The last phrase is correct, but the "or is" is sort of non-sensical, like "is the sky really blue, or is it just the color of oxygen in the atmosphere?". The sky is blue, the color of oxygen in the atmosphere. A pointer is an address sent to a function
that points to where a value is stored.
Going back to the street metaphor, and the Original Post, a map would be something of an area. If I wrote "123 Elm St." down on a piece of paper and gave it to you, you would not call it a map. And in fact map is a term in programming you will discover later, and it involves regions of memory.
Some (non-compiled) languages use something called
a reference which is functionally identical to a pointer. The only word I have heard that might be more descriptive than "pointer" is "reference". On the other hand, pointer is a more unique word than "reference" -- it is not so
overloaded semantically. So once you get the concept, pointer is probably more convenient, immediately recognizable, and less likely to be confused with something else. Maybe "referer" would be good if you do not have to say it five times fast
I agree 100% on that. But it is not because of the name; it is because of the strong elliptical tradition in programming "instructional" discourse, which is virtually the de facto standard. You could call it anything, it will not improve the quality of the material to which you refer.
Bravo brewbuck. That's the rub.