Thread: Pointers

Well that's a different thing, isn't it? What you say is what we think you mean. People seem to never understand that we can't read minds.

Anyway, you use them where you think they apply. There are recommendations, but there isn't some rule that says you can use them only under certain conditions. I recommend you do what you can with what you know, until you reach a problem where using pointers can help you get through.

It might be speed, or efficiency in algorithms, or etc. etc...

Why don't you just use google to search for "C++ When should I use pointers" or something similar, you'll find a lot of information if you try.

In C++, it's best to avoid using naked pointers whenever possible. References are preferred for arguments to functions (see here) and standard containers are preferred to dynamically allocated arrays.

Sometimes, you might find you need to use dynamic allocation so that you have control over the lifetime of an object or for polymorphism, in which case you may need to use pointers. But even then, you should consider if a smart pointer (see boost libraries or std::auto_ptr, for example) can be used instead.