bitPhile

Void pointer

1 min read

A void pointer is a pointer which can hold address of object of any type. For example:

int ivalue{1};
float fvalue{1.12};
 
void *ptr{&ivalue};
ptr = &fvalue;

When dereferencing a void pointer, we need to static cast it to the specific type of pointer as shown below:

std::cout << *(static_cast<int *>(ptr)) << '\n';
 
std::cout << *(static_cast<float *>(ptr)) << '\n

Furthermore, we can’t perform pointer arithmetic on void pointers because it requires to know the size of type pointer is pointing to increment and decrement the pointer.

References

  1. https://www.learncpp.com/cpp-tutorial/void-pointers/

Graph View