Pointers in Delphi

Question

Pointers can be still used in pascal and i think they may preserve it until delphi is alive.

Even though i have used pointer when i am learning pascal. I still can't understand the real use of pointers, I manage to do all my delphi programs without it.(by some other ways)

what is the real use of pointers. And I am asking for real world usage, and can we manage to do anything without pointers.

Answer 1

You use pointers a lot more often than you think you do in Delphi. The compiler just hides it.

var
  SL: TStringList; 
...
  SL := TStringList.Create;
  // SL is now a pointer to an instance of the TStringList class.
  // You don't know it because the compiler handles dereferencing
  // it, so you don't have to use SL^ . You can just use the var.
  SL.Add('This is a string');

A string is also a pointer to a block of memory that stores the string. (It actually stores more than that, but...)

So are instances of records, PChars (which is a pointer to a character array, basically), and tons of other things you use every day. There are lots of pointers that aren't called Pointer. :)

Answer 2

the pointers contain the address of a memory location, because that are present everywhere. each variable which you declare, even the code which you write can be accessed using a pointer, the pointers is one of the most essential elements in Win32 programming, you must read this great article from Rudy Velthuis Addressing pointers to understand the pointers usage.