What means * in C?

In C, the * symbol serves multiple purposes depending on its context:

1. Pointer Declaration

When used in variable declarations, * indicates that the variable is a pointer, meaning it stores the memory address of another variable.

Example:

int* ptr; // ptr is a pointer to an integer

2. Dereferencing a Pointer

When used with a pointer, the * operator is called the dereference operator. It accesses the value stored at the memory address that the pointer is pointing to.

Example:

int x = 10;
int* ptr = &x; // ptr holds the address of x
printf("%d", *ptr); // Dereferencing ptr, outputs 10

3. Multiplication Operator

The * operator is also used for arithmetic multiplication.

Example:

int result = 5 * 3;  // Multiplication, result is 15

Summary:

• Pointer Declaration: int* ptr means ptr is a pointer to an integer.
• Dereferencing: *ptr accesses the value stored at the memory location ptr points to.
• Multiplication: * is the multiplication operator when used between numbers.

Sources:

• GeeksforGeeks: Pointers in C
• C Programming: Dereferencing and Pointer Basics