AN INTRODUCTION TO POINTERS

Duration: 11 min

This video lesson is available to enrolled students.

Return to /learn/BIHAR-STET-COMPUTER-SCIENCE-COMPLETE-COURSE/unit-3-c-programming-data-structures/arrays-pointers/pointer-basics-declaration-initialization-and-dereferencing/asset-an-introduction-to-pointers after enrolling

Inside: a video lesson and guided study material.

Module outline

  1. About the course: About the Course
  2. Mathematical Aptitude: संख्या पद्धति / Number System, महत्तम समापवर्तक और लघुत्तम समापवर्त्य / HCF and LCM, Divisibility Rules, प्रतिशत / Percentage, अनुपात और समानुपात / Ratio and Proportion, औसत / Average, लाभ, हानि और बट्टा / Profit, Loss and Discount, समय और कार्य / Time and Work, घन क्षेत्रमिति / Solid Mensuration, साधारण और चक्रवृद्धि ब्याज / Simple and Compound Interest, समय, चाल और दूरी / Time, Speed and Distance, Age Problems, मिश्रण और एलिगेशन / Mixture and Alligation, Algebra, सरलीकरण, घातांक और करणी / Simplification, Indices and Surds, Pipe and Cistern, Trigonometry, Statistics, आँकड़ा निर्वचन / Data Interpretation, Arithmetic, समुच्चय, संबंध, फलन और विविक्त गणित / Sets, Relations, Functions and Discrete Mathematics, संख्या पद्धति और संख्या सिद्धांत / Number Systems and Number Theory, निर्देशांक ज्यामिति, सदिश और त्रिविमीय ज्यामिति / Coordinate Geometry, Vectors and 3D Geometry, बहुपद, समीकरण और सम्मिश्र संख्याएँ / Polynomials, Equations and Complex Numbers
  3. Logical Reasoning: श्रेणी / Series, कूट लेखन एवं कूट वाचन / Coding-Decoding, सादृश्यता एवं वर्गीकरण / Analogy and Classification, रक्त संबंध / Blood Relations, दिशा एवं दूरी / Direction and Distance, क्रम एवं रैंकिंग / Order and Ranking, अशाब्दिक तर्क / Non-Verbal Reasoning, बैठक व्यवस्था एवं पहेलियाँ / Seating Arrangement and Puzzles, Syllogisms, वेन आरेख, न्याय वाक्य एवं असमानता / Venn Diagrams, Syllogism and Inequalities, गणितीय संक्रियाएँ एवं लुप्त संख्या / Mathematical Operations and Missing Numbers, वर्णमाला एवं संख्या परीक्षण / Alphabet and Number Test, कथन आधारित तार्किक विवेचन / Statement-Based Reasoning, Analytical Reasoning (Counting Figures Reasoning), घन, पासा एवं आकृतियों की गिनती / Cubes, Dice and Figure Counting, कैलेंडर एवं घड़ी / Calendar and Clock, Clock
  4. General Knowledge: वैज्ञानिक उपलब्धियाँ और अनुसंधान / Scientific Achievements and Research, Chemistry, Biology, History, Geography, Polity, Indian Economy, समसामयिकी / Current Affairs, Static General Knowledge
  5. Art of Teaching: शिक्षण-अधिगम प्रक्रिया एवं कक्षा प्रबंधन / Teaching-Learning Process and Classroom Management, Learners & Learning Process, Factors Affecting Teaching, शिक्षण विधियाँ एवं उपागम / Teaching Methods and Approaches, सूक्ष्म शिक्षण एवं कक्षा संप्रेषण / Microteaching and Classroom Communication, शिक्षण सहायक सामग्री एवं शैक्षिक तकनीकी / Teaching Aids and Educational Technology, आकलन एवं मूल्यांकन / Assessment and Evaluation, शिक्षक: गुण, व्यावसायिक नैतिकता एवं विकास / Teacher: Qualities, Professional Ethics and Development, शैक्षिक नीतियाँ, अधिनियम एवं प्रशासन / Educational Policies, Acts and Administration, पाठ्यचर्या, कला एवं सह-शैक्षिक क्षेत्र / Curriculum, Arts and Co-curricular Areas, निर्देशन एवं परामर्श / Guidance and Counselling, दिव्यांग बच्चों की शिक्षा / Education of Children with Disabilities, Micro-Teaching & Teaching Skills, पाठ योजना / Lesson Planning
