Why are arrays considered pointers in C?

Arrays passed to functions are converted to pointers This happens because arrays passed into functions are always converted into pointers. Within the called function, this argument is a local variable, and so an array name parameter is a pointer, that is, a variable containing an address.

How are pointers and arrays equivalent in C?

Arrays and pointers are synonymous in terms of how they use to access memory. But, the important difference between them is that, a pointer variable can take different addresses as value whereas, in case of array it is fixed. In C , name of the array always points to the first element of an array.

Can array names be used as pointers?

9 Answers. An array is an array and a pointer is a pointer, but in most cases array names are converted to pointers. A term often used is that they decay to pointers.

Why are arrays closely related to pointers?

To access elements of the array, we have used pointers. In most contexts, array names decay to pointers. In simple words, array names are converted to pointers. That’s the reason why you can use pointers to access elements of arrays.

What is difference between pointer to array and array of pointers?

A user creates a pointer for storing the address of any given array. A user creates an array of pointers that basically acts as an array of multiple pointer variables. It is alternatively known as an array pointer. These are alternatively known as pointer arrays.

Are arrays always pointers in C?

Arrays are not pointers, though in most expressions an array name evaluates to a pointer to the first element of the array. So it is very, very easy to use an array name as a pointer. You will often see the term ‘decay’ used to describe this, as in “the array decayed to a pointer”.

What is the difference between pointers and arrays?

An array is a collection of elements of similar data type whereas the pointer is a variable that stores the address of another variable. An array size decides the number of variables it can store whereas; a pointer variable can store the address of only one variable in it.

When an array is declared array name is defined as first element?

An array name is not itself a pointer, but decays into a pointer to the first element of the array in most contexts. It’s that way because the language defines it that way.