What does (char *) x or (void *) z mean?

Question

I know char *x means a pointer to char, but I\'m confused about what (char*) x means.

Answer 1

declaration of a variable called "x" of type char:

char x;

declaration of a variable called "x" which is a pointer to a char:

char *x;

cast of something that is not a char to type char:

int x = 10;
char y = (char)x;

Answer 2

() is the cast operator.

(char *) x means "apply the cast operator to operand x".

The cast operator converts the value of the operand to the type between ().

Answer 3

Type casting to character pointer.

Answer 4

Actually, char *x is a declaration. x is pointer to char.

If you already have a variable, such as x, you can cast it to a different type. In your case, (char*) x is redundant, since x already is a pointer to char. But you can cast it to int * or something else. Although, note, it's not safe, since an int is larger than a char.

Answer 5

It means casting x to a pointer to char (or to a general pointer).

Answer 6

It's a cast. You are instructing the compiler to treat x as if it were a char *, regardless of its real type. Casts should only be used if you really know what you are doing.

For some built-in types, the compiler may perform a meaningful conversion, e.g. converting a double to an int by rounding, but for other types you may not get what you expect.