PDS - Dynamic Memory Allocation

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts from principles of data structures, focusing on pointers and dynamic memory allocation.

Pointer

A variable that stores the memory address of another variable.

Dereferencing

The process of accessing the value at the address stored in a pointer using the indirection operator (*).

Dynamic Memory Allocation

The process of allocating memory at runtime using methods like 'new' in C++.

Array Pointer

A pointer that points to the first element of an array, allowing for array manipulation.

Pointer Arithmetic

Operations that involve accessing memory locations using pointer variables, allowing movement through an array.

Null Pointer

A pointer that is initialized to point to nothing, often indicated by '0', 'NULL', or 'nullptr'.

Memory Leak

A situation where dynamically allocated memory is not freed, leading to wasted memory resources.

Dangling Pointer

A pointer that points to a memory location that has been freed.

Function Parameter Pointer

A pointer passed to a function to allow the function to modify the original variable.

Subscript Notation

Using square brackets to access elements in an array, similar to pointer arithmetic.

Bounds Checking

The verification that an index used to access an array is within valid limits; C++ does not perform this automatically.

Int Pointer Variable

A pointer variable specifically designed to point to integers.

Delete Keyword

A C++ keyword used to free dynamically allocated memory.

New Keyword

A C++ keyword used to allocate dynamic memory on the heap.

Function Return Pointer

A function that returns a pointer to a dynamically allocated array or another data structure.

Swap Function

A function that uses pointers to interchange the values of two variables.