Thread: What does the suffix * mean?

  1. #1
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    What does the suffix * mean?

    Sorry for this being a really newbie question; I know that I read it in one of the tutorials but I simply can't find it now...

    What I mean is a variable ending with a *, like
    Code:
    int my_var*;

  2. #2
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    A compiler error.
    Ones like this though
    Code:
    int *myVar;
    Are called pointers
    Woop?

  3. #3
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    Maybe it wasn't a variable.. but -something- ends with *...

  4. #4
    Registered User major_small's Avatar
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    maybe you saw it written as
    Code:
    int* myvar;
    which is pretty much what prog-bman just showed you... and it's evil. don't do it.
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  5. #5
    carry on JaWiB's Avatar
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    That's how I always declare pointers.
    Code:
    int *pointer;
    Looks weird. I guess you could do:
    Code:
    int * pointer;
    For a compromise...
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  6. #6
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    I can't think of any valid C++ code ends with a *. Maybe a function prototype with a pointer parameter and no variable name specified:
    Code:
    void foo(int* );
    >> and it's evil. don't do it.
    major_small must be kidding. Don't take that seriously.

  7. #7
    Registered User major_small's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daved
    major_small must be kidding. Don't take that seriously.
    no, I'm not. consider this:
    Code:
    int* myVar1,myVar2;
    that makes it look like you may have intended both to be pointers, where only the first one is a pointer... and it just gets messy... for example:
    Code:
    int* myVar1,myVar2,myVar3,*myVar4,myVar5;
    usually I declare pointers like so:
    Code:
    int*myVar1;
    int myVar2;
    as you can see, I generally declare each variable on it's own line.
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  8. #8
    Registered User Jaqui's Avatar
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    ohhh, Major Small is using old school declarations, not overloading any one line.
    makes for much easier to read declarations.
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  9. #9
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    void junk (vector <Books*>& v);

    hmm.. thats like the only time i can see it on the rite side is in a funtion like it was said .
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  10. #10
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    >> no, I'm not. consider this

    I wouldn't consider that to be a question of evil. It's more a question of style. I'd put the evilness on the declaration of multiple variables on one line if something had to be called evil.

    Consider this:
    Code:
    int myVar1,myVar2,myVar3,myVar4,myVar5 = 0;
    Same issue, but = 0 is not evil, and there is nothing wrong with int myVar1 = 0;.

    My personal style is int* myVar. I never declare multiple pointers on the same line. I rarely declare multiple variables on the same line. This doesn't make the code extraordinarily long, since I rarely declare many variables together (declare variables as locally as possible). I also don't put them on the same line since I always try to initialize variables (especially pointers) when I declare them. The benefit is that it makes clear to me that the type is a pointer to int.

    So int* myvar is not evil and IMO you can use it if you like.

  11. #11
    Registered User major_small's Avatar
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    I'll agree that it's a question of style, but that style is just evil.

    take a look at this page and tell me that it's not evil. Sure, it's just a style, but it's an evil style
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  12. #12
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    You're right. Certain styles can be evil.

    (But this is not one of them.)

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Daved
    You're right. Certain styles can be evil.

    (But this is not one of them.)
    I agree with Daved. Pointers are not a style and they are not evil. They are part of the language, and an important one at that.

  14. #14
    Registered User major_small's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MitchellH
    I agree with Daved. Pointers are not a style and they are not evil. They are part of the language, and an important one at that.
    erm, we weren't talking about the pointers themselves, but how you choose to declare them.
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  15. #15
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    Hey wait, I said that putting the * next to the type is not evil:
    Code:
    int* myvar;
    I didn't say that pointers themselves aren't evil.

    They are.

    (Of course, I am only kidding, although I tend to agree with that link in spirit.)
    Last edited by Daved; 10-18-2005 at 09:11 PM.

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