Beginning C++ question on references and pointers?

Question

I m just starting out in C++ from a background in Java.

Would
"int* a = new int[10]; "
mean that a is a pointer to an array of size 10?

then what would this mean? 
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++){
   *(a+i) = 5; 
}
Since a is a pointer, would this be changing the memory location address it s storing or the value at that location?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I like the way you phrased your question - it demonstrates that you understand how you read the line to yourself reflects your understanding of what's going on.

int *a = new int[10]

I would read this as "a is a pointer to an int, and there is a memory space allocated off the heap that can fit 10 contiguous int (i.e. 10*sizeof(int) bytes), and 'a' points to the first element of that memory space."

*(a+i) = 5

This reads "assign the value of 5 to the memory pointed to by the base address 'a' plus i *sizeof(int)."

Trending News

Beginning C++ question on references and pointers?

1 Answer