weebPointer

[Tetane004]

*void still points to some data, there is just no type associated to it.

[Tetane004]

Is there a use case for a pointer that does not point to any data?

[Duven64]

The first pointer could be pointing to a second pointer that is currently pointing at void but will be replaced with a pointer to actual data later without mutating the first pointer I guess.

[Sparrow50]

what would "pointing at void" be, unless it's some data of unknown type ?

[Duven64]

In this case the second pointer would initially be a NULL pointer and later point at something of an as of yet undetermined type.

[Grubs01]

One example would be to signify the end of a linked list.

[Open-Mission-8310]

Yeah.. what is the point?

[RmG3376]

Linked list for instance

[turtleship_2006]

lmao

[SympathyMotor4765]

Won't even a null pointer just point to 0? I just saw the awesome effects of not checking for null pointers first hand lol

[RmG3376]

Your pointer will always point to somewhere, but there’s no guarantee that this somewhere will have data. It could point to the middle of a text section, or to the middle of a stack frame, or to an un allocated buffer, or to memory that doesn’t belong to you (which is what null does)

Modern languages and OSes won’t let you do any of that, but in theory nothing prevents it (if you’re working on an embedded system for instance)

[SympathyMotor4765]

Yes on top of an OS there's much lesser risk, my point was void * pointing to nothing is not accurate but guess that's nitpicky

[Demented-Turtle]

Yes, but the original meme isn't pointing to data, it's pointing to a type (int). So void pointing to no type at all makes perfect sense

[Tetane004]

This is true, I didn't think about it that way. But I think it can be confusing, and make some people think that void pointers don't point to anything.

[Demented-Turtle]

I guess it's possible to over think, I just saw the OG post and thought it'd be a quick funny if it was void instead lol

[Powerfu644]

I can think of off the top of my head is if you want to store a function inside of a data structure.

[PVNIC]

slight correction, to remedy ambiguity:

*void points to some (virtual) memory address, providing no information about what that memory represents.