2D arrays

[abruthomas]

Hi ,
I am new to pointers and I have a small understanding problem here.

If I declare int **c does this mean
1. I am declaring a dynamic 2D integer array

int **c
c = malloc(size_x * sizeof(int *));
for (i = 0; i < size_x; i++)
c[i] = malloc(size_y * sizeof(int));

Or

2. I am declaring an integer pointer which holds the address of another integer pointer

int a;
int *b;
int **c;
b =&a;
c=&b; /* here C holds the address of the pointer b*/

My question here is what does int **c mean when the above 2 scenarios are taken into consideration.
Thanks in advance for the help

[laserlight]

Neither. It means that c is a pointer to a pointer to an int. You can then use it to point to the first pointer in a dynamic array of pointers where each pointer points to the first character of an array of int, and thus simulate a dynamic 2D array, or you can use it to point to a lone pointer to int.