What are 'pointers'?

pointers exist in almost all programming languages and are used literally to 'point' to a particular piece of data. They contain the address in memory of the piece of data they point to. They are a useful way of referring to a variable or object without having to store the whole variable or object in memory, which is very important if they variable or object is particularly big. They can also be used to make sure you are referring to the variable you think you are when writing code, for example ensuring a function that takes this variable as a parameter does what you think it will. Pointers have many more uses, and while programming you will encounter more of these.

MP
Answered by Mark P. Computing tutor

4830 Views

See similar Computing GCSE tutors

Related Computing GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How would you convert the Binary number 01001101 into both Hexadecimal and Decimal?


Computers use virtual memory, can you explain what this is and how it is used?


What do 0s and 1s have anything to do with Boolean Logic?


How would you represent the decimal number 143 in 7 bit binary?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences