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An In-Depth Understanding of Memory and Pointers in C

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Introduction

Welcome to Pointers and Memory in Depth

Quiz Yourself on Memory and Pointers

Stack and Local Memory

Local vs. Global Scope

Stack Definition

Stack for Local Variables

Stack for Function Calls

Pointers to Variables on Stack

Quiz Yourself on Stack Usage

Passing Arguments to Functions

Pass by Value Issues in the Pass by Value Pass by Reference Using Pointers Coding Challenge: The Swap Function Changing the Value of Pointers Passed as Arguments Quiz Yourself on Parameter Passing

Pointer Arithmetic Basics

Size of Data Types Addition Subtraction Comparing Pointers Invalid Operations Quiz Yourself on Pointer Arithmetic

Pointers and Arrays

Array Basics Pointers and Arrays Pointer Arithmetic with Arrays Array Decaying Passing Arrays to Functions Practice: Target Sum in a Sorted Array Challenge: Closest Target Sum in Two Sorted Arrays Quiz Yourself on Arrays

Pointers and Strings

Memory Representation Using Char Arrays Pointers to Constant Strings Pointer Arithmetic With Strings Returning Pointers to Strings Practice: Reverse a String Challenge: Locate the First Occurrence Quiz Yourself on Strings

Pointers and Functions

Writing Function Pointers Function Pointers and Regular Pointers Passing Functions as Arguments Arrays of Function Pointers Practice: Build a Command-Line Tool Quiz Yourself on Function Pointers

Complex Pointer Declarations

Basic Rules Reading Complex Pointer Declarations More Details on Reading Complex Declarations Quiz Yourself on Reading Complex Pointer Declarations

Course Assessment

Assessment 1

Heap and Dynamic Memory

Heap Definition Dynamic Memory Allocation Functions Static vs. Dynamic Allocation Allocating 1-D Arrays on Heap Reallocating Dynamic Arrays Introduction to Valgrind Challenge: std::string in C Allocating 2-D Arrays on Heap Allocating a Matrix as a Contiguous Block Sharing Memory Between Functions and Ownership Common Errors Quiz Yourself on Heap and Dynamic Memory Allocations

Structures

Structures Definition Arrays of Structures Dynamically Allocating Structures and Structure Members Padding for Struct Members Deep and Shallow Copy Quiz Yourself on Structures Coding Challenge: Modeling Complex Objects and Relationships (1)Coding Challenge: Modeling Complex Objects and Relationships (2)

Practicing Everything with Linked Lists

Singly Linked Lists Definition Practice: Inserting Elements in a Linked List Challenge: Inserting Elements in a Linked List Linked Lists vs Arrays from a Memory Point of View Local References Technique Practice: Sorted Union Challenges: Insert at Position and Merge Lists

Course Assessment

Assessment 2

Genericity Using Void Pointers

void Pointers Definition Examples of Functions Using void*Generic Linked List Helper Functions for Genericity Practice: Get Element at Position Challenge: Remove Element from Generic Linked List Quiz Yourself on void Pointers

Advanced Memory Manipulation

Reinterpreting Memory Challenge: Implement memcmp Endianness Challenge: Set Integer Bytes Checking Endianness Quiz Yourself on Advanced Memory Manipulation

Project Prep: Binary Search Trees

Binary Search Tree Definition Implementation Tips and Tricks Pseudocode Lessons BST Operations: Pseudocode (Part 1)BST Operations: Playground (Part 1)BST Operations: Pseudocode (Part 2)BST Operations: Playground (Part 2)BST Operations: Pseudocode (Part 3)BST Operations: Playground (Part 3)BST Operations: Pseudocode (Part 4)BST Operations: Playground (Part 4)

Mini Project

Efficiently Processing Temperature Samples

Mini Project

Efficient Dictionary

Mini Project

Efficiently Processing Employee Records

Conclusion

Conclusion Appendix 1 - Useful Links and Tools Appendix 2 - Generic BST Implementation Solution Appendix 3 - Temperature Samples Project Solution Appendix 4 - Dictionary Project Solution Appendix 5 - Employee Records Project Solution

Common Errors

Learn to avoid common mistakes in pointer code.

We'll cover the following

Pointer to local variables
Pointers to static local variables

Pointer to local variables

Let’s explore a common problem found in pointer-intensive code using the example below:

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