Summary: Pointers, Arrays, and Strings

1And in Conclusion$\dots$¶

• C pointers and arrays are pretty much the same^[1], except with function calls.

• C knows how to increment pointers.

• C is an efficient language, but with little protection:

  • Array bounds not checked

  • Variables not automatically initialized

• Use handles to change pointers.

• Strings are arrays of characters with a null terminator. The length is the # of characters, but memory needs 1 more for \0

• Beware: The cost of efficiency is more overhead for the programmer. “C gives you a lot of extra rope, don’t hang yourself with it!”

2Extra References¶

• Professor Emeritus Brian Harvey’s notes on C