Pointers

A pointer is a programming language object that stores the memory address of another value located in computer memory.

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Languages without Pointers include Java, JavaScript, Python

Languages with Pointers include C, C++, Go, C#, Objective-C, COBOL, Ada, D, Eiffel, Modula-2, Oberon, PL/I, FreeBASIC, Felix, BlitzMax, Fortran 90

Example from C:

int *ptr;

Example from C++:

int *p;

Example from Go:

package main

import "fmt"

func main() {
  i, j := 42, 2701

  p := &i         // point to i
  fmt.Println(*p) // read i through the pointer
  *p = 21         // set i through the pointer
  fmt.Println(i)  // see the new value of i

  p = &j         // point to j
  *p = *p / 37   // divide j through the pointer
  fmt.Println(j) // see the new value of j
}

Example from C#:

// Pointers supported only under certain conditions.
// Get 16 bytes of memory from the process's unmanaged memory
IntPtr pointer = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.AllocHGlobal(16);

Example from Felix:

var x = 1;
&x <- 2;

Example from Fortran 90:

type real_list_t
  real :: sample_data(100)
  type (real_list_t), pointer :: next => null ()
end type

type (real_list_t), target :: my_real_list
type (real_list_t), pointer :: real_list_temp

real_list_temp => my_real_list
do
  read (1,iostat=ioerr) real_list_temp%sample_data
  if (ioerr /= 0) exit
  allocate (real_list_temp%next)
  real_list_temp => real_list_temp%next
end do

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