Richard Reese - Understanding and Using C Pointers

The book is organized along traditional topics such as arrays, structures, and functions. However, each chapter focuses on the use of pointers and how memory is managed. For example, passing and returning pointers to and from functions are covered, and we also depict their use as part of stack frames and how they reference memory in the heap.

This chapter covers pointer basics for those who are not necessarily proficient or are new to pointers. This includes pointer operators and the declaration of different types of pointers such as constant pointers, function pointers, and the use of NULL and its closely related variations. This can have a significant impact on how memory is allocated and used.

Dynamic memory allocation is the subject of . The standard memory allocation functions are covered along with techniques for dealing with the deallocation of memory. Effective memory deallocation is critical to most applications, and failure to adequately address this activity can result in memory leaks and dangling pointers. Alternative deallocation techniques, including garbage collection and exception handlers, are presented.

Functions provide the building blocks for an applications code. However, passing or returning data to and from functions can be confusing to new developers. This chapter covers techniques for passing data, along with common pitfalls that occur when returning information by pointers. This is followed by extensive treatment of function pointers. These types of pointers provide yet another level of control and flexibility that can be used to enhance a program.

While array notation and pointer notation are not completely interchangeable, they are closely related. This chapter covers single and multidimensional arrays and how pointers are used with them. In particular, passing arrays and the various nuisances involved in dynamically allocating arrays in both a contiguous and a noncontiguous manner are explained and illustrated with different memory models.

Strings are an important component of many applications. This chapter addresses the fundamentals of strings and their manipulation with pointers. The literal pool and its impact on pointers is another often neglected feature of C. Illustrations are provided to explain and illuminate this topic.

Structures provide a very useful way of ordering and manipulating data. Pointers enhance the utility of structures by providing more flexibility in how they can be constructed. This chapter presents the basics of structures as they relate to memory allocation and pointers, followed by examples of how they can be used with various data structures.

As powerful and useful as pointers can be, they are also the source of many security problems. In this chapter, we examine the fundamental problems surrounding buffer overflow and related pointer issues. Techniques for mitigating many of these problems are presented.