What is the purpose of the * operator in C when used with pointers?
a) It dereferences a pointer to access the value at the memory address
b) It declares a pointer variable
c) It performs multiplication
d) It adds two pointers together
Answer:
a) It dereferences a pointer to access the value at the memory address
Explanation:
The * operator in C is used to dereference a pointer, which means accessing the value stored at the memory address that the pointer is pointing to. For example, if int *ptr is a pointer to an integer, *ptr gives the value of the integer at that memory location. Dereferencing is a fundamental operation when working with pointers, allowing the programmer to read or modify the data at the memory address.
Understanding how to correctly use the * operator is essential for manipulating data through pointers and for dynamic memory management in C programming.