If I recall correctly (long long time ago) there was only one pointer type un Pascal and it was considered a number that it was legal to modify without warnings

If I recall correctly (long long time ago) there was only one pointer type un Pascal and it was considered a number that it was legal to modify without warnings. C insists that int * , char * and int are totally different types that you should not mix. It makes sense most of the time but it can be confusing when you do not realize that internally they typically are the same thing <insert here the disclaimer about 32/64 bits systems>.