Pointers are identical to a variable but stores the address of another variable. The pointer’s data type will be the same as the data type of the variable. The call by reference methodarguments to a function copies the address of an argument into the formal parameter. A variable stores the value and pointer stores the address of a variable. You can visually see the difference in the example given below. A compiler must do these three things for a variable:

• Reserve space in memory to hold the integer value
• Associate the name i with this memory location.
• Store the value 3 at this location.

A function is a self-contained block of statements that performs a coherent task of some kind. A function prototype is a declaration of a function that specifies the function’s name and type signature (arity, data types of parameters, and return type), but discards the function body.

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