C++ can I make a pointer to an array?

Question

Silly question but how do I make a pointer to an array in C++? My understanding is we have a pointer to the first element of an array, but what if we wanted a pointer to that pointer.

int arr[3] = { 1, 2, 3 };
auto arrp = &arr;

cout << arr << " " << arrp << endl;
cout << typeid(arr).name() << " " << typeid(arrp).name() << endl;

// 0115FC24 0115FC24
// int [3] int (*)[3]

Using the auto keyword/experimenting it seems like it can be done, but I can't type out int (*)[3] arrp = &arr;

Is there a way to type it out?

You may not actually want to do this. In C and C++, arrays decay on use to pointers to their first element. And if you want to have multiple "arrays" of length 3, just allocate a buffer (not on the stack!) of 3*n elements, and point into that. I also suggest reading the C FAQ section about arrays and pointers. — einpoklum
– einpoklum, Commented Aug 15, 2021 at 7:46

Notinlist · Accepted Answer · 2021-08-15 07:46:13Z

6

Pointers to arrays and function pointers have weird syntax.

int (* arrp2)[3] = &arr;

answered Aug 15, 2021 at 7:46

Notinlist

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JCK Over a year ago

Thank you to everyone, this article explained right-left rule when it comes to function pointers and weird C++ syntax: link

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