What do & and * mean in C language?

In C language, & (address operator) is used to get the address of a variable, while (dereference operator) is used to get the value pointed to by the pointer. & returns a pointer and returns the data type pointed to by the pointer. & can be used for any variable, while * can be used only for pointer variables. They are used for pointer operations, dynamic memory allocation, and accessing the value pointed to by a pointer.

The meaning of & and * in C language

In C language, & and * are two very special characters. Important operator, used for pointer operations and reference variables.

& (address operator)

• The address operator (&) is used to get the address of a variable.
• Syntax: &var
• Return value: Pointer to store the memory address of the variable value.

Example:

int num = 10;
int *ptr = #
printf("%p\n", ptr); // 输出 num 变量的地址

* (Dereference Operator)

• Dereference Operator (*) is used to get the value pointed to by a pointer.
• Syntax: *ptr
• Return value: the value pointed to by the pointer.

Example: The difference between

int num = 10;
int *ptr = #
printf("%d\n", *ptr); // 输出 num 变量的值

& and *

• & gets the address of the variable, And * gets the value pointed to by the pointer.
• & returns a value of pointer type, while * returns a value of the data type pointed to by the pointer.
• & can be applied to any variable, while * can only be applied to pointer variables.

Usage scenarios

• & Used to pass the address of a variable as a function parameter or in dynamic memory allocation.
• • is used to access and modify the value of variables through pointers.
• Pointers are widely used in C language for memory management, data structure implementation and function transfer of complex data types.

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