How to increment a pointer address and pointer's value?

Question

Let us assume,

int *p;
int a = 100;
p = &a;

What will the following code will do actually and how?

p++;
++p;
++*p;
++(*p);
++*(p);
*p++;
(*p)++;
*(p)++;
*++p;
*(++p);

I know, this is kind of messy in terms of coding, but I want to know what will actually happen when we code like this.

Note : Lets assume that the address of a=5120300 , it is stored in pointer p whose address is 3560200 . Now, what will be the value of p & a after the execution of each statement?

Answer 1

First, the ++ operator takes precedence over the * operator, and the () operators take precedence over everything else.

Second, the ++number operator is the same as the number++ operator if you're not assigning them to anything. The difference is number++ returns number and then increments number, and ++number increments first and then returns it.

Third, by increasing the value of a pointer, you're incrementing it by the sizeof its contents, that is you're incrementing it as if you were iterating in an array.

So, to sum it all up:

ptr++;    // Pointer moves to the next int position (as if it was an array)
++ptr;    // Pointer moves to the next int position (as if it was an array)
++*ptr;   // The value of ptr is incremented
++(*ptr); // The value of ptr is incremented
++*(ptr); // The value of ptr is incremented
*ptr++;   // Pointer moves to the next int position (as if it was an array). But returns the old content
(*ptr)++; // The value of ptr is incremented
*(ptr)++; // Pointer moves to the next int position (as if it was an array). But returns the old content
*++ptr;   // Pointer moves to the next int position, and then get's accessed, with your code, segfault
*(++ptr); // Pointer moves to the next int position, and then get's accessed, with your code, segfault

As there are a lot of cases in here, I might have made some mistake, please correct me if I'm wrong.

EDIT:

So I was wrong, the precedence is a little more complicated than what I wrote, view it here: http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/language/operator_precedence

Answer 2

checked the program and the results are as,

p++;    // use it then move to next int position
++p;    // move to next int and then use it
++*p;   // increments the value by 1 then use it 
++(*p); // increments the value by 1 then use it
++*(p); // increments the value by 1 then use it
*p++;   // use the value of p then moves to next position
(*p)++; // use the value of p then increment the value
*(p)++; // use the value of p then moves to next position
*++p;   // moves to the next int location then use that value
*(++p); // moves to next location then use that value

Answer 3

With regards to "How to increment a pointer address and pointer's value?" I think that ++(*p++); is actually well defined and does what you're asking for, eg:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
  int a = 100;
  int *p = &a;
  printf("%p\n",(void*)p);
  ++(*p++);
  printf("%p\n",(void*)p);
  printf("%d\n",a);
  return 0;
}

It's not modifying the same thing twice before a sequence point. I don't think it's good style though for most uses - it's a little too cryptic for my liking.

Answer 4

The following is an instantiation of the various "just print it" suggestions. I found it instructive.

#include "stdio.h"

int main() {
    static int x = 5;
    static int *p = &x;
    printf("(int) p   => %d\n",(int) p);
    printf("(int) p++ => %d\n",(int) p++);
    x = 5; p = &x;
    printf("(int) ++p => %d\n",(int) ++p);
    x = 5; p = &x;
    printf("++*p      => %d\n",++*p);
    x = 5; p = &x;
    printf("++(*p)    => %d\n",++(*p));
    x = 5; p = &x;
    printf("++*(p)    => %d\n",++*(p));
    x = 5; p = &x;
    printf("*p++      => %d\n",*p++);
    x = 5; p = &x;
    printf("(*p)++    => %d\n",(*p)++);
    x = 5; p = &x;
    printf("*(p)++    => %d\n",*(p)++);
    x = 5; p = &x;
    printf("*++p      => %d\n",*++p);
    x = 5; p = &x;
    printf("*(++p)    => %d\n",*(++p));
    return 0;
}

It returns

(int) p   => 256688152
(int) p++ => 256688152
(int) ++p => 256688156
++*p      => 6
++(*p)    => 6
++*(p)    => 6
*p++      => 5
(*p)++    => 5
*(p)++    => 5
*++p      => 0
*(++p)    => 0

I cast the pointer addresses to int s so they could be easily compared.

I compiled it with GCC.

Answer 5

        Note:
        1) Both ++ and * have same precedence(priority), so the associativity comes into picture.
        2) in this case Associativity is from **Right-Left**

        important table to remember in case of pointers and arrays: 

        operators           precedence        associativity

    1)  () , []                1               left-right
    2)  *  , identifier        2               right-left
    3)  <data type>            3               ----------

        let me give an example, this might help;

        char **str;
        str = (char **)malloc(sizeof(char*)*2); // allocate mem for 2 char*
        str[0]=(char *)malloc(sizeof(char)*10); // allocate mem for 10 char
        str[1]=(char *)malloc(sizeof(char)*10); // allocate mem for 10 char

        strcpy(str[0],"abcd");  // assigning value
        strcpy(str[1],"efgh");  // assigning value

        while(*str)
        {
            cout<<*str<<endl;   // printing the string
            *str++;             // incrementing the address(pointer)
                                // check above about the prcedence and associativity
        }
        free(str[0]);
        free(str[1]);
        free(str);