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Pointers & Arrays

CSE 105
Structured Programming Language (C)
Presentation - 5

CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming

 Pointers
What is pointer?
A variable (2 or 4 bytes long) that can hold an Address
Why pointers?
Sometimes the only way to express a computation
Usually lead to compact and efficient code
Related operators:
* : can be used in two ways
In declaration : read as pointer, e.g., int *p;
In accessing : read as content of, e.g., x = *p;
& : returns LValue (address) of a variable
Read as address of
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointer Examples
int x = 70, y = 80, z[4] = {10, 20, 30, 40 };
int *ip; // int pointer ip

ip = &x; // ip is assigned to address of x

*ip = 200; // content of ip is assigned to 200
y = *ip; // y is assigned to content of ip
ip = &z[2];
*ip = *ip + 20; // same as *ip += 20;
y = *ip+1; x : 4892 200
70
y : 4894 200
80
51
Z, Z[0] : 4896 10
Z[1] : 4898 20
Z[2] : 4900 30
50
Z[3] : 4902 40
ip : 4904 ????
4892
4900

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 pointer
Referencing & Dereferencing &
variable
* []

Referencing ( & ): create reference (pointer) to memory location

Dereferencing (*, [ ] ): get the content of memory location
Reference/Pointer/ Dereference/Variable/
Declaration
Address/LValue Content/RValue

int x; &x x

z z[0]
int z[10], i; z+i *(z+i)
&z[i] z[i]
ptr *ptr or ptr[0]
int *ptr, i; ptr+i *(ptr+i)
&ptr[i] ptr[i]

Note: x = 10;  *(&x) = 10;

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointers in Function arguments
Arguments are passed by value, thus only a copy is passed.
void swap_wrong(int x, int y)
{
int temp;
temp = x; in swap_wrong
x = y; in swap
y = temp;
x: 10
} px: 4397
y: 20
py: 9643
void swap(int *px, int *py)
{ temp:
temp:
int temp;
temp = *px;
*px = *py;
*py = temp;
}
in caller:
a:4397 10
int a = 10, b = 20; b:9643 20
swap_wrong(a, b);
printf(“a=%d, b=%d”, a, b);
swap(&a, &b);
printf(“a=%d, b=%d”, a, b);
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 DIY: Do It Yourself
Go through function getint(int *pn) in page 97
Do Exercise 5-1
Do Exercise 5-2

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Storage of Values in Memory
Same memory location can be interpreted in different
ways: long int
Intrepreted as
1 long int
41 43 45 47 0x41434547

short int
7832 47
Intrepreted as
45 47 0x4547
7833 45
2 short int
7834 43 41 43 0x4143
7835 41
char
47 ‘G’
4-bytes in RAM Intrepreted as
4 char 45 ‘E’
Note: All numbers in
43 ‘C’ this slide are in
Higher bits stored in hexadecimal system.
higher address 41 ‘A’
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointer Operations (K R- p103 last para) n

The valid pointer operations are

1. Adding or subtracting a pointer and an integer (p  i)
2. Assignment of pointers of the same type (p = q)
3. Subtracting or comparing two pointers in same array (p - q)
4. Assigning or comparing to zero. (p = 0)

All other pointer arithmetic are illegal.

Operation Type of result Comment
pi Pointer pointer  int  pointer

p=q Pointer Pointer = pointer  pointer

p-q Integer Pointer – pointer  interger

p=0 Pointer 0 is the only exceptional integer that

can be assigned to a pointer.
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 1– Addition/Subtraction with int (K R 5.3) n

