CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cpointers
Mathew Kurian
Mathew Kurian

Reputation: 6039

C Directly/Explicit passing parameters

If I call a function in C and pass in a struct (not by pointers nor references for those c++ readers), it copies the object. If I pass in a struct with an array in it, it copies the array (as stated by professor in class). But what happens if I pass in a struct that contains a circular reference back to the object. How does it copy the whole struct?

Upvotes: 2

Views: 53

Answers (2)

William Pursell
William Pursell

Reputation: 212574

It copies the struct, and the pointer inside the copied struct contains the address of the original object.

Upvotes: 4

Sergey Kalinichenko
Sergey Kalinichenko

Reputation: 726987

The only way to have a reference back to the same struct is by adding a pointer to the struct that points back. This pointer is copied in the same way as the rest of the struct.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions