Dereference operator

The dereference operator or indirection operator, denoted by "*" (i.e. an asterisk), is a unary operator found inC-like languages that include pointer variables. It operates on a pointer variable, and returns an l-valueequivalent to the value at the pointer address. This is called "dereferencing" the pointer. 

For example, the C code":

 int x;

 int *p;  // * is used in the declaration:

          // p is a pointer to an integer, since (after dereferencing),

          // *p is an integer

 x = 0;

 // now x == 0

 p = &x;  // & takes the address of x

 // now p == &x, so *p == x

 *p = 1;  // equivalent to x = 1, since *p == x

 // now *p == 1 and *p == x, so x == 1