A question regarding pointers

Hello.
I wrote this program to test my (very basic, limited) understanding of C++ thus far. What I got is this:

Code:

---


#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int mult ( int x, int y );

int main()
{
  int x;
  int *xp = new int;
  int y;
  int *yp = new int;
  int txy ;
  int ran ;

  xp = &x;
  yp = &y;
  ran = rand() ;
  cout<<"Write num\n";
  cin>>x;
  cin.ignore();
  cout<<"The num you wrote is "<<*xp<<"\n";
  cout<<"Write num\n";
  cin>>y;
  cin.ignore();
  cout<<"The num you wrote is "<<*yp<<"\n";
  txy = mult(x, y) ;

  if (txy>ran)
  {
      cout<<txy<<">"<<ran ;
  }
  else
  {
      cout<<txy<<"<"<<ran ;
  }

  cin.get() ;
  return 0 ;
  delete xp ;
  delete yp ;
  xp = 0 ;
  yp = 0 ;

}
  int mult ( int x, int y )
{
  return x * y;
}

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The problem here is the line txy = mult(*xp, *yp) ;. I get an error stating that I'm not allowed to compare pointers with integers. However as far as I understand using a pointer in this manner (*xp) should be just like using the original integer no?

Thanks for any answer!

Moved following request

There is nothing wrong with calling mult() in that way. You should not be getting a compile error with that code.

Now there is a problem with your code though. You are doing the following:

Code:

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int *xp = new int; // This is fine, allocating memory for an integer
xp = &x; // Bad!  You just reassigned the pointer from the memory you allocated for it, and pointed it at a local variable.
        // Did you mean to do this: *xp = x; ?
delete xp; // You are now trying to delete the local variable instead of what you allocated.

---

Lots of problems related to pointers lately. I urge you do a search on the boards to learn more about the nature of pointers.
Basically, a pointer is a variable that holds a memory address. To access the address the pointer stores, you use it as normal. To access the contents the pointer points to, you use the derefernce operator *.

there is a memory leak in your code i think

you lost the first address aquired by xp and yp by doing this

Code:

---

xp = &x;
yp = &y;

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Yes, there is a memory leak and undefined behavior as pointed out by bithub.