What is the difference between dereference and pointers?

Answer 1

A pointer is a type of variable that can be used to hold a memory address, usually of other variables. It can point to the address of any type of variable, which must be specified during its declaration. The syntax for declaring pointers requires a '*' after the type.

Eg : int a=5; int* ptr = &a;
// here, & is the address of
// operator, used to get the address of a.

Now, if you operate on a pointer directly, you get the underlying address, instead of the value at that address. But you can also use a pointer to get the value. That is achieved by the dereference/indirection operator *. Eg : cout<<*ptr; // prints 5.

The difference is simple. If there is a type on the left of the *, then it is a pointer declaration, otherwise it a pointer dereference operation, provided the operand on the right is a pointer.

Answer 2

Hi there,
Reference is just a alias name for some variable they are technically same variables but with different name

Example :
int a = 10;
int &b = a ;

{Value of b will be = 10}

Changing "b" will cause "a" to change

A pointer is a variable that stores memory address of some other variable

STORAGE of variables in memory is like following
[ Memory Address ]: [ Value ]
Example
int a = 1;
Suppose it is stored as follows in memory
[ 1500 ]:[1]
It tells that at address 1500 the value is 1( it will be in hexadecimal in reality , for sake of simplicity I write it normally )

The pointer stores the memory address of the variable
So
int *p = &a ;

{Value of p will be = 1500}
And
{Value of *p will be 10}

"*p" represents the value stored at the adress

To summarise
int a = 10;
int &b = a;
int *p = &a ;

b equals 10 and
p equals some memory address in hexadecimal

And *p is also 10

I hope this will help you. : )

Answer 3

Opps! I overlooked it....😋

Answer 4

HonFu yeh sorry for that

Answer 5

There is a difference?

My interpretation has been:

There is an action called dereference, which means accessing a value indirectly via its address using a pointer.

And the pointer would be the tool to do the referencing.

Answer 6

Anurag Kumar, I didn't know your syntax int b = &a;, so I checked it and got an error.

Did you mean int &b = a;?

Answer 7

The * is a pointer, the & is a reference. The difference between the two is that a pointer is an area of memory that must be dereferenced, eg. by means of the -> operator in order to be "seen" as a class instance. A reference is instead an "alias", just an alternative name for the same class instance.
https://crbtech.in/java-training/top-best-java-training-institutes-in-pune

Answer 8

Hi meenal, so what's the 'data type' of the area in memory?

Answer 9

One has to careful when using pointer... It does not take into consideration the 'data type' of the content of the address....

Answer 10

One has to careful when using pointer... It does not take into consideration the 'data type' of the content of the address.... The result would be u predictable. Think twice when you're dealing with * or &

Answer 11

Pointers simply point to an address in memory. A dereference shows you the value held within that address. Hope that answers your question.👌

Answer 12

what the deffrent betewin dereferencing and pointer?

Answer 13

Hola

Answer 14

what the deffrent betewin dereferencing and pointer deply?

Answer 15

what does it mean & in c++?

Answer 16

 Differences between & and *?