Pointers ​

Each location at memory have an address. These addresses points to location at memory. Pointers (aka raw pointers) are variables can store this memory addresses.

To declare a pointer data-type, use * operator.

For example:

let x: *int = nil

That's pointer for int type.

Getting Pointer of Variables ​

The & operator used to get pointer of variable.

For example:

fn main() {
    let x: int = 10
    let y: *int = &x
    println(y)
}

The y variable is now store memory address of x variable.

Getting Pointer of Self Variables ​

The self variables implemented as raw pointer that points to the receiver by compiler. If you trying to get pointer of &self variable, since the variable is smart pointer, you will get raw pointer to the &self variable. If you trying to get pointer to self variable, since implemented as raw pointer, you will copy value of variable self directly.

Accessing Values on Pointers ​

The * operator is used to access the value in the memory address that the pointer store.

For example:

fn main() {
    let x: int = 10
    let y: *int = &x
    println(y)            // Prints stored address
    unsafe { println(*y) } // Prints value at address (so 10)
}

Assign Values to Pointers ​

Pointers can take on value assignment just like a variable, with values of the appropriate data type, because they are already variables.

For example:

fn main() {
    let x: int = 10
    let z: *int = &x // The 'z' store now memory address of the 'x' variable.
    let y: int = 98
    z = &y           // The 'z' store now memory address of the 'y' variable.
}

Additionally, pointers can assign the value of the memory address they store. The * operator used for that too.

For example:

fn main() {
    let x: int = 10
    let y: *int = &x
    unsafe { *y = 59 } // Assign value
    println(x)          // Prints 59
}

Unsafe Pointers ​

Developers who have previously worked with programming languages such as C and C++ are probably familiar with void pointers. Jule has void pointers. To obtain a void pointer, an unsafe pointer is used. Unsafe pointers can receive assignments from any pointer type. It is general purpose. Unsafe pointer is not an explicit pointer, it cannot be used with postfix and cannot be deferenced.

These pointers are known as unsafe pointers in Jule because they are actually more unsafe than regular pointers. This is mainly because they are not a pointer to a data type. It is assumed that they simply point to a memory location. Therefore, there is no guarantee that it is correct, even if cast to a datatype pointer. The developer must know the data type at the pointed address. Unsafe pointers are not helpful in this regard.

For example:

fn main() {
    let a: int = 20
    let ptr: *unsafe = &a
    unsafe { println(*( (*int)(ptr) )) }
}

In this example, the variable ptr is an unsafe pointer and points to the variable a. Then we see that this pointer is cast to the int pointer and deferenced. As a result, we get the value the 20 because was done right.

Pointer Arithmetic ​

Pointer arithmetic is available for typed pointers other than *unsafe. Thanks to pointer arithmetic, you can shift your pointers with the help of integers. It only supports int and uint types.

For example, summing a pointer to the integer 1 means that it will be shifted forward by the size of the data type it points to in memory. This means that if you point to a block of memory, the pointer will point to the next block element.

For example:

fn main() {
    let s = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
    let mut p = &s[0]
    let end = p + len(s)
    for p != end; p++ {
        unsafe { println(*p) }
    }
}

In the example above, the elements of the slice are written to stdout with the help of pointers and pointer arithmetic.