🌐
W3Schools
w3schools.com › c › c_pointers_arrays.php
C Pointers and Arrays
Well, in C, the name of an array, is actually a pointer to the first element of the array. Confused? Let's try to understand this better, and use our "memory address example" above again.
🌐
Algor Education
cards.algoreducation.com › en › content › xiBLaMj1 › arrays-pointers-c-programming
Arrays in C Programming | Algor Cards
These elements are accessed using indices, which start at zero. In contrast, pointers to arrays, often referred to as array pointers, are variables that hold the memory address of the first element in an array.
Discussions

Are C arrays pointers ?
Is it because arrays are not pointers and increment operator is not defined for arrays ? That is correct. Technically speaking, even in myArray++ the array is converted to a pointer. However, that pointer does not have a location in memory — it is not an "lvalue". The increment operator can only be used on mutable lvalues. It's pretty much the same reason 42++ makes no sense. 42 doesn't have a location in memory either. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/C_Programming
30
43
June 5, 2024
Using pointers instead of arrays
The arrays still exist, you’ve just thrown away information about the original array. When you do this: int *p = (int[]){0, 1, 2, 3}; You’re basically doing this: int arr[] = {0, 1, 2, 3}; int *p = &arr[0]; You have an array either way. You’re still using arrays, you’re just creating the arrays in a different way. My thoughts were some memory related stuff, stored dynamic/static, heap/stack etc. It’s more esoteric. If you have a global array, and you make it const: const int array[] = { 1, 2, 3 }; The compound literal syntax is worse, in a lot of ways: const int *const array = (const int[]){ 1, 2, 3 }; You’ve created an extra pointer (one extra level of indirection), and that pointer can’t be stored in a read-only position-independent segment. If you use a regular old array, you get less indirection, and you can store the array in a read-only, position-independent segment. The real reason that both of these options exist is because sometimes one option is more convenient than the other one. Sometimes it’s simpler to just declare an array variable, and sometimes it’s simpler to make an array using a compound literal. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/C_Programming
41
31
June 5, 2024
Pointers and Arrays in C - what's the issue with this code?
You are always printing the value after incrementing the pointer, so it will always be zero (until you get to the end of the array). Also, you can use "%p" to print pointers. More on reddit.com
🌐 r/cprogramming
6
10
December 30, 2022
Arrays and Pointers as a beginner
arrays in c are very weird I don't think it is possible to understand what they do fully without the knowledge of pointers More on reddit.com
🌐 r/C_Programming
32
0
October 30, 2024
People also ask

