CBSE Class 12 Computer Science Pointers Concepts

POINTERS

- Pointer is a variable that holds a memory address of another variable of same type.

- It supports dynamic allocation routines.

- It can improve the efficiency of certain routines.

C++ MemoryMap :

- Program Code : It holds the compiled code of the program.

- Global Variables : They remain in the memory as long as program continues.

- Stack : It is used for holding return addresses at function calls, arguments passed to the functions, local variables for functions. It also stores the current state of the CPU.

- Heap : It is a region of free memory from which chunks of memory are allocated via DMA functions.

StaticMemory Allocation : The amount of memory to be allocated is known in advance and it allocated during compilation, it is referred to as Static Memory Allocation. e.g. int a; // This will allocate 2 bytes for a during compilation.

Dynamic Memory Allocation : The amount of memory to be allocated is not known beforehand rather it is required to allocated as and when required during runtime, it is referred to as dynamic memory allocation. C++ offers two operator for DMA – new and delete. e.g int x =new int; float y= new float; // dynamic allocation delete x; delete y; //dynamic deallocation

Free Store : It is a pool of unallocated heap memory given to a program that is used by the program for dynamic memory allocation during execution.

Please refer to attached file for CBSE Class 12 Computer Science Pointers Concepts