EN CSharp Operator Pointer

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Operations with pointers

Handbook C# · Practical Guide

& takes an address, * dereferences a pointer, and -> accesses a member of the pointed-to value. These operations require an unsafe context and a valid memory lifetime.

Simple example (Example.cs)

Save this example separately as Example.cs. Run it independently of the other examples on this page.

Example.cs:

// PROJECT-EXAMPLE
unsafe
{
    int value = 3;
    int* pointer = &value;
    *pointer = 7;
    System.Console.WriteLine(value);
}

Enable <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks> in the project. The pointer is valid only within the shown scope.

Result:

7

Syntax

Type* pointer = &value; / *pointer / pointer->Member

Example 1

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

public static class Program
{
    public static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        unsafe { int value = 3; int* pointer = &value; *pointer = 9; Console.WriteLine(value); }
    }
}

Example 2

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Threading;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.IO;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;

public static class Program
{
    public static async Task Main(string[] args)
    {
        unsafe { Point value = new() { X = 2 }; Point* pointer = &value; pointer->X += 5; Console.WriteLine(value.X); }
    }
}
public struct Point { public int X; }

Official source: Microsoft Learn.