)

A pointer however, is a variable that stores the memory address as its value.
A pointer variable points to a data type (like int or string) of the same type, and is created with the * operator. The address of the variable you're working with is assigned to the pointer:

Example

string food = "Pizza";  // A food variable of type string

string* ptr = &food;    // A pointer variable, with the name ptr, that stores the address of food

// Output the value of food (Pizza)

cout << food << "\n";

// Output the memory address of food (0x6dfed4)

cout << &food << "\n";

// Output the memory address of food with the pointer (0x6dfed4)

cout << ptr << "\n";

Example explained

• Create a pointer variable with the name ptr, that points to a string variable, by using the asterisk sign * (string* ptr). Note that the type of the pointer has to match the type of the variable you're working with.
• Use the & operator to store the memory address of the variable called food, and assign it to the pointer.
• Now, ptr holds the value of food's memory address.

Tip: There are three ways to declare pointer variables, but the first way is preferred:

string* mystring; // Preferred

string *mystring;

string * mystring;

C++ Dereference

Get Memory Address and Value

In the example from the previous page, we used the pointer variable to get the memory address of a variable (used together with the & reference operator). However, you can also use the pointer to get the value of the variable, by using the * operator (the dereference operator):

Example

string food = "Pizza";  // Variable declaration

string* ptr = &food;    // Pointer declaration

// Reference: Output the memory address of food with the pointer (0x6dfed4)

cout << ptr << "\n";

// Dereference: Output the value of food with the pointer (Pizza)

cout << *ptr << "\n";

Note that the * sign can be confusing here, as it does two different things in our code:

• When used in declaration (string* ptr), it creates a pointer variable.
• When not used in declaration, it act as a dereference operator.

Modify the Pointer Value

You can also change the pointer's value. But note that this will also change the value of the original variable:

Example

string food = "Pizza";

string* ptr = &food;

// Output the value of food (Pizza)

cout << food << "\n";

// Output the memory address of food (0x6dfed4)

cout << &food << "\n";

// Access the memory address of food and output its value (Pizza)

cout << *ptr << "\n";

// Change the value of the pointer

*ptr = "Hamburger";

// Output the new value of the pointer (Hamburger)

cout << *ptr << "\n";

// Output the new value of the food variable (Hamburger)

cout << food << "\n";