how array name is treated as a constant pointer.

How Array Names Are Treated as Constant Pointers

In C programming, an array name is treated as a constant pointer to the first element of the array. This means that when an array is declared, its name represents the memory location of the first element of the array.

For example, consider the following declaration of an array:

int arr[5] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};

In this case, the name arr represents the memory location of the first element arr[0] in the array. So, the following two expressions are equivalent:

*(arr + i)    // Accessing the ith element of the array using pointer arithmetic
arr[i]        // Accessing the ith element of the array using array indexing

Since the array name represents a constant pointer to the first element of the array, it cannot be reassigned to point to a different memory location. For example, the following code would result in a compilation error:

int arr[5] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
int *ptr = arr;    // OK: ptr points to the first element of arr
arr = ptr;         // ERROR: arr is a constant pointer and cannot be reassigned

However, it is possible to modify the elements of the array using pointer arithmetic. For example, the following code sets the first element of the array to 10 using a pointer:

int arr[5] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5};
int *ptr = arr;    // ptr points to the first element of arr
*ptr = 10;         // Set the first element of arr to 10

In summary, in C programming, an array name is treated as a constant pointer to the first element of the array. This means that the array name cannot be reassigned, but the elements of the array can be modified using pointer arithmetic.

 

Further Reading:

what is an array

how to declare and initialization an array

Dynamic Declaration of an array

How to scan an array and how to print it on screen.

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