Array as array[n] and as pointer array*

Question

What is the difference when array is declared as array[n] or as pointer array* according to example below? I guess that for example both \'a\' and \'c\' point at the first e

Answer 1

Long story short - they are essentially the same, but ever so slightly different.

From what I've gathered from http://c-faq.com/aryptr/aryptr2.html , whilst they can both act as a pointer to the front of an array, when you declare an array as

int a[3];

you are essentially binding the size of '3' to your variable a, along with the fact it's an array. Hence, when you try to assign b, of size 5 to a, you get a compilation error.

In contrast, when you write

int * a;

You are merely saying 'this is a pointer that may point to an array', with no promise on the size.

Subtle, isn't it?

Answer 2

The difference between the following two lines:

int g[10];

and

int* h = new int[10];

is that the second is dynamically-allocated, whereas the first is statically-allocated.

For most purposes, they are identical, but where in memory they end up living is different.