Pointer String

• A string in C/C++ is an array of characters, and pointers can be used to handle strings efficiently.
• A character pointer (char *) points to the first character of a string (character array).

char str[] = "Hello";
char *ptr = str;  // Pointer points to the first character of the string

cout << ptr[0];  // Outputs 'H'
cout << *(ptr + 1);  // Outputs 'e'

• Strings are terminated with a null character (‘\0’).
• You can manipulate strings using pointers (e.g., traversing, comparing).

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

void printChars(char *str) {
    while(*str != '\0') {
        cout << *str;
        str++;  // Move to the next character
    }
}

int main() {
    char name[] = "Pointers!";
    printChars(name);  // Outputs "Pointers!"
    return 0;
}

More Examples:

int arr[5] = {1,2,3,4,5};
char ch[6] = "abcde";

cout << arr << endl;            // Prints address of arr (e.g., 0x61fefc)
                               // For int arrays, prints address—not the contents!

// attention here
cout << ch << endl;             // Prints the string "abcde"
                               // For char arrays, prints characters until null terminator

char *c = &ch[0];
// prints entire string
cout << c << endl;              // Prints the string "abcde"
                               // Points to first character: behaves like "cout << ch"

char temp = 'z';
char *p = &temp;

cout << p << endl;              // Prints garbage or "z" followed by garbage chars
                               // Interprets memory at p as a string until null terminator is found
                               // This is unsafe/undefined: 'temp' is not null-terminated