Pointers in .net

Lokesh Kumar

15y2.3k.NET

Hi friends,

I want to ask the use of pointers in .net. At how much extent I can use pointers in .net. I also want to know about the disadvantages of pointers in a high level language like .net.

3 Replies

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Vulpes15y ago
The Common Language Runtime (CLR) supports two kinds of data pointers: managed pointers and unmanaged pointers. The main difference is that the former is tracked by the garbage collector (and can change when the heap is compacted) and the latter is not.

In C#, unmanaged pointers can be used in code marked as 'unsafe'. In the case of strings, arrays and other entities which can be moved in memory, they need to be 'pinned' first to ensure that they don't move whilst a pointer to them is being used. You also need to be careful not to overrun the string or array buffers because there is no bounds checking in unsafe code, which improves performance.

Managed pointers are not explicitly supported by C# but are used in the background when parameters are passed by reference or output to a method.

In C++/CLI, you can use both types of pointer explicitly and can even mix managed and unmanaged code in the one assembly.

VB.NET is the safest of the three as you can't use either type of pointer explicitly though managed pointers are used in the background for parameters passed 'ByRef'.

Notice that managed pointers are not the same as object references (implicit in C# and VB and explicit in C++/CLI) though there are some similarities between the two.
Javeed M Shaikh15y ago
Hi Lokesh,

The best way to find your answer is to look at the recommended articles as suggested by Suthish. Following are a few points to start with:

Since it is an Unsafe Code you might run into problems like Complex and hard to maintain code, overwriting other data or variable in the memory which you are not suppose to, overflow stack, type safety checks etc,. so unless it is very much required one should avoid using it. But sometimes you have no option but to use pointers in case if you are using external non .net DLL or want some performance gain.

Please do not forget to mark "Accepted Answer".
Suthish Nair15y ago
Check Our recommended articles section on right side..