Address and dereference operators - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Address and Dereference Operators in C

📖 Scenario: You are working with a simple program that stores a number and uses pointers to access and modify it. This is like having a remote control (pointer) to change the TV (variable) without touching it directly.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to use the & operator to get the address of a variable and the * operator to access or change the value at that address.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an integer variable named number with the value 10.

Create a pointer variable named ptr that stores the address of number.

Use the pointer ptr to change the value of number to 20.

Print the value of number after modification.

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Pointers let programs work with memory directly, which is important for efficient software like games, operating systems, and device drivers.

💼 Career

Understanding pointers is essential for C programming jobs, embedded systems development, and performance-critical applications.

1

Create an integer variable

Create an integer variable called number and set it to 10.

C

// Create an integer variable called number and set it to 10
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use int number = 10; to create the variable.

2

Create a pointer to the variable

Create a pointer variable called ptr that stores the address of number using the & operator.

C

int number = 10;
// Create a pointer variable ptr that stores the address of number
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use int *ptr = &number; to create the pointer.

3

Change the value using the pointer

Use the pointer ptr and the dereference operator * to change the value of number to 20.

C

int number = 10;
int *ptr = &number;
// Change the value of number to 20 using ptr
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use *ptr = 20; to change the value at the address.

4

Print the modified value

Print the value of number using printf to show it has changed to 20.

C

int number = 10;
int *ptr = &number;
*ptr = 20;
// Print the value of number
// Your code here

Need a hint?

Use printf("%d\n", number); to print the value.