Pointers in C++

Pointers in C++

A pointer is a variable whose value is the address of another variable.

Syntax:

Datatype *pointer-name;

Example:

int *p,a;

p=&a;

Derived class pointer cannot point to base class.

                                        The actual reason is - a derived class has all information about a base class and also some extra bit of information. Now a pointer to a derived class will require more space and that is not sufficient in base class. So the a pointer to a derived class cannot point to it. While on the other hand the reverse is true.