What does * in C language mean?

The * symbol in C language has five meanings: 1. Pointer operator, declares a pointer; 2. Gets the value of the variable pointed by the pointer; 3. Gets the address of the variable pointed by the pointer; 4. Indirect addressing operator , access the variable pointed by the pointer; 5. Dereference operator, obtain the reference of the type pointed by the pointer.

The * symbol in C language

The asterisk (*) in C language is an operator , has the following meanings:

1. Pointer operator

• is used to declare a pointer. For example:

  <code class="c">int *ptr;  // 声明一个指向 int 类型的指针</code>

• is used to get the value of the variable pointed to by the pointer. For example:

  <code class="c">*ptr = 10;  // 将 ptr 指向的变量赋值为 10</code>

• is used to get the address of the variable pointed to by the pointer. For example:

  <code class="c">int num = 20;
  int *ptr = &num;  // 将 ptr 指向 num 变量的地址</code>

2. The indirect addressing operator

• is used to access variables pointed to by pointers. Equivalent to using the pointer operator to obtain the value of the variable pointed to by the pointer. For example:

  <code class="c">*ptr++  // 等同于 ++(*ptr)</code>

3. The dereference operator

• is used to obtain a reference to the type pointed to by the pointer. For example:

  <code class="c">struct student *stu;
  struct student& stu_ref = *stu;  // 获取 stu 指向的 student 类型的引用</code>

4. The multiplication operator

• is used to perform multiplication operations. For example:

  <code class="c">int x = 5;
  int y = 2;
  int z = x * y;  // z 的值为 10</code>

5. Dereference pointer

• is used to dereference a pointer and return the variable it points to. the address of. For example:

  <code class="c">int *ptr;  // 声明一个指向 int 类型的指针
  int num = 20;
  ptr = &num; // ptr 指向 num 变量的地址
  *ptr;  // 解引用 ptr，返回 num 变量的地址</code>

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