How can I use pointers to dynamically allocate arrays in C/C++?
Use the `malloc()` function in C or `new` operator in C++ to allocate memory for an array dynamically. For example, in C, `int* array = (int*)malloc(n * sizeof(int));` and in C++, `int* array = new int[n];` allocates memory for an array of `n` integers. Remember to `free(array);` in C or `delete[] array;` in C++ to deallocate the memory.
🌐
vaia.com
vaia.com › pointers and arrays
Pointers and Arrays: C Programming & Examples | Vaia
How can I avoid common mistakes when using pointers and arrays in C/C++?
Ensure correct pointer initialization and avoid dereferencing null or uninitialized pointers. Use bounds checking to prevent out-of-bounds access with arrays. Leverage smart pointers in C++ to manage dynamic memory allocation and deallocation. Consistently use `const` where applicable to prevent unintended modifications.
🌐
vaia.com
vaia.com › pointers and arrays
Pointers and Arrays: C Programming & Examples | Vaia
How do pointers and arrays work together in memory management?
Pointers and arrays work together by allowing direct access to an array's elements. An array's name is a pointer to its first element, enabling pointer arithmetic for traversal. This relationship facilitates efficient memory usage and manipulation, as pointers can dynamically reference diverse memory locations within the array.
🌐
vaia.com
vaia.com › pointers and arrays
Pointers and Arrays: C Programming & Examples | Vaia
🌐
Vaia
vaia.com › pointers and arrays
Pointers and Arrays: C Programming & Examples | Vaia
December 12, 2024 - The relationship between arrays and pointers can be demonstrated with an example. ... ptr[1] = 25; // Modifies the second element of the array Here, ptr[1] will access the element '20' in the array and change it to '25'.
🌐
University of Washington
courses.cs.washington.edu › courses › csep551 › 14au › reference › pointers.pdf pdf
1 A TUTORIAL ON POINTERS AND ARRAYS IN C by Ted Jensen
some refer to my_array as an "unmodifiable lvalue". ... Program 1.1 of Chapter 1. As we have seen we can have pointers of various types. So far · we have discussed pointers to integers and pointers to characters.
🌐
University of Texas
cs.utexas.edu › ~fussell › courses › cs310h › lectures › Lecture_17-310h.pdf pdf
C Pointers and Arrays
Type of variable is int* (integer pointer), char* (char pointer), etc. ... Must be applied to a memory object, such as a variable. In other words, &3 is not allowed. ... Can be applied to any expression. All of these are legal: ... Fortunately, C gives us a better way -- the array.
🌐
Scribd
scribd.com › doc › 72546930 › lec14a-c
Understanding Arrays and Pointers in C | PDF
JavaScript is disabled in your browser · Please enable JavaScript to proceed · A required part of this site couldn’t load. This may be due to a browser extension, network issues, or browser settings. Please check your connection, disable any ad blockers, or try using a different browser
Find elsewhere
🌐
Randu
randu.org › tutorials › c › arrays.php
C Programming Tutorial: Arrays
Using pointer arithmetic automatically calls sizeof(). ... Sets ia[4] to 52. Why the fifth position? Because ip points to ia[1] from the ip++ line. Now it should be clear. Pointers and arrays have a special relationship because arrays are actually just a pointer to a block of memory!
🌐
cppreference.com
en.cppreference.com › cpp › language › array
Array declaration - cppreference.com
A declaration of the form T a[N];, ... operator [], as in a[0], …, a[N - 1]. Arrays can be constructed from any fundamental type (except void), pointers, pointers to members, classes, enumerations, or from other arrays of known bound (in which case the array is said to be ...
🌐
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › c language › array-of-pointers-in-c
Array of Pointers in C - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - In C, a pointer array is a homogeneous collection of indexed pointer variables that are references to a memory location. It is generally used in C Programming when we want to point at multiple memory locations of a similar data type in our C program.
🌐
Carleton University
people.scs.carleton.ca › ~mjhinek › W13 › COMP2401 › notes › Arrays_and_Pointers.pdf pdf
T h e G r o u p o f T h r e e 2013 Arrays and Pointers Class Notes
In C , name of the array always points to the first element of an array. Here, address of first element of · an array is &age[0]. Also, age represents the address of the pointer where it is pointing. Hence, &age[0] is equivalent to age. Note, value inside the address &age[0] and address age are equal.
🌐
Scaler
scaler.com › home › topics › array of pointers in c
Array of Pointers in C - Scaler Topics
January 2, 2024 - In C programming, arrays and pointers simplifying data handling. Arrays names act as pointers to their starting points. Pointers help access data quickly. This collaboration allows for efficient manipulation of data within arrays.
🌐
Dyclassroom
dyclassroom.com › c › c-pointers-and-array-of-structures
C - Pointers and Array of Structures - C Programming - dyclassroom | Have fun learning :-)
In this tutorial we will learn to use pointers with array of structure variable in C programming language. So, in the previous tutorial we learned how to create pointers for structure variable. Let us now go ahead and create an array of structure variable and work with it via pointer variable.
🌐
Jsommers
jsommers.github.io › cbook › pointersarrays.html
8. Pointers and more arrays — The Book of C (version 2022.08)
In the following code, we illustrate the duality of arrays and pointers by creating 10-element int array (fibarray) and a pointer to an int (fibptr1).
🌐
W3Schools
w3schools.com › c › c_pointers_arithmetic.php
C Pointer Arithmetic
Pointer arithmetic means changing the value of a pointer to make it point to a different element in memory. Like we saw on the previous page, array elements are stored next to each other in memory.
🌐
IceCube
user-web.icecube.wisc.edu › ~dglo › c_class › array_ptr.html
C Class - Arrays, String Constants and Pointers
The technical explanation: arrays are accessed using direct addressing, pointers are accessed using indirect addressing · The less technical explanation: a is an address, p is an address which holds the address of a · The extremely wordy explanation: to retrieve value from a[n], the computer ...
🌐
Stony Brook University
www3.cs.stonybrook.edu › ~cse130 › CSE130_L05_Arrays_Pointers.pdf pdf
CSE 130 Introduction to Programming in C Arrays and Pointers Spring 2018
addresses as values. In contrast, an · array name is an address , or pointer, that is fixed. So following are illegal: a = p ++a · a += 2 · ■Suppose a is an array and i is an int, – a[i] is equivalent to *(a+i) ■Equivalent expressions: #define N 100 ·
🌐
Reddit
reddit.com › r/c_programming › are c arrays pointers ?
r/C_Programming on Reddit: Are C arrays pointers ?
June 5, 2024 -

