Explain what does the & meaning in here

Question

I'm new to C++ and currently learning about pointers. This was from my notes:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;
    
int main()
{
    int value1 =5, value2 = 15;
    int *p1, *p2;
    
    p1 = &value1; //why does it mean by the & here?
    p2 = &value2; //and here?
    *p1 = 10;
    *p2 = *p1;
    p1 = p2;
    *p1 = 20;
    
    cout << "Value1 = " << value1 << "Value 2 = " << value2;
    return 0;
}

What does the & mean here?

In this context it means "address of". Do you have a textbook or other reference material you can use? — Nathan Pierson, Jul 12 '21 at 16:12
@NathanPierson does it mean that p1 is addressing the value1 which is equivalent to 5? — Aomine Daiki, Jul 12 '21 at 16:14
This should be of use: https://stackoverflow.com/q/388242/2079303 — eerorika, Jul 12 '21 at 16:28

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 12 '21 at 22:20

& means different things in different contexts. But in this particular context, it is the address-of operator, which returns the memory address of the object specified to its right. So, in this case, p1 is being assigned (points to) the memory address of value1, and p2 is being assigned (points to) the memory address of value2.

Explain what does the & meaning in here

1 Answers1