When Should I Avoid Using the Arrow Operator in C ?

Evaluating Alternatives to the Arrow Operator

In C , the arrow operator (->) has various purposes, including accessing member variables and calling member functions. In some instances, however, you may seek an alternative.

Substitute Expressions:

The arrow operator is essentially synonymous with the expression (a).b. This means that you can replace a->b with (a).b, achieving the same functionality.

Example:

Here's a code snippet demonstrating the equivalence:

class Foo {
  public:
    int x = 10;
};

int main() {
  Foo foo;

  // Using the arrow operator
  int value1 = foo->x;

  // Using the dereference operator
  int value2 = (*foo).x;

  std::cout << value1 << ", " << value2 << std::endl; // Output: 10, 10
}

Keep in mind that this substitution is subject to operator overloading, but such cases are uncommon.

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