Definition of dereference

Definition: In C and C++, dereference applies to a pointer and means to access the variable or memory location that the pointer points to.

int a=9;
int * ptra = &a;
*ptra= 10;
printf("Value of a is %i",a) ;

In this example, the pointer ptra is set to point to a. *ptra derefences the ptra variable and sets the value to 10. This is the same as saying a=10;

References automatically dereference without needing an extra character.

Glossary:

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