rubyPointers.rb

#the fiddle class in ruby
#http://ruby-doc.org/stdlib-2.0.0/libdoc/fiddle/rdoc/Fiddle/Pointer.html#method-c-new
require 'fiddle'
require 'pry'

#this is a regular variable holding a string, aka a string object with the
#value "hello strange person"
my_string = "hello strange person!"

#this gets an integer pointing to location of your object in memmory.
#i don't know why you have to bitwise shift, but you do.
my_pointer_int = my_string.object_id << 1

#create a new pointer object from the object at that location.
my_pointer = Fiddle::Pointer.new my_pointer_int

#create a new pointer and set it to my_pointer
this_pointer = my_pointer

#access the value of my_pointer using this_pointer
this_pointer.to_value

#the structure of the memory referenced by my_pointer
#https://github.com/ruby/ruby/blob/trunk/include/ruby/ruby.h#L893

#play away
binding.pry

#what the object looks like.
# > my_pointer

#dereferenceing the pointer by saying to the object at that location,
#what's your value.
# > my_pointer.to_value