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In computer science, a pointer is an object in many programming languages that stores a memory address. This can be that of another value located in computer memory, or in some cases, that of memory-mapped computer hardware. A pointer references a location in memory, and obtaining the value stored at that location is known as dereferencing the ...
Type punning. In computer science, a type punning is any programming technique that subverts or circumvents the type system of a programming language in order to achieve an effect that would be difficult or impossible to achieve within the bounds of the formal language. In C and C++, constructs such as pointer type conversion and union — C++ ...
Java and C++ use different means to divide code into multiple source files. Java uses a package system that dictates the file name and path for all program definitions. Its compiler imports the executable class files. C++ uses a header file source code inclusion system to share declarations between source files.
Function pointer. A function pointer, also called a subroutine pointer or procedure pointer, is a pointer referencing executable code, rather than data. Dereferencing the function pointer yields the referenced function, which can be invoked and passed arguments just as in a normal function call. Such an invocation is also known as an "indirect ...
Reference (C++) In the C++ programming language, a reference is a simple reference datatype that is less powerful but safer than the pointer type inherited from C. The name C++ reference may cause confusion, as in computer science a reference is a general concept datatype, with pointers and C++ references being specific reference datatype ...
Many languages have explicit pointers or references. Reference types differ from these in that the entities they refer to are always accessed via references; for example, whereas in C++ it's possible to have either a std:: string and a std:: string *, where the former is a mutable string and the latter is an explicit pointer to a mutable string (unless it's a null pointer), in Java it is only ...
Reference (computer science) In computer programming, a reference is a value that enables a program to indirectly access a particular datum, such as a variable 's value or a record, in the computer 's memory or in some other storage device. The reference is said to refer to the datum, and accessing the datum is called dereferencing the reference.
Smart pointer. In computer science, a smart pointer is an abstract data type that simulates a pointer while providing added features, such as automatic memory management or bounds checking. Such features are intended to reduce bugs caused by the misuse of pointers, while retaining efficiency. Smart pointers typically keep track of the memory ...