Benefits of pointers?

Question

I recently developed an interest in C programming so I got myself a book (K&R) and started studying.

Coming from a University course in Java (basics), pointers a

Answer 1

Remember that C (and the K&R book) very old, probably older than anything you've learned before (definitely ages older than Java). Pointers aren't an extra feature of C, they're a very basic part of how computers work.

Pointer theory isn't particularly hard to master, just that they're very powerful so an error will most likely crash your application, and compilers have a hard time trying to catch pointer-related errors. One of the big novelties about Java was to have 'almost' as much power as C without pointers.

So, in my opinion trying to write C avoiding pointers is like trying to ride a bike without one pedal. Yes, it's doable but you'll work twice as hard.