On Wed, Dec 15, 2010 at 1:15 AM, les <hlhow...@pacbell.net> wrote: I see a lot of complaints about pointers in all these messages, telling > this novice to avoid them. But the fact is that all languages rely on > pointers. Even the beloved scripting languages so many tout, cannot > exist without pointers. > > The fact is that all data in the computer resides in memory or on disk > or some other file system. Every file system depends on pointers. If > you look for example (using one of the oldest and free forms that is > easily accessible) FAT 16, The base structure starts with the location > 0, which is a pointer to a data store describing the disk. In turn, > from that you find pointers to the partition table. From that you find > pointers to the FAT table itself, and to the data. From the fat table > you get an array of indexed pointers to data segments which are pointers > to boundaries of data blocks, and from the partition table you get a > description of the sector layout, the retrieval blocking and other > information about the structure, which allow you to decode the FAT table > and extract the data. > > The beloved object oriented folks have pointers built in, that are used > to access the procedures that affect the objects. The objects are in > fact structures, which are created in blocks and again pointers are used > to reference that information. When you use an array, that is an > indexed offset from a pointer. > > Someone said pointers break the typing. That is not true, if you do not > break pointer typing to begin with. That is a pointer can be typed, and > moreover someone who uses an integer for a pointer is voiding type > control in his program. > > No knowing pointers means not having any clue to how the underlying > structure works and leads to weak programming. > > I strongly encourage every beginning programmer to learn pointers, > pointer usage and pointer math to understand some of the mechanisms that > make programs break. A programmer who doesn't understand the strengths > and weaknesses of pointers is like a plumber who doesn't know how pipes > work and what makes a manifold. He can hack around, but he cannot > diagnose when plumbing makes noises, doesn't flow correctly or even > backflows. > > That is my opinion. Maybe I am out to lunch, but has anyone seen any > language that didn't access memory? > > Regards, > Les H
That's nice, but starting with the pointers is not good, I guess and hope as to learn pointeers, the things prior to pointers should be well grasped and someone told me, e.g., arrays and loops. -- Regards, Parshwa Murdia
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