What is the difference between * and & in C language?

Difference: The * operator is used to define the pointer type and dereference the pointer, accessing the value at the memory address pointed by the pointer; while the & operator obtains the address of the variable, passing parameters by reference or transferring the pointer and memory Used in management.

In C language, * and & are two important operators, which represent pointer dereference and address taking operations respectively.

1. *Operator:

   • In a declaration, * is used to define a pointer type. For example, int *ptr; defines a pointer to integer data.
   • In expressions, * is used to dereference a pointer, that is, to access the value at the memory address pointed to by the pointer. For example, if ptr is a pointer to integer data, then *ptr represents the integer data pointed to by the pointer.

2. & Operator:

   • & is used to get the address of the variable. For example, int a; int *ptr = &a; points ptr to the address of variable a.
   • When used for function parameters, & can pass parameters to the address of the function, thereby achieving the purpose of passing parameters by reference.

#In short, * is used for declaration and dereference of pointers, while & is used to obtain the address of a variable. These two operators are often used in pointer and memory management in C language.

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