Pointers and References

Whenever people rank the things about C++ that cause headaches, pointers are guaranteed a spot—but once we're clear on the difference between an "address" and a "value," pointers turn out to be far less scary. This chapter starts with pointer basics, including pointer arithmetic and the close relationship between pointers and arrays, then introduces references—a safer "alias" mechanism. Finally, we get an early preview of smart pointers, setting up the expectation that "modern C++ has no need for raw pointers."

Chapter Contents

01STARTFINISHPointer Basicsa variable that holds another variable's address→02STARTFINISHPointer Arithmetic and Arraysp + 1 moves by more than just one byte→03STARTFINISHReferencesgive a variable an alias and spare yourself the pointer pain→04STARTFINISHSmart Pointer Previewstop keeping track of delete by hand→