  6. Environmental Science: Environment
  7. Unit 1 | Digital Electronics: Digital Systems & Boolean Basics, Logic Gates & Hardware, Boolean Expression, Boolean Minimization, Combinational Circuit, Sequential Circuits, Number System, Number Representation
  8. Unit 2 | COA: Basics of COA, Floating Point Rep, Cache Memory Organization, Input Output Organisation, Instr Formats & Modes, Control Unit Design, Register Transfer and Microoperations, Programming the Basic Computer
  9. Unit 3 | C Programming: C Fundamentals, Control Flow, Functions, Arrays & Pointers, Storage Classes, Structures & Enums, DMA, Macros, Scoping & File Handling
  10. Unit 3 | Data Structures: Introduction to DS, Array, Stack, Queue, Linked List, Tree, Graphs, Hashing
  11. Unit 4 | Algorithms: Algorithm Analysis, Time Complexity Analysis, Sorting Algorithms, Dynamic Programming, Minimum Spanning Trees, Shortest Path Algos, Advanced Algorithms
  12. Unit 5 | Operating System: Introduction to OS, Process Management, CPU Scheduling, Process Synchronization, Threads & Process Creation, Deadlock, Memory Management, Virtual Memory, Disc Scheduling, File Management
  13. Unit 6 | Database Management System: Basics of DBMS, ER Diagram, Relational Model & Functional Dependencies, Keys & Integrity Constraints, Normalization (1NF - BCNF), Decomposition Properties & 4NF, File Organization & Indexing, Relational Algebra, SQL, Transaction Management, Concurrency Control
  14. Unit 7 | Computer Networks: Introduction to CN, Data Communication, DLL: Access Control, DLL: Flow Control, DLL: Error Control, DLL: Framing, Data Link Layer - Ethernet, Net Layer: IPv4 & Proto, Net Layer: IP Addressing, Net Layer:Routing Protocol, Transport Layer Services, TL: Congestion & UDP, Application Layer
  15. Unit 8 | Software Engineering: Fundamentals of Software Engineering, Software Requirements and Quality Assurance, Software Design, Estimation and Metrics, Software Testing, Software Maintenance and Configuration Management
  16. Unit 9 | Object Oriented Programming: OOPS with C++
  17. Unit 10 | Web Development: HTML Basics, CSS, JavaScript-Basics, XML, Node.js
  18. Unit 11 | Theory Of Computation: Introduction to TOC, Deterministic FA (DFA), Non-Deterministic FA, Regular Expressions, Grammar, Regular Language Properties, Moore & Mealy Machines, Pushdown Automata & CFG, Turing Machines
  19. Unit 12 | IoT: Emerging Tech Trends, Cloud Computing, कंप्यूटर नेटवर्क / Computer Networks
  20. Unit 13 | Artificial Intelligence: Approaches to AI, Search Algorithms, Game Playing, Knowledge Representation, Natural Language Processing, Artificial Neural Networks, Genetic Algorithms
  21. Unit 14 | E-Commerce: Electronic Data Interchange and E-Commerce, Role of Internet and Web Services, Security in Mobile and Wireless Computing, Physical Security and Cryptography Basics, Cyber Safety and Security
  22. Unit 15 | Multimedia: Multimedia
  23. Unit 16 | Python: Introduction to Python, Tokens, Variables, Data Types, I/O, Operators & Expressions, Control Flow & Looping, Collections & Strings, Functions & Modules, File Handling & Data Analysis, DSA using Python
  24. Full Length Mock Tests — General Paper:
  25. Full Length Mock Tests — Computer Science (Paper II):
AI summary & chapters

AI Summary

An AI-generated summary of this video lecture.

