An exploration of pointers in C++

PointerTest.cpp

// I've been trying to better understand pointers, so I made this as a reference for myself.
// Figured it wouldn't hurt to make it available if anyone else is having any problems.



#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    
    // Let's declare a standard integer variable.
    int orig = 1013;

    // Now, we'll create a copy of this variable.
    int copy = orig;

    // If instead of creating more copies of this variable, 
    // we can instead pass around the address of this 
    // variable's location in memory.
    // We do this by declaring a pointer variable.
    //
    // The following statement says:
    //  we are pointing to a location in memory where an int 
    //  is stored.
    //
    // For comparison, we've created two references. 
    // the first points to our original integer, 
    // and the second to our copy. You can see that
    // these two are clearly stored in different memory locations.
    //
    int * andRefO = &orig;
    int * andRefC = &copy;

    // Lastly, once we're ready to do something with the 
    // integer itself, we can derefence it. The following
    // statement effectively says:
    //  go to this location and memory and use the int that's stored there.
    int deref = *andRefO;
    int * andRefD = &deref;
    
    cout << "orig : " << orig << " \t\t\t\t | The original integer variable " << endl;
    cout << "copy : " << copy << " \t\t\t\t | The copy of the integer variable " << endl;
    cout << "andRefO : " << andRefO << " \t\t | The location in memory where the original variable is stored " << endl;
    cout << "andRefC : " << andRefC << " \t\t | The location in memory where the copy of the variable is stored " << endl;
    cout << "deref : " << deref << " \t\t\t\t | Just for completion, we've derefenced the location in memory where the first variable is stored " << endl;
    cout << "andRefD : " << andRefD << "\t\t | And its location in memory. " << endl;

    // Now, we can change the value of original variable via its reference:
    // These next statements effectively say:
    //      Change the value of the integer stored in the memory location pointed to by this variable.
    *andRefO = 1121;
    *andRefC = 4815;

    cout << "orig : " << orig << " \t\t\t\t | The original variable having been changed by way of its reference. " << endl;
    cout << "copy : " << copy << " \t\t\t\t | The copy of the original variable, having been changed by way of its own reference. " << endl;
    cout << "andRefO : " << andRefO << " \t\t | The location in memory where the original variable is stored " << endl;
    cout << "andRefC : " << andRefC << " \t\t | The location in memory where the copy of the variable is stored " << endl;
    cout << "deref : " << deref << " \t\t\t\t | For completion, the dereferenced pointer of the original variable's reference. " << endl;
    cout << "andRefD : " << andRefD << "\t\t | And its location in memory. " << endl;

    return 0;
}