Beginning C++ Programming

Using pointers in C++

Pointers are clearly very important in C++, but as with any powerful feature, there are issues and dangers, so it is worth pointing out some of the major issues. A pointer points to a single location in memory, and the type of the pointer indicates how the memory location should be interpreted. The very most you can assume is the number of bytes at that position in memory is the size of the type of the pointer. That's it. This means that pointers are inherently unsafe. However, in C++ they are the quickest way to enable code within your process to access large amounts of data.