3 ms·

Pointers are famously difficult to learn and reason about even though the basic principles are simple. Programming in a style that requires direct manipulation

by Zak 6mo ago

Pointers are famously difficult to learn and reason about even though the basic principles are simple. Programming in a style that requires direct manipulation of pointers when it's not actually necessary is usually regarded as unwise because it's so hard to get right.

mhjkl 6mo ago
OP had no problem with pointers prior to trying C++. I think there is a case to be made that C(++) makes pointers unnecessarily confusing and there is no real disconnect between understanding pointers in theory and in practice otherwise
- joquarky 6mo ago
  And C++ makes everything extra confusing with the capability of operator overloading. That has to be one of the worst features ever added to a language.
  - avadodin 6mo ago
    > C++ makes everything extra confusing
- NooneAtAll3 6mo ago
  > I head massive problems with this pointer stuff no, OP explicitly had problem after getting introduced to pointer concept
KellyCriterion 6mo ago
...thats the reason why I love managed environments like C#/Java/etc :-))
t-3 6mo ago
Pointers aren't hard, it's C/C++ that make them complicated. Addresses and indirection in any assembly language are simple and straightforward, easy and even intuitive once you start actually writing programs.
- phist_mcgee 6mo ago
  Tell that to the thousands of comp sci students who drop out every year because they don't like programming in C!
  - t-3 6mo ago
    I used to think I was incapable of learning "real" programming because I didn't get C. When I later read a book on programming in assembly, I realized that everything that had felt so complex was actually not so difficult. C pointer syntax is weird and doesn't parse naturally for many people, especially programming novices who might not yet have a solid grasp on what/how/why they're doing anything.
  - neutronicus 6mo ago
    Right, but it's hard to tell how much confusion is caused by C syntax vs the idea of a memory address. In particular I think people are very confused by declaring pointers and the overloaded meaning of the dereference operator.
- account42 6mo ago
  C and C++ pointers aren't any harder than pointers in assembly, at least as far as novices complaining about pointers being hard are concerned.
  - t-3 6mo ago
    They are though! Indirection in assembly is just something like: ldr dest, [src, offset] It's straightforward and pretty hard to mess up, and easy to read to because the format is consistent. Whereas in C all the following are valid (and it becomes even more confusing with assignment in the declaration statement, tons of footguns and weird syntax): int* a; int *a; int a[]; int a[5]; Assignment is weird too, especially because dereferencing and defining a pointer both use '*'. *a = c; a[0] = c; Then you have structs/unions and their members, and what if those are pointers? You get . and -> syntax. It's weird and complicated, much much more complicated than assembly. That's before you get to casting and types which make C much more complicated than assembly for doing low level stuff.

by Zak 6mo ago

mhjkl 6mo ago

OP had no problem with pointers prior to trying C++. I think there is a case to be made that C(++) makes pointers unnecessarily confusing and there is no real disconnect between understanding pointers in theory and in practice otherwise

joquarky 6mo ago
And C++ makes everything extra confusing with the capability of operator overloading. That has to be one of the worst features ever added to a language.
- avadodin 6mo ago
  > C++ makes everything extra confusing
NooneAtAll3 6mo ago
> I head massive problems with this pointer stuff no, OP explicitly had problem after getting introduced to pointer concept

KellyCriterion 6mo ago

...thats the reason why I love managed environments like C#/Java/etc :-))

t-3 6mo ago

Pointers aren't hard, it's C/C++ that make them complicated. Addresses and indirection in any assembly language are simple and straightforward, easy and even intuitive once you start actually writing programs.

phist_mcgee 6mo ago
Tell that to the thousands of comp sci students who drop out every year because they don't like programming in C!
- t-3 6mo ago
  I used to think I was incapable of learning "real" programming because I didn't get C. When I later read a book on programming in assembly, I realized that everything that had felt so complex was actually not so difficult. C pointer syntax is weird and doesn't parse naturally for many people, especially programming novices who might not yet have a solid grasp on what/how/why they're doing anything.
- neutronicus 6mo ago
  Right, but it's hard to tell how much confusion is caused by C syntax vs the idea of a memory address. In particular I think people are very confused by declaring pointers and the overloaded meaning of the dereference operator.
account42 6mo ago
C and C++ pointers aren't any harder than pointers in assembly, at least as far as novices complaining about pointers being hard are concerned.
- t-3 6mo ago
  They are though! Indirection in assembly is just something like: ldr dest, [src, offset] It's straightforward and pretty hard to mess up, and easy to read to because the format is consistent. Whereas in C all the following are valid (and it becomes even more confusing with assignment in the declaration statement, tons of footguns and weird syntax): int* a; int *a; int a[]; int a[5]; Assignment is weird too, especially because dereferencing and defining a pointer both use '*'. *a = c; a[0] = c; Then you have structs/unions and their members, and what if those are pointers? You get . and -> syntax. It's weird and complicated, much much more complicated than assembly. That's before you get to casting and types which make C much more complicated than assembly for doing low level stuff.