Why is the need of pointer to an array?

Asked Nov 28 '17 at 19:01

Active Nov 29 '17 at 10:01

Viewed 65 times

I am new to C programming. I came to know that pointers can be declared for whole arrays as well.

int (arr_ptr*)[10];

My doubt is, whenever we pass an array as an argument to a function, we are passing the address of the array to that function. So, again why should we have a pointer to an array explicitly?

Please explain me with an use case, where pointers to an array can be used.

Thanks in advance.

edited Nov 29 '17 at 10:01

asked Nov 28 '17 at 19:01

dharma

1

Pointers to arrays encode and enforce the size of that array. Pointers to the first element loses that information. – François Andrieux Nov 28 '17 at 19:03
*"we are passing the address of the function"* - I kinda lost you there – StoryTeller - Unslander Monica Nov 28 '17 at 19:03
* "we are passing the address of the array to that function." Corrected. – dharma Nov 29 '17 at 10:02
Pointers to arrays encode and enforce the size of that array. Pointers to the first element loses that information - Agreed. But, I am looking for an use case, where I need to know the size of an array through a pointer. – dharma Nov 29 '17 at 10:02

Why is the need of pointer to an array?

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