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Foundations · Module 3

Pointers, Memory, and Arrays

Inspect virtual memory layouts, master pointer arithmetic and type stepping, navigate array decay and multidimensional indexing, and build a production CLI hex dumper.

Start the moduleFree9 lessons · about 163 minutes

Pointers are not merely an abstract language feature in C; they are direct representations of physical and virtual hardware addresses. This module guides you through the mechanics of low-level memory addressing: inspecting address spaces, performing type-scaled pointer arithmetic, analyzing array decay, enforcing buffer bounds on null-terminated byte sequences, and architecting function callback tables. The module culminates in building a high-performance command-line hex dumper (an xxd clone) that streams and formats arbitrary binary files using buffered pointer stepping.

  1. 1Virtual Memory Layout and Pointer AddressingUnderstand the virtual memory segments of a C process, inspect how the MMU translates addresses, and master pointer referencing and dereferencing.19 min
  2. 2Pointer Arithmetic and Type SteppingUnderstand how compilers scale pointer increments by type size, compute element distances with ptrdiff_t, and safely traverse memory buffers.18 min
  3. 3Generic Pointers and Null Pointer MechanicsMaster type erasure with void pointers, understand null pointer representation and MMU zero-page guard traps, and handle raw memory safely.19 min
  4. 4Array Memory Layout and Pointer DecayUnderstand contiguous buffer allocation, trace the array-to-pointer decay rule, and inspect the structural difference between arrays and pointers.17 min
  5. 5Multidimensional Arrays and Row-Major OrderingUnderstand row-major contiguous memory layouts, derive 2D index flattening formulas, and master array pointer parameter passing.17 min
  6. 6C-Style Strings and Buffer BoundsUnderstand null-terminated byte strings, trace linear scans in strlen, and secure string operations against buffer overflows.16 min
  7. 7Pointers to Pointers and IndirectionMaster multi-level pointer indirection, modify caller pointer addresses across function frames, and work with pointer tables.16 min
  8. 8Function Pointers and Callback ArchitectureStore machine code entry addresses in function pointers, execute indirect calls, build jump tables, and architect decoupled callback APIs.16 min
  9. 9Project: Command-Line Hex Dumper (xxd Clone)Engineer a high-performance command-line hexadecimal dumper in C, featuring POSIX getopt flag parsing, buffered byte streaming, pointer stepping, and canonical hex/ASCII formatting.25 min