Used for pointing to different elements in an array

int a[6], *pa, x, i;
pa = &a[2]; // same as pa = a + 2;
*pa  pa[0]  a[2]
*(pa-i)  pa[-i]  a[2-i]
*(pa+i)  pa[i]  a[2+i]

pa-2 pa-1 pa: pa+1 pa+2 pa+3

a:
a[0] a[1] a[2] a[3] a[4] a[5]

pointer  int  pointer

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 1– Addition/Subtraction with int
Size of the pointed data-type is automatically taken care of.
If address of a pointer (say ptr) is A
then address of ptr+i is A+i*sizeof(data-type of ptr)
long *lp;
int *ip;
7832 12
char *cp; lp0x7832
7832 12 7833 34 *lp=
ip0x7832
*ip=0x3412 7834
0x78563412
7833 34 56
7832 12 7834 56 7835 78
cp7832 ip+10x7834
*cp=0x12 7835 ip[1]=0x4456
7833 34 44 7836 78
lp+10x7836
7834 56 7836 33 7837 56
ip+20x7836 lp[1]=
cp+27834 0x12345678
7835 ip[2]=0x5633 7838
44 cp[2]=0x56 7837 56 34
7839 12
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 2-- Assignment of Pointers
Pointers of same types can be assigned.
float x = 10.5, *p = &x, *q = p;

Cast and then assign

int i = 0x4145, *ip = &i;
char *cp;
cp = (char *)ip;
printf(“%c %c %x”, *cp, *(cp+1), *ip);

*cp: E
cp:8996 78 38
*(cp+1): A
i:7838 45
7839 41 Logical View

hi-8bits [7839]


ip:8976 78 38 *ip: 41 45
RAM bytes lo-8bits [7838]
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 2-- Assignment of Pointers
Cast and then assign
long int l = 0x41434547, *lp = &l;
int *ip = (int *)lp; // same as int *ip = (int *)&l;
char *cp = (char *)lp; // same as char *ip = (char *)&l;

lp:8974 78 32 Note:
lp, ip and cp are all of size 2 bytes
l:7832 47 ip:8976 78 32
though they are pointing to data
7833 45 cp:8978 78 32 of different sizes, 4, 2 and 1
7834 43 bytes, respectively.
7835 41

RAM bytes
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 2-- Assignment of Pointers
Cast and then assign
long int l = 0x41434547, *lp = &l;
int *ip = (int *)lp;
char *cp = (char *)lp;
printf(“%c %c %c %c %x %x %lx”,
*cp, *(cp+1), *(cp+2), *(cp+3), *ip, *(ip+1), *lp);

7832 47 *cp=‘G’ 47 7832 47

7832
*ip
7833 45 *(cp+1) =‘E’ 45 0x4547 7833 45
7833 *lp
7834 0x41434547
7834 43 *(cp+2) =‘C’ 7834 43 43
*(ip+1)
41 41 0x4143 7835 41
7835 *(cp+3) =‘A’ 7835

RAM bytes RAM bytes RAM bytes

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 2-- Assignment of Pointers
Pointer to void
is used to hold any type of pointer
int *ip;
void *vp;
vp = ip; // type casting is not essential

Cannot be de-referenced without type casting.

int x = *vp; // is illegal type casting is a must
int y = *((int *)vp); // is ok

Provides some degree of Polymorphism.

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 3– Comparing/Subtraction to Pointer
The resulting type of subtracting two pointers is integer.
Comparison Vs. Subtraction
a<ba–b<0
a == b  a – b == 0
a>ba–b>0
Compared/Subtracted pointers should point in same array.
Example:

/* strlen: return length of string s*/

int strlen(char *s) {
char *p = s;
while (*p != ‘\0’)
p++;
return p – s;
} pointer - pointer  int
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 4– Comparing/Assigning to Zero
Zero is the only integer that can be assigned to a
pointer
Zero is the only integer that a pointer can be
compared to.
Use this to initialize a pointer and to check validity
char *m = 0;
...
if (m != 0) { ... safe to use the pointer ... }
NULL can be used instead of 0

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Be Careful with * and ++/--
* and ++ / -- are executed from right to left
char *p = “XAD”;
char *q = p;
char c;

Statement c p q Comment
c = ++*q; ‘Y’ “YAD” p Increment content of q and return new value.

c = *++q; ‘A’ “XAD” p+1 Increment q and fetch content.

c = *q++; ‘X’ “XAD” p+1 fetch content of q and then increment q. i.e.,
c=*q; q++;
c = (*q)+ ‘X’ “YAD” p Return content of q and then increment
+; content of q. i.e. c=*q; (*q)++;

The above is also true for the – – operator.

