C++ LANGUAGE ARRAY OF POINTERS

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C++ LANGUAGE ARRAY OF POINTERS

Array of Pointers 


Before we understand the concept of array of pointers, 
let us consider the following example, which makes use 
of an array of 3 integers: 

#include <iostream> 
  
using namespace std; 
const int MAX = 3; 
  
int main () 
{ 
   int  var[MAX] = {10, 100, 200}; 
  
   for (int i = 0; i < MAX; i++) 
   { 
      cout << "Value of var[" << i << "] = "; 
      cout << var[i] << endl; 
   } 
   return 0; 
} 
When the above code is compiled and executed, it produces the following result: 
Value of var[0] = 10 
Value of var[1] = 100 
Value of var[2] = 200 
There may be a situation, when we want to maintain an array, 
which can store pointers to an int or char or any other data 
type available. Following is the declaration of an array 
of pointers to an integer: 

int *ptr[MAX]; 

This declares ptr as an array of MAX integer pointers. 
Thus, each element in ptr, now holds a pointer to an int 
value. Following example makes use of three integers which 
will be stored in an array of pointers as follows: 
#include <iostream> 
  
using namespace std; 
const int MAX = 3; 
  
int main () 
{ 
   int  var[MAX] = {10, 100, 200}; 
   int *ptr[MAX]; 
  
   for (int i = 0; i < MAX; i++) 
   { 
      ptr[i] = &var[i]; // assign the address of integer. 
   } 
   for (int i = 0; i < MAX; i++) 
   { 
      cout << "Value of var[" << i << "] = "; 
      cout << *ptr[i] << endl; 
   } 
   return 0; 
} 
When the above code is compiled and executed, 
it produces the following result: 

Value of var[0] = 10 
Value of var[1] = 100 
Value of var[2] = 200 

You can also use an array of pointers to character 
to store a list of strings as follows: 

#include <iostream> 
  
using namespace std; 
const int MAX = 4; 
  
int main () 
{ 
   char *names[MAX] = { 
                   "Zara Ali", 
                   "Hina Ali", 
                   "Nuha Ali", 
                   "Sara Ali", 
   }; 
 
   for (int i = 0; i < MAX; i++) 
   { 
      cout << "Value of names[" << i << "] = "; 
      cout << names[i] << endl; 
   } 
   return 0; 
} 
When the above code is compiled and executed, 
it produces the following result: 

Value of names[0] = Zara Ali 
Value of names[1] = Hina Ali 
Value of names[2] = Nuha Ali 
Value of names[3] = Sara Ali