Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!beach.cis.ufl.edu!thoth
From: thoth@beach.cis.ufl.edu (Robert Forsman)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: pointers to arrays
Message-ID: <19784@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU>
Date: 16 Feb 89 13:33:42 GMT
Sender: news@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU
Reply-To: thoth@beach.cis.ufl.edu ()
Organization: UF CIS Department
Lines: 18


  OK, Gordon cross wants to take the address of an array, but not in
any normal way.  If E is an array (yes I know it's upper case but
that's what he used) the &E should return a pointer to an array.  My
question is "what will you use this for?"  Pointers are usually used
to modify things, and &E I believe would be used to modify the address
of the array since that's what E is (the address of the array).  YOU
CAN'T DO THAT!!!
  Arrays are solid, cast in stone, at least until you pop 'em off the
stack.  Now if you have a pointer D that happens to point to the top
of the array, SURE, &D, because you can modify D.  E is (during it's
lifetime) pretty much a constant and shouldn't be modified.  THAT's
why you can't do &E (try &4, it fails for probably the same reason.)

   THOTH out -

"There's more postings coming your way comp.lang.Cers so wait until
I'm done before you sue me."			- me.