Structures and Pointers

Structures and Pointers

Pointers work with structs too, and that's how functions can modify them.

A pointer to a struct

struct Person p1 = {"Ada", 36, 1.7};
struct Person *pp = &p1;

Access members with ->

When you have a pointer, use the arrow operator ->:

printf("%s\n", pp->name);
pp->age = 37;

pp->age is the same as (*pp).age.

Why pass pointers?

Functions receive structs efficiently by pointer and can modify the original:

void birthday(struct Person *p) {
    p->age++;
}

Dot vs arrow

• Dot . for a struct variable.
• Arrow -> for a pointer to a struct.

TL;DR

• Pointers can point to structs.
• Use -> to access members through a pointer.
• pp->age equals (*pp).age.
• Passing pointers lets functions change the struct.