What exactly is the purpose of the (asterisk) in pointers?

Question

I\'m new to programming and I\'m trying to wrap my head around the idea of \'pointers\'.

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int main()
{
    int x = 5;
    int *pointerToInteger = &         


        

Answer 1

* has different meaning depending on the context.

1. Declaration of a pointer

   int* ap;  // It defines ap to be a pointer to an int.
   
   void foo(int* p); // Declares function foo.
                     // foo expects a pointer to an int as an argument.
   

2. Dereference a pointer in an expression.

   int i = 0;
   int* ap = &i;   // ap points to i
   *ap = 10;       // Indirectly sets the value of i to 10
   

3. A multiplication operator.

   int i = 10*20; // Needs no explanation.