CODEWITHSUNDEEP
arraysgopointers
C--
C--

Reputation: 220

Access values inside array using pointers

I've noticed in golang that we can use a pointer to an array as follows:

arr := [3]int{1, 2, 3}
var ptr *[3]int = &arr

To get value stored at an index n we can do (*ptr)[n], but why does ptr[n] also fetch me the value, Shouldn't it output some random address ?

Context

In C++, this is the observed behaviour


int (*ptr)[5];
int arr[] = {1,2,3,4,5};

ptr = &arr;
cout <<"ptr[1] = " << ptr[1] <<endl; //Outputs an address (base address of array + 20bytes)
cout << "(*ptr)[1] = " << (*ptr)[1]<< endl; //Outputs 2

Upvotes: 1

Views: 332

Answers (1)

mkopriva
mkopriva

Reputation: 38223

For a of pointer to array type:

  • a[x] is shorthand for (*a)[x]

See language spec: Index Expressions.

Upvotes: 3

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