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointer Vs Array
char amessage[] = “now is the time”; // an array
amessage: now is the time\0

char *pmessage = “now is the time”; // a pointer

pmessage: now is the time\0

pmessage has LValue

pmessage is pointer and requires 2/4 bytes for itself
pmessage++ is possible
pmessage=somepointer is legal
amessage has no LValue
amessage is a name for the starting address of the array
amessage++ is illegal
amessage=somepointer is illegal
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 strcpy example
/* strcpy: copy t to s */
void strcpy(char *s, char *t) Note: if you just write s=t then
{ only the pointer will be copied, not
int i;
i = 0;
the characters
while ((s[i] = t[i])!=‘\0’)
i++;
}

/* strcpy: copy t to s */ /* strcpy: copy t to s */

void strcpy(char *s, char *t) void strcpy(char *s, char *t)
{ {
while ((*s = *t)!=‘\0’) { while ((*s++ = *t++)!=‘\0’)
s++; ;
t++; }
}
}

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointer Vs Array
In function argument array and pointer are same. i.e., following
declaration/definition of function are equivalent
int strlen(char *str)
int strlen(char str[ ])
Arguments are passed by value, thus only a copy is passed.
/* strcpy: copy t to s */
void strcpy(char *s, char *t) s: 4397
{ t: 9643
while (*s++ = *t++)
;
} 4397
……… p:
char p[25];
char *q = “Hello world”; q: Hello world\0
strcpy(p, q); 9643
What is the effect of writing s=t?
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 strcmp example
/* strcmp: return <0 if s<t, 0 if s==t, >0 if s>t */
int strcmp(char *s, char *t)
{
int i;
for (i = 0; s[i] == t[i]; i++)
if (s[i] == ‘\0’)
return 0;
return s[i] – t[i];
}

/* strcmp: return <0 if s<t, 0 if s==t, >0 if s>t */

int strcmp(char *s, char *t)
{
for ( ; *s == *t; s++, t++)
if (*s == ‘\0’)
return 0;
return *s – *t;
}

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Stack: implementation of an int stack
int *buf; //memory for stack
int *sp; // stack pointer
int stack_size; 7832 sp:9642
buf:
void init_stack(int size) { 7834
buf = (int *)malloc(size*sizeof(int));
7836
sp = buf;
stack_size = size; 7838
}
void push(int value) {
if (sp – buf >= stack_size)
printf(“\nstack is full.”); RAM bytes
else
// possible usage of the stack
*sp++ = value;
int x;
}
init_stack(5);
void pop(int *value) { push(10);
if (sp == buf) push(32);
printf(“\nstack is empty.”); pop(&x); // returns 32
else // use x
*value=*--sp; … … …
} // if stack is no longer needed
free(buf); 22
CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 DIY: Do It Yourself
Do Exercise 5-3
Do Exercise 5-4
Do Exercise 5-5

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointer Arrays (K R 5.6) n

Sort an some lines of text! i.e., array of lines/text

[0] defghi\0 [0] defghi\0

[1] jklmnopqrst\0 SORT [1] jklmnopqrst\0

[2] abc\0 [2] abc\0

#define MAX_LINES 5000

char *lineptr[MAX_LINES]; // pointers to text lines

int readlines(char *lptr[], int maxlines);

int writelines(char *lptr[], int nlines);
void qsort(char *lptr[], int left, int right); // will see later

int main(void) {
int nlines;
if ((nlines = readlines(lineptr, MAX_LINES)) >= 0) {
qsort(lineptr, 0, nlines-1);
writelines(lineptr, nlines);
}
// else handle errors. see page 108.
}
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointer Arrays (K R 5.6) n

