What does the suffix * mean?

Sorry for this being a really newbie question; I know that I read it in one of the tutorials but I simply can't find it now...

What I mean is a variable ending with a *, like

Code:

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int my_var*;

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A compiler error.
Ones like this though

Code:

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int *myVar;

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Are called pointers

Maybe it wasn't a variable.. but -something- ends with *...

maybe you saw it written as

Code:

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int* myvar;

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which is pretty much what prog-bman just showed you... and it's evil. don't do it.

That's how I always declare pointers.

Code:

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int *pointer;

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Looks weird. I guess you could do:

Code:

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int * pointer;

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For a compromise...

I can't think of any valid C++ code ends with a *. Maybe a function prototype with a pointer parameter and no variable name specified:

Code:

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void foo(int* );

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>> and it's evil. don't do it.
major_small must be kidding. Don't take that seriously.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daved

major_small must be kidding. Don't take that seriously.

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no, I'm not. consider this:

Code:

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int* myVar1,myVar2;

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that makes it look like you may have intended both to be pointers, where only the first one is a pointer... and it just gets messy... for example:

Code:

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int* myVar1,myVar2,myVar3,*myVar4,myVar5;

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usually I declare pointers like so:

Code:

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int*myVar1;
int myVar2;

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as you can see, I generally declare each variable on it's own line.

ohhh, Major Small is using old school declarations, not overloading any one line.
makes for much easier to read declarations. :)

void junk (vector <Books*>& v);

hmm.. thats like the only time i can see it on the rite side is in a funtion like it was said .

>> no, I'm not. consider this

I wouldn't consider that to be a question of evil. It's more a question of style. I'd put the evilness on the declaration of multiple variables on one line if something had to be called evil.

Consider this:

Code:

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int myVar1,myVar2,myVar3,myVar4,myVar5 = 0;

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Same issue, but = 0 is not evil, and there is nothing wrong with int myVar1 = 0;.

My personal style is int* myVar. I never declare multiple pointers on the same line. I rarely declare multiple variables on the same line. This doesn't make the code extraordinarily long, since I rarely declare many variables together (declare variables as locally as possible). I also don't put them on the same line since I always try to initialize variables (especially pointers) when I declare them. The benefit is that it makes clear to me that the type is a pointer to int.

So int* myvar is not evil and IMO you can use it if you like.

I'll agree that it's a question of style, but that style is just evil.

take a look at this page and tell me that it's not evil. Sure, it's just a style, but it's an evil style ;)

You're right. Certain styles can be evil.

(But this is not one of them.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daved

You're right. Certain styles can be evil.

(But this is not one of them.)

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I agree with Daved. Pointers are not a style :p and they are not evil. They are part of the language, and an important one at that.

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Originally Posted by MitchellH

I agree with Daved. Pointers are not a style :p and they are not evil. They are part of the language, and an important one at that.

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erm, we weren't talking about the pointers themselves, but how you choose to declare them. :rolleyes:

Hey wait, I said that putting the * next to the type is not evil:

Code:

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int* myvar;

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I didn't say that pointers themselves aren't evil.

They are.

(Of course, I am only kidding, although I tend to agree with that link in spirit.)