The video provides a foundational introduction to pointers in the C programming language, addressing why they are often considered the most difficult feature for beginners. The instructor explains that the difficulty often stems from C's specific terminology rather than the actual concept. He begins by analyzing the declaration `int i = 3;` to explain how the compiler handles memory allocation. A visual diagram illustrates that the variable `i` is a "location name" associated with a specific "location number" or address (e.g., 65524), which holds the "value at location" (3). The lecture then introduces the operators used to manipulate these addresses and values. The `&` operator is defined as the 'address of' operator, used to retrieve the memory address of a variable. Conversely, the `*` operator is introduced as the 'value at address' or 'indirection' operator, used to access the value stored at a specific address. The instructor further explains how to declare a pointer variable, such as `int *j;`, which tells the compiler that `j` will store the address of an integer. The lesson culminates in a comprehensive code example that demonstrates the relationships between variables, their addresses, and the values they hold, using multiple `printf` statements to print addresses and dereferenced values. The instructor explicitly writes out the memory map for both `i` and `j`, showing their respective addresses and contents to clarify the pointer relationship.

Chapters

  1. 0:00 – 2:00 00:00-02:00

    The video opens with a slide titled "An Introduction to Pointers". The instructor states that pointers are the feature of C that beginners find most difficult to understand. He notes that while other languages have pointers, C uses them frequently because of its clever use of them. He attributes the difficulty to terminology, specifically asking what it means when a variable is called a "pointer" and how it can point to something. He emphasizes that the difficulty has much to do with C's pointer terminology than the actual concept. The slide contains two bullet points discussing the difficulty and the terminology.

  2. 2:00 – 5:00 02:00-05:00

    The slide changes to "Pointer Notation" showing the code `int i = 3;`. The instructor explains that this declaration tells the compiler to reserve space, associate the name `i`, and store the value 3. A diagram appears showing a box with `3` inside, labeled "value at location". An arrow points to it labeled "location name" (`i`), and below is the number `65524` labeled "location number". The instructor writes `2B` next to the box to indicate the size of an integer and circles the address `65524` to emphasize it represents a memory location. He underlines the declaration `int i = 3;` in red to highlight it. Below the diagram, bullet points list the compiler actions: "Reserve space in memory...", "Associate the name i...", "Store the value 3...".

  3. 5:00 – 10:00 05:00-10:00

    The instructor displays a C program to print the address number using `printf("\nAddress of i = %u", &i);`. He explains that `&` is the 'address of' operator and `%u` is the format specifier for unsigned integers since addresses are unsigned. He introduces the `*` operator as the 'value at address' operator. He then introduces a variable `j` to store the address of `i` via `j = &i;`. A memory map shows `i` at address `65524` containing `3`, and `j` at address `65522` containing `65524`. He explains the declaration `int *j;` means `j` points to an integer, justifying the `*` as 'value at address'. He writes `int *j;` on the slide and underlines the `*`. The slide also contains bullet points explaining the `&` and `*` operators.

  4. 10:00 – 11:01 10:00-11:01

    A full program is shown to demonstrate the relationships. The code declares `int i = 3;` and `int *j;`, then assigns `j = &i;`. The instructor annotates the output of several `printf` statements next to the code. He shows that `&i` and `j` both print the address `65524`, while `&j` prints `65522`. He demonstrates that `i` prints the value `3`, and both `*(&i)` and `*j` also print `3`, effectively showing how to access the value of `i` through the pointer `j`. He writes the outputs in red next to the corresponding lines of code, including `printf("\nAddress of i = %u", &i);`, `printf("\nAddress of i = %u", j);`, and `printf("\nValue of i = %d", *j);`.

The lecture progresses logically from conceptual introduction to practical application. It starts by defining the problem (difficulty with pointers) and the solution (understanding terminology). It then visualizes memory allocation for a standard integer variable, establishing the link between a name, an address, and a value. The instructor then introduces the specific operators (`&` and `*`) that allow interaction with these memory components. Finally, the lesson consolidates these ideas by introducing a pointer variable `j` that holds the address of `i`, demonstrating through a complete code example how to print addresses and dereference pointers to access values, thereby bridging the gap between abstract concepts and executable code. The visual aids, including the memory maps and code annotations, play a crucial role in reinforcing the connection between the syntax and the underlying memory operations.

Loading lesson…