int readlines(char *lptr[], int maxlines) {

char *p;
for (int n = 0; n < maxlines; n++) {
p = (char *)malloc(100); // <stdlib.h>
if (gets(p) == NULL) {
free(p);
break;
}
lptr[n] = p;
}
return n;
}

int writelines(char *lptr[], int nlines) {

for (int i= 0; i < nlines; i++)
printf("%s\n", lptr[i]); // <stdio.h>
}
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Multi-dimensional Array (K R 5.7) n

Example: Date conversion problem

day_of_year
Input: year, month, day (i.e., date)
Output: day of the year. (e.g., 3rd Feb is 34th day of year)
static char daytab[2][13] = { // [row][col]
{0, 31, 28, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31},
{0, 31, 29, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31}, // leap year
}; // a 2-D array declared and initialized.

/* day_of_year: set day of year from month & day*/

int day_of_year(int year, int month, int day) {
int i, leap;
leap = (year%4 == 0 && year%100 != 0) || (year%400 == 0);
for (i = 1; i < month; i++)
day += daytab[leap][i];
return day;
} 26
CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Multi-dimensional Array (K R 5.7) n

Example: Date conversion problem

month_day
Input: year, yearday( i.e., day of the year)
Output: month, day (e.g., 34th day is 3rd Feb)
static char daytab[2][13] = { // [row][col]
{0, 31, 28, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31},
{0, 31, 29, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31}, // leap year
};
/* month_day: set month, day from day of year */
void month_day(int year, int yearday, int *pmonth, int *pday) {
int i, leap;
leap = (year%4 == 0 && year%100 != 0) || (year%400 == 0);
for (i = 1; yearday > daytab[leap][i]; i++)
yearday -= daytab[leap][i];
*pmonth = i;
*pday = yearday;
} 27
CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Multi-dimensional Array (K R 5.7) n

In function parameter only the left most dimension is

unnecessary.
Thus all the following are equivalent:
void func(int daytab[2][13]) { … }
void func(int daytab[][13]) { … }
void func(int (*daytab)[13]) { … }
The brackets in last statement is necessary since [ ] have
higher precedence than *.
int (*daytab)[13] : a pointer to an array of 13 elements
0 12
daytab

int *daytab[13] : daytab[0]

an array of 13 pointers to integers. [1]

[12]
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Initialization of Pointers (K R 5.8) n

char *name[] = {
“illegal month”, “January”, “February”, “March”, “April”,
“May”, “June”, “July”, “August”, “September”, “October”,
“November”, “December” };

name is an array of character pointers

For each initializer string a character array is created and a
pointer to that string is placed in name array.
Since no size is specified, the compiler counts the number of
initializer strings and fills in the correct number.
name[0] illegal month\0
[1] January\0

[2] February\0
…
…
[12] December\0

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointers Vs. Multi-dim Arrays (K R 5.9) n

int a[10][20]
a 20
a is a 2D array:
…
200 int sized locations have been set aside 10 …
a[row][col] is calculated as 20row+col …
int *b[10] …
…
b is a 1D array of pointers to int.
Only 10 pointers are allocated
b
b[i] must be initialized/allocated with code
10
(malloc) or static initialized (like name array)
int **c
c is a point of pointers to int.
Only 1 pointer is allocated
c must be initialized/allocated with code (malloc)
c
c[i] must be initialized/allocated with code (or
static initialized (like name array)
Example in next slide
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointers Vs. Multi-dim Arrays (K R 5.9) n

char aname[][15] = {“illegal”, “Jan”, “Feb”, “Mar” };

aname:

illegal\0 Jan\0 Feb\0 Mar\0

0(4200) 15(4215) 30(4230) 45(4245)
aname[i][j] is calculated as (aname + 15  i + j)
aname has no LValue
char *name[] = {“illegal”, “Jan”, “Feb”, “Mar” };
name[i][j] is calculated as
(name + sizeof(char *)  i name[0] illegal\0

