What is the difference between Pointers and Arrays in C?

Explanation & Concept

• Array: A contiguous block of memory with a fixed size. The array identifier acts as a constant pointer to its first element (`arr == &arr[0]`), but you cannot reassign it (`arr = ptr` is invalid). • Pointer: A variable that stores the memory address of another variable. Pointers can be reassigned and incremented using pointer arithmetic.

Code Example

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int numbers[3] = {10, 20, 30};
    int *ptr = numbers; // Decays to pointer to first element

    printf("First: %d\n", *ptr);       // 10
    printf("Second: %d\n", *(ptr + 1)); // 20 (Pointer arithmetic advances by sizeof(int))
    return 0;
}

How It Works & Key Takeaways

Pointer arithmetic automatically scales offsets by the byte size of the underlying type (`sizeof(T)`).

Mock Test · 1 Questions · Optional

Ready for Memory Management?

Take a quick test to evaluate yourself, or move straight to the next module.

Beginner3 questions

Skip

Pointers & ArraysBeginner

1Question 1 of 1

What is the difference between Pointers and Arrays in C?

Explanation & Concept

Code Example

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
    int numbers[3] = {10, 20, 30};
    int *ptr = numbers; // Decays to pointer to first element

    printf("First: %d\n", *ptr);       // 10
    printf("Second: %d\n", *(ptr + 1)); // 20 (Pointer arithmetic advances by sizeof(int))
    return 0;
}

How It Works & Key Takeaways

Pointer arithmetic automatically scales offsets by the byte size of the underlying type (`sizeof(T)`).

Mock Test · 1 Questions · Optional

Ready for Memory Management?

Take a quick test to evaluate yourself, or move straight to the next module.

Beginner3 questions

Skip