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Since C++11, the C++ standard library also provides smart pointers (unique_ptr, shared_ptr and weak_ptr) which can be used in some situations as a safer alternative to primitive C pointers. C++ also supports another form of reference, quite different from a pointer, called simply a reference or reference type.
Pointers may also be declared for pointer data types, thus creating multiple indirect pointers, such as char ** and int ***, including pointers to array types. The latter are less common than an array of pointers, and their syntax may be confusing:
A function pointer, also called a subroutine pointer or procedure pointer, is a pointer referencing executable code, rather than data. Dereferencing the function pointer yields the referenced function , which can be invoked and passed arguments just as in a normal function call.
In the C programming language, struct is the keyword used to define a composite, a.k.a. record, data type – a named set of values that occupy a block of memory. It allows for the different values to be accessed via a single identifier, often a pointer. A struct can contain other data types so is used for mixed-data-type records.
Smart pointers can facilitate intentional programming by expressing, in the type, how the memory of the referent of the pointer will be managed. For example, if a C++ function returns a pointer, there is no way to know whether the caller should delete the memory of the referent when the caller is finished with the information.
In many languages (e.g., the C programming language) deleting an object from memory explicitly or by destroying the stack frame on return does not alter associated pointers. The pointer still points to the same location in memory even though that location may now be used for other purposes. A straightforward example is shown below:
In the C programming language, restrict is a keyword, introduced by the C99 standard, [1] that can be used in pointer declarations. By adding this type qualifier, a programmer hints to the compiler that for the lifetime of the pointer, no other pointer will be used to access the object to which it points. This allows the compiler to make ...
IBM later added tagged pointer support to the PowerPC architecture to support the IBM i operating system, which is an evolution of the System/38 platform. [3] A significant example of the use of tagged pointers is the Objective-C runtime on iOS 7 on ARM64, notably used on the iPhone 5S. In iOS 7, virtual addresses only contain 33 bits of ...