Use of pointer?

Question

In,
int y=5;
int *x;
x=&y;
cout<<*x<<endl;

If y=*x, what's the use of pointer? Why not use y directly?

Answer 1

so here y represents the value... and *x also represents the value... and they are equal based on your definition....
one memory location can have many pointers and many aliases.... here x is just a address that points to that memory location whereas y is an alias for that location....
pointers are useful when u want update the value in functions... they don't get duplicated into the function scope rather stay same.

Answer 2

For a simple program, there's no use having x but for more complex programs there is.

Answer 3

An interface pointer, x maybe needed to alternate or cycle between &y and other variable addresses like &z depending on the program.