DEPARTMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION

ANDHRA PRADESH
Name : Murali Krishna Chintala
Designation : Lecturer in CME
Branch : Computer Engineering
Institute : SUVR & SR GPW, Ethamukkala
Year/Semester : III Semester
Subject : UNIX & C
Subject Code : CM – 304
Topic : Basics of Pointers
Duration : 50 Min
Sub Topic : Parameter passing by reference
Teaching Aids : PPT, Animations
CM304.72 1
 Objective

On completion of this period, you would be able to

know …
 Understand passing of parameters to functions.

 Understand relationship between arrays and

pointers.

CM304.72 2
 Parameter Passing

Parameters to the function are passed in two

ways

 Call by value.

 Call by reference.

CM304.72 3
 Call by value

 In call by value the values of the variables(formal

parameters) are passed.

 Any change in the formal parameter value will

not effect the actual parameters.

CM304.72 4
 Example for call by value
#include<stdio.h>
void fun1(int,int);
main()
{
int x= 10,y=20;
printf(“before calling function x and y are %d%d”,x,y);
fun1(x,y);
printf(“after calling function x and y are %d%d”,x,y);
}

CM304.72 5
 Example for call by value
Contd..

void fun1(int a,int b)

{
a++;
b--;
printf(“in function changes are %d%d\n”,a,b);
}

CM304.72 6
 Output
 Before calling function x and y are 10,20.
 In function changes are 11,19.
 After calling function x and y are 10,20.
 The values of x and y are passed to a and b.
 But memory locations of x,y and a,b are different.
 Hence changes in the values of a,b will not effect x,y.

CM304.72 7
 Call by reference

 The address of the actual parameters is passed

to formal parameters.

 So any changes made to the formal parameters

will effect the values of actual parameters.

CM304.72 8
 Example for call by reference
#include<stdio.h>
void fun(int*,int*);
main()
{
int a=15,b=18;
printf(“before calling function a and b are %d%d\n”,a,b);
fun(&a,&b);
printf(“after calling function a and b are %d%d\n”,a,b);
}

CM304.72 9
 Example for call by reference
Contd..
void fun(int*p,int*q)
{
(*p)++;
(*q)--;
printf(“In function changes are “%d%d\n”,*p,*q);
}

CM304.72 10
 Output

 Before calling function a and b are 15,18.

 In function changes are 16,17.
 After calling function a and b are 16,17.
 Address of a and b are passed to the pointer variables p
and q.
 So changes done to the values at these addresses
automatically effect the values of a and b.

CM304.72 11
 Arrays and Pointers

 When an array is declared the compiler allocates

a base address and sufficient amount of storage
to store all the elements of the array in
contiguous memory locations.

 The base address is the location of the first

element in the array.

CM304.72 12
 Arrays and Pointers
Contd..
 Array name also gives the base address of
the array.
Example:
int x[5];
int *p;
 Here the base address of the array is given
by the array name or the ‘0’th element of the
array that is p=x or p=&x[0];

CM304.72 13
 Arrays and Pointers
Contd..
 When pointer variable ‘p’ is incremented by

1 , it contains base ‘address+2’ because

pointer ‘p’ is of type integer.

p=&x[0];
p+1=&x[1];
p+2=&x[2];
p+3=&x[3];
p+4=&x[4];
CM304.72 14
 Arrays and Pointers
Contd..

 To access the fifth element stored in the array

you can use ‘x[4]’ or ‘*(p+4)’ or ‘*(x+4)’ since the
elements of the array starts from ‘0th’ location.

 To access the address of the fifth element of the

array you can use ‘&x[4]’ or ‘p+4’ or ‘x+4’.

CM304.72 15
Example program to print Fibonacci
numbers using pointers

#include<stdio.h>
main()
{
int fib[10],i,*f;
fib[0]=0;
fib[i]=1;
for(i=2;i<10;i++)
fib[i]=fib[i-1]+fib[i-2];

CM304.72 16
 Example program to print Fibonacci
numbers using pointers
Contd..
f=&fib[0];
for(i=0;i<10;i++)
{
printf(“%d Fibonacci number is %d\n”,i+1,*f);
f=f+1;
}
}/*end of main */

CM304.72 17
 Summary
In this class, we have learnt about…
 Parameters can be passed in two ways
Call by value
Call by reference
 In call by value the values of actual parameters are
passed to the formal parameters.
 In call by reference the addresses of the actual
parameters are passed to the formal parameters.

CM304.72 18
 Summary
Contd..

 The array name or address of the first element of the

array gives it’s base address.

 Array elements can be accessed either by using the

subscripts or by using a pointer to the array.

CM304.72 19
 Quiz

1.Base address of array is

a) Given by it’s name

b) The address of the first element

c) both

CM304.72 20
 Quiz

1.Base address of array is

a) Given by it’s name

b) The address of the first element

c) both

CM304.72 21
 Quiz
2.When an array pointer is incremented it refers

to the next immediate element.

a) true

b) false

c) none

CM304.72 22
 Quiz
2.When an array pointer is incremented it refers

to the next immediate element.

a) true

b) false

c) none

CM304.72 23
 Assignment

2) Write a program to interchange two values

using pointers?

4) Explain different types of parameter passing

with examples.

CM304.72 24
 Frequently Asked Questions

2) Explain call by reference with an example.

(Apr ’03,Apr ’04,Apr ’05)

2) Explain with an example the relationship

between arrays and pointers.
(Mar/Apr ‘07)

CM304.72 25