Zeigerübergabe

Zeigerübergabe, a German term often translated as "pointer handover" or "pointer transfer," refers to a specific concept within computer programming, particularly in languages that utilize manual memory management such as C or C++. It describes the act of transferring ownership of a pointer from one variable or scope to another.

When a pointer is passed by value to a function, the function receives a copy of the pointer itself, not the memory it points to. This means any modifications to the pointer within the function (e.g., assigning it to a new memory address) do not affect the original pointer outside the function's scope. Zeigerübergabe, in its stricter sense, implies a mechanism where the function can legitimately take over the responsibility for the memory pointed to. This often involves returning the modified or newly allocated pointer from the function, or using output parameters (pointers to pointers) to allow the function to change the caller's original pointer.

The primary motivation behind Zeigerübergabe is to manage dynamically allocated memory effectively. Without proper handover, memory might be leaked if the original pointer is lost before the allocated memory is deallocated, or double-free errors could occur if the memory is deallocated by multiple parties. Proper Zeigerübergabe ensures that only one entity is responsible for freeing the memory at any given time, thereby preventing these common memory management issues. Modern languages with automatic garbage collection or smart pointers often abstract away the complexities associated with manual Zeigerübergabe.