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I am wondering why 'dereferencing' is the term used when talking about accessing the value stored at a pointer. I'm just not getting why 'dereferencing' as a word is used. It might help to better embed the notion in my head if I can find out why.. thanks.

cheznead
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    Pointers and references were once used for the same thing. A pointer points to memory but it is also referencing some data (some structure). Dereferencing means accessing that data. "dereference" = "remove the reference and access the data directly". – Sulthan Apr 06 '15 at 14:48
  • Getting to the content of what is being pointed to. – bvj Apr 06 '15 at 14:49
  • Thanks. I do understand the logic of how they work; dereferencing just feels odd as a word. – cheznead Apr 06 '15 at 15:06
  • you might want to google pointers and referencing/dereferencing. here is a typical wiki link: – user3629249 Apr 06 '15 at 15:31
  • First of all, that link is invalid. Second, I am well familiar with google. Third, I already said I understand pointers. It is the literal meaning of 'dereferencing' that I would like insight into: i.e Linguistically wise.... – cheznead Apr 06 '15 at 15:48

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