Hello,

I'm new to C and would like to understand the differences between pointers and arrays. Everyone keeps telling me arrays are pointers but the following situation confuses me :

When i declare an array :

int myArray[] = {1,2,3,4};

I can get a pointer on the first element of this array:

int* myPointer = myArray;

When iterating in a for loop, i can use the following :

*(myPointer+i) = ... or

*(myArray+i) = ...

When iterating in a while loop, i can use my pointer :

*myPointer++ = ... but can't use

*myArray++ = ...

Is it because arrays are not pointers and increment operator is not defined for arrays ?

Thanks for your help 🙂

Top answer
1 of 14
46
Is it because arrays are not pointers and increment operator is not defined for arrays ? That is correct. Technically speaking, even in myArray++ the array is converted to a pointer. However, that pointer does not have a location in memory — it is not an "lvalue". The increment operator can only be used on mutable lvalues. It's pretty much the same reason 42++ makes no sense. 42 doesn't have a location in memory either.
2 of 14
20
Arrays are not pointers. Arrays decay to pointers when used in an expression. In C, you can say something like: target: puts("Help, I'm stuck in a loop!\n"); goto target; The identifier target is a label. A code label. A place where you can transfer control flow using goto. In C, an array is like a data label. That is, an array is a name for a region of memory. If you use the array in an expression, it resolves to the address of the first byte of the region. That's the "decay" part. But it isn't a pointer, and it isn't an address (pointer value). It's a name for the region. There is more about memory layout for arrays at Row-major Order . Increment operator The reason why *(myArray + i) works is that myArray is an address value. It is not an lvalue, it is an rvalue. It is a "right-hand-side value", in that it goes on the right-hand-side of the equal sign in an assignment: some_pointer = myArray; Remember that myArray is the name given to a region of memory. If you could somehow change the meaning of myArray, you would move the region of memory. That is not something that standard C supports. (Although, see the m* functions in on Linux...) On the other hand, if you declare a true pointer, like int *myPointer = myArray; You have created another region of memory -- the storage for myPointer -- that is treated as a single object (an lvalue). So you can overwrite the value, assign to it, increment or decrement it, etc. myPointer++; // myPointer == &myArray[1] Remember that this is a variable that holds an address. That is, it is typed to store the kind of value that myArray represents -- the address of the first element in a region of memory storing a list of elements. Why does this happen? Ultimately, this is all about speed. It seems obvious that if you say int i = 2; float pi = 3.14; short ary[2] = { 1, 6 }; Then whenever you write the expression i you are intending to expand that to be the value 2 (or whatever is in that memory location after you keep evaluating all these expressions!). Likewise, if you write the term pi you intend it to expand to 3.14. In theory, if you write the expression ary (with no brackets afterwards) it should expand to the two values {1, 6}. Except that C doesn't support array values like that. (C has added struct assignment, but it was not in the original standards. C has never supported array assignment in a standard.) In some other language, that might work. Perl and Python, for example, have a notion of lists, and have syntactic sugar for converting args to lists, and lists to args, and have sugar for extracting slices from lists, so they can express a lot more stuff, at the price of passing "heavier" parameters (a pointer is really cheap to pass). Instead, C chose to have arrays "decay" to the address of their first element. This would enable writing a simple interface for functions, that just takes an address (aka "pointer") argument plus maybe a size.
🌐
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › c language › c-pointers
Pointers in C - GeeksforGeeks
Pointers are used for dynamic memory allocation and deallocation. An Array or a structure can be accessed efficiently with pointers
Published   1 week ago
🌐
Vardhaman
vardhaman.org › wp-content › uploads › 2021 › 03 › CP.pdf pdf
C PROGRAMMING Page 1 VARDHAMAN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING (AUTONOMOUS)
array, pointer, structure, union · Enumeration Data Type · enum · Void Data Type · void · Note: We · call · Basic · or · Primary · data · type. The basic data types are integer-based and floating-point based. C language supports both signed · and unsigned literals.