Thread: Question about variable locations in memory and pointers

Lately i've been researching on pointers and memory locations, and something doest seem right to me:

I wrote this little program:

Code:

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
    int c1 = 3;
    int a;
    bool sch;
    cout <<"Variable c == " <<c1 <<", and its located at: " <<(int)&c1 <<endl;
    cin >>sch;
    cin.ignore(100, '\n');
    switch (sch)
    {
        case 1:
        {
            cout <<"Change: ";
            cin >>c1;
        } break;
        default: break;
    }
    cout <<"Variable c == " <<c1 <<" Located at: " <<(int)&c1 <<endl;

    cin.ignore(100, '\n');
    cin.get();
}

The problem here is that when i run it, the variable c1 is always alocated in the same memory position, and my question is, shouldnt it change every time i run the program??

and another thing, when i open multiple instances of that program, all the instances show c1 located in the same memory space, how is that possible??

help pls.

>>The problem here is that when i run it, the variable c1 is always alocated in the same memory position, and my question is, shouldnt it change every time i run the program??
Open up more, different programs to take up more RAM in your system and then it might change. The OS determines how applications are allocated memory and it can make it seem like it will use the same memory down to the location every time, even if you run the application after a reboot or on a full moon.


>>and another thing, when i open multiple instances of that program, all the instances show c1 located in the same memory space, how is that possible??
Multiple instances? If you allow the program to exit the memory will be returned to the system. This is different from a command prompt staying open so that you can see the results.

Originally Posted by whiteflags

Multiple instances? If you allow the program to exit the memory will be returned to the system. This is different from a command prompt staying open so that you can see the results.

yes, but if i open more than one without allowing them to exit (meaning they all still have the memory for the variable c1 alocated) i still get the same memory locations in all of the open instances. How is it possible that 2 or more programs are using the same memory location at the same time (even if both programs are the same)??

Well there is another explanation. If you really have multiple instances then the program can share memory. Each process has its own thread and only one thread will be active at a time, so there is no room for conflict, unless you use parallel processing. That opens its own can of worms.

Originally Posted by Elysia

The program are using virtual memory, not physical memory. The virtual memory is an address located in the process. All processes have their own virtual memory address space. Thus, the same address is never occupied twice between processes, which explains what you see.
The OS maps the virtual memory to physical memory. But that is not something we need to worry about. I'd suggest reading up about virtual memory if you're intrigued.

I see, looks like i was confusing both memories, but now i know the diferences.

tks