Pointers
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Pointers and unsafe
Due to their nature, pointers produce unverifiable code. Thus, usage of any pointer type requires an unsafe
context.
The type System.IntPtr
is a safe wrapper around a void*
. It is intended as a more convenient alternative to void*
when an unsafe context isn’t otherwise required to perform the task at hand.
Undefined behavior
Like in C and C++, incorrect usage of pointers can invoke undefined behavior, with possible side-effects being memory corruption and execution of unintended code. Due to the unverifiable nature of most pointer operations, correct usage of pointers is entirely a responsibility of the programmer.
Types that support pointers
Unlike C and C++, not all C# types have corresponding pointer types. A type T
may have a corresponding pointer type if both of the following criteria apply:
T
is a struct