Question

We have the following code:

#include <stdio.h>
#define LEN 10

int main(void) {
    int i;
    int array[LEN];
    int *p;
    for (i = 0; i < LEN; i++) {
        array[i] = i;
    }
    for (p = &array[0]; p < &array[LEN]; p++) {
        printf("Address: %p   ", p);
        printf("Value: %d\n", *p);
    }
    return 0; 
}

And it asks us to find out how many bytes the sever uses to store an integer variable, and print it on a newline, and it gives us the hint to use sizeof.

Now, I’m a bit of a noob with pointers, so this is probably a really quick question, but should I print:

printf("Size of int: %d", sizeof(p));

or sizeof(*p)

One prints 4, and the other prints 8. I was leaning toward 8 (which comes from simply p) as it refers to the memory location, not the variable it’s pointing to’s value, right? And 8 would mean 8 bits, so 1 byte would be the answer?

Answer 1

An easy solution to your particular problem is to use sizeof on the type name:

sizeof(int)
sizeof(int *)

You’ll get the answers you need without any confusion.