C++: A Dialog Programming with the C++ Standard Library

P

Parent class; see inheritance.

A pointer is essentially the same as a memory address. The main difference is that a memory address is “untyped” (i.e., it can refer to any sort of variable) whereas a pointer always has an associated data type. For example, char* (pronounced “char star”) means “pointer to a char”. To say “a variable points to a memory location” is almost the same as saying “a variable's value is the address of a memory location”. In the specific case of a variable of type char*, to say “the char* x points to a C string” is essentially equivalent to saying “x contains the address of the first byte of the C string”. Also see array.

A polymorphic object is a C++ object that behaves polymorphically without exposing the user of the ...