A pointer is a variable that stores the memory address of another variable. It allows direct manipulation of memory, a powerful tool for dynamic memory allocation and efficient data manipulation.

Declaration and initialization of a pointer looks like this:

• int: specifies the base type of the variable that the pointer will point to. In this case, it's an integer;

• *: called dereference operator, returns the value stored at the address held by a pointer;

• p_Name: the name of the pointer variable. You can choose any valid variable name;

• nullptr: is a keyword that represents a null pointer, indicating that it is empty and doesn't point to anything.

Note

Commonly, pointers are named with a prefix p_ as a naming convention signifying that the variable is a pointer.