Point of function pointers

[jjohan]

Hi all,

I'm wondering about the point of pointers to functions. When is it used?
I saw the below example. It doesn't make sense to me. I mean we can easily write code that does the same without having to use pointers. Thanks.

#include <stdio.h>


int addInt(int a, int b);        // Adds 2 integers  
int add5to4(int (*function_pointer)(int, int));

int main(void)
{
    int sum;
    int (*function_pointer)(int, int);
    
    function_pointer = &addInt;
    sum = (*function_pointer)(2, 3);
    printf("Sum: %d\n", sum);
    sum = function_pointer(5,6);   // Alternative way.    
    printf("Sum: %d\n", sum);
    
    sum = add5to4(*function_pointer);
    printf("Sum: %d\n", sum);
    
    return 0;
}

int addInt(int a, int b)
{
    return a + b;
}

int add5to4(int (*function_pointer)(int, int))
{
    return (*function_pointer)(5, 4);
}