On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 08:38:02AM -0400, Olin Lathrop wrote:
> Brendan Gillatt wrote:
> > It is a pointer to a "Temp_t" type
> 
> No.  Pointers don't point to types.

That is correct. Pointers contains addresses of memory that is typed. This
is done for the same reason we have types to begin with, which is to limit
the types of interactions between memory being used for different purposes.

>  Types have no physical existance in memory, so there is no place to
>  point to.  Types are definitions used in bookkeeping by the compiler.
>  They no longer exist at run time.

Well that's the case in statically typed languages, which of course C is.
Others actually keep type information around at run time.

> A *variable* of type *Temp_t points to a variable of type Temp_t.  The OP is
> confused enough about pointers that words must be used carefully here.
> Without that, statements like yours do more to confuse than illuminate.

I agree with you only in the fact that it's in a context with a newbie.
Experienced programmers do routinely use the code phrase 'points to a type'
to mean 'points to a memory space that is declared with a particular type'
But without understanding the underlaying context, it can get confusing.

BAJ
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