Class 39: Pointers to Functions

Held: Tuesday, 9 November 2010

Summary: We consider pointers to functions in C.

Related Pages:

• EBoard.
• Lab: Function Pointers.
• Reading: K&R 5.10-5.11.

Notes:

• Two interesting performances by Ethel tonight and tomorrow night.
• Reading for Wednesday: K&R 7.5-7.5.
• Are there questions on Assignment 7?

Overview:

• Function Pointers.
• Lab.

Function Pointers

• In C, pointer to function is a valid type.
• We declare that a parameter has that type with

  RETURN_TYPE (*NAME)(PARAM_TYPES)
  

• You can assign, pass, and call function pointers.

Questions

• Function pointers clearly let us sort an array of strings in different ways. What if we want to sort different kinds of arrays?
• How do function pointers in C seem to differ from function parameters in Scheme?

Lab

• Do The lab.