How does a pointer variable differ from a simple variable?

A variable is a piece of memory that contains a bit of data, like a number or a string of text. A pointer variable holds the machine address of the aforementioned piece of memory. That pointer variable can be used by other parts of the program to find and access the contents of the variable.

How pointers are different from other data types?

The actual data type of the value of all pointers, whether integer, float, character, or otherwise, is the same, a long hexadecimal number that represents a memory address. The only difference between pointers of different data types is the data type of the variable or constant that the pointer points to.

What is generic pointer How can it be converted to a specific type of pointer?

Generic pointers can be specified using the type void *, where the keyword void represents the absence of specific type information, or using the built-in type alias uintptr_t which is aliased to an unsigned integer type of size appropriate for a pointer in the current data model.

What is generic pointer illustrate this with an example?

5. Generic pointers are used when we want to return such pointer which is applicable to all types of pointers. For example return type of malloc function is generic pointer because it can dynamically allocate the memory space to stores integer, float, structure etc.

Are also known as generic pointers which refer to variables of any type?

A void pointer is a special pointer that can point to object of any type. A void pointer is typeless pointer also known as generic pointer.

What is the difference between ordinary variable pointer variable and array variable?

An ordinary variable can hold only one value whereas an array variable can refer to a group of values of the same data type by using a subscript.

Why do we have different types of pointers?

7 Answers. There are several reasons: Not all addresses are created equal; in particular, in non Von Neuman (e.g. Harvard) architectures pointers to code memory (where you often store constants) and a pointers to data memory are different. You need to know the underlying type in order to perform your accesses correctly …

Why do pointers have to of same datatype as that of the variables they are pointing to?

A pointer is a variable whose value is the address of another variable, i.e., direct address of the memory location. Like any variable or constant, you must declare a pointer before you can use it to store any variable address. The data type of pointer must be same as the variable, which the pointer is pointing.

Are also known as generic pointers which refer to variable of any type?

Are also known as generic pointers which refer to variables of any type *?