+ j * sizeof(char)) [1] Jan\0

name has no LValue [2] Feb\0

char **pname; [3] Mar\0
Allocates only 1 pointer (i.e., 2/4 bytes)
pname[i][j] is calculated as pname string\0

(*pname + sizeof(char *)  i
pname = (char **)
+ j * sizeof(char)) malloc(4*sizeof(char*));
pname has LValue pname[0] = “illegal”;
Pname[1] = “Jan”;
pname++; pname=name; are valid
pname[2] = “Feb”;
31
CSE-105 – Structured Programming pname[3] = “Mar”;
CSE, BUET
 Comman-line Arguments (K R 5.10) n

main is called with two arguments :

int argc: is the number of command-line arguments
char **argv: pointer to array of strings (i.e., char *)
int main(int argc, char **argv)
echo.c invoked with: echo hello world
argc is 3 and argv is  argv [0] echo\0
[1] hello\0

#include <stdio.h> [2] world\0

int main(int argc, char **argv) { [3] 0

int i;
for (i = 1; i < argc; i++)
printf(i>1? “ %s” : “%s”, argv[i]);
return 0;
}
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Comman-line Arguments (K R 5.10) n

main is called with two arguments :

int argc: is the number of command-line arguments
char **argv: pointer to array of strings (i.e., char *)
int main(int argc, char **argv)
echo.c invoked with: echo hello world
argc is 3 and argv is  argv [0] echo\0
[1] hello\0

#include <stdio.h> [2] world\0

[3] 0
int main(int argc, char **argv) {
while (--argc > 0)
printf(argc>1? “%s ” : “%s”, *++argv);
return 0;
}
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Comman-line Arguments (K R 5.10) n

/* Processing command-line options: like –abc –x –v */

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
while (--argc > 0 && (*++argv)[0] == ‘-’) { // each option group
while (c = *++argv[0]) { // for each option in the goup
// process the option
}
}
} find.exe\0
argv

(*++argv)[0]
++argv
(*++argv)
- x f r \0

0 -m\0

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Comman-line Arguments (K R 5.10) n

/* Processing command-line options: like –abc –x –v */

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
while (--argc > 0 && (*++argv)[0] == ‘-’) { // each option group
while (c = *++argv[0]) { // for each option in the group
// process the option
}
}
} find.exe\0
argv
++argv[0]
argv[0]
- x f r \0

0 *++argv[0]

-m\0

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Complicated Declarations (K R 5.12) n

Read C declarations using a counter-clock wise spiral

Do not cross a bracket (**a[]) unless all the tokens within
the bracket are finished

int *f() int * f () f is a function returning int *

int (*f)() int ( * fp ) () fp is a pointer tofunction returning int

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Complicated Declarations (K R 5.12) n

char (*(*x())[5])()

char ( * ( * x () ) [5] ) ()

x is a function returning pointer to array[5] of pointer to function returning char

char (*(*x[3])())[5]

x is a array[3] of pointer to function returning pointer to array[5] of char

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Examples
int *f();
f: function returning pointer to int
int (*pf)();
pf: pointer to function returning int
int (*daytab)[13]
daytab: pointer to array[13] of int
int *daytab[13]
daytab: array[13] of pointer to int

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Quick Sort : Divide and Conquer
Divide: Partition array into 2 subarrays such that
Elements in lower part  elements in higher part
Conquer: recursively sort 2 subarrays

x x >x

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 i l, j r
Partitioning Process 2
l, i
8
j
7 1 3 5 6 4
r
Partition(A, l, r ) 2 8 7 1 3 5 6 4
1. x  A[ r ] l, i j r
2. il1 2 8 7 1 3 5 6 4
3. for j  l to r  1 do l, i j r
2 8 7 1 3 5 6 4
4. if A[ j]  x then
5. ii+1 l i j r
2 1 7 8 3 5 6 4
6. exchange A[ i ]  A[ j ]
l i j r
7. exchange A[ i+1 ]  A[ r ] 2 1 3 8 7 5 6 4
8. return i + 1 l i j r
2 1 3 8 7 5 6 4
l i r
l i j r 2 1 3 8 7 5 6 4
x >x ? x l i r
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
2 1 3 4 7 5 6 8
 Quick Sort : Algorithm

