(C++)++ Course

Introduction to Data Types

1/13

You will see in many C++ codes the use of something that may look like this: char* c_str. If you use an IDE that will show you the parameters for certain built in functions, you will also see this usage. You will learn later in the C++ course that this is called a pointer. This is left over from the C language, and C++ made the string data type to handle the old C way of making "strings".

Arrays

5/13

I just want to mention here that it is very important to stay within the range of the arrays you create. By this I mean don't try to access an element of an array that doesn't exist. For example, if you create an array int arr[4]; , this array is 4 elements long, so don't try to access element with the index 4, which is the 5th element in the array and doesn't exist: 0 1 2 3 4. I have done this a couple of times, and it's easy to do when you are using loops, so double check those loops. I may have corrupted my harddrive a couple of times doing this 😬.

More on Pointers

10/13

The infamous pointer. This subject is, understandably, one of the more difficult concepts to grasp for many in C++, because the usage of a pointer starts to get into memory-management territory, which is almost direct control of the computer (or feels like it). I like to think of pointers like the actual moving arm of a mechanical hard drive; its base stays in one spot, but it can move around and directly change the thing it is pointing at. One thing I did want to say about the way SoloLearn declares pointers, is that you can do it another way.

// SoloLearn's way of declaring
int *int_pointer;

// my way of doing it. Note where the * is
int* zint_pointer;

I like to place the dereference operator (*) next to the datatype, because it seems more correct. The datatype is what's being pointed to. That's just personal preference, so use whichever one makes the most sense to you. Using pointers for strings is a great way to practice to. Try making a string reversing program using pointers.

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C++ Course, Data Types, Arrays, Pointers