C Pointers

Work with memory addresses.

#include <stdio.h>
int main(void) {
  int score = 91;
  int *pointer = &score;
  printf("%d\n", *pointer);
  return 0;
}

Output

Explanation

A pointer holds an address. The & operator gets an address; * dereferences it. Only dereference a valid pointer.

Explore the dry run

Guided walkthroughReady

1#include <stdio.h>

2int main(void) {

3 int score = 91;

4 int *pointer = &score;

5 printf("%d\n", *pointer);

6 return 0;

7}

Start to inspect the source, values, and output. These prepared steps explain the published sample; grouped loop steps describe multiple iterations.

View the complete dry-run table

Prepared trace of the published program. Some rows group repeated iterations.
What happens	State after step	Output so far
Store 91 in score.	`score = 91`	—
Store the address of score in pointer.	`pointer = &score`	—
Dereference pointer to read score.	`pointer = &score`	91