QuickSort(A, l, r )
1. if l < r then
2. q  Partition(A, l, r )
3. QuickSort(A, l, q  1 )
4. QuickSort(A, q + 1, r )

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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointer Arrays (K R 5.6) n
Partition(A, l, r )
x  A[ r ]
il1
void qsort(char *A[], int l, int r) { for j  l to r  1 do
int i, j, q; if A[ j]  x then
char *x; ii+1
void swap(char **pa, char **pb); A[ i ]  A[ j ]
if (l < r) {
A[ i+1 ]  A[ r ]
return i + 1
for ( x = A[r], i = l-1, j = l; j <= r-1; j++)
if (strcmp( A[j], x) <= 0)
q=partition(A, l, r);
swap( &A[++i], &A[j]);
swap( &A[i+1], &A[r]);
q = i+1; QuickSort(A, l, r )
qsort( A, l, q-1); if l < r then
qsort( A, q+1, r); q  Partition(A, l, r )
} QuickSort(A, l, q  1 )
} QuickSort(A, q + 1,
void swap(char **pa, char **pb) { r)
char *temp;
temp = *pa;
*pa = *pb; v[i]:7744 defghi\0
*pb = temp;
jklmnopqrst\0
} pa 7744
v[j]:7748 abc\0
pb 7748
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CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointer Arrays (K R 5.6) n

void qsort(char *A[], int l, int r) {

int i, j, q;
void swap(char **pa, char **pb);
if (l < r) {
for (i = l-1, j = l; j <= r-1; j++)
if (strcmp( A[j], A[r]) <= 0)
swap( &A[++i], &A[j]);
swap( &A[i+1], &A[r]);
q = i+1;
qsort( A, l, q-1);
qsort( A, q+1, r);
}
}
void swap(char **pa, char **pb) {
char *temp;
temp = *pa;
*pa = *pb;
*pb = temp;
}

43
CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointers to Functions (K R 5.11) n

void qsort(void *A[], int (*comp)(void *, void *),

int l, int r) {
int i, j, q;
void swap(void **pa, void **pb);
if (l < r) {
for (i = l-1, j = l; j <= r-1; j++)
if ((*comp)(A[j], A[r]) < 0)
swap(&A[++i], &A[j]);

swap(&A[i+1], &A[r]);
q = i+1;
qsort(A, comp, l, q-1);
qsort(A, comp, q+1, r);
}
}
int comp_int(void *x, void *y) {
void swap(void **pa, void **pb){
return *(int *)x - *(int *)y;
void *temp;
temp = *pa; }
*pa = *pb; int comp_str(void *a, void *b) {
*pb = temp; return strcmp((char *)a, (char *)b);
} } 44
CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointers to Functions (K R 5.11) n

void qsort(void *v[], int (*comp)(void *, void *),

int left, int right);
// in main function

qsort(lineptr, comp_str, 0, 10); // char *lineptr[];

qsort(intptr, comp_int, 0, 10); // int *intptr[];

45
CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming
 Pointers to Functions (K R 5.11) n

In C, a function itself is not a variable

But pointer to function can be created
int (*comp)(void *, void *)
comp is a pointer to function that returns int and takes
two void * type arguments
BEWARE: int *comp(void *, void *)
means that comp is a function that returns int * and
takes two void * type arguments
int result = (*comp)(&x, &y)
invokes comp with parameters x and y

46
CSE, BUET CSE-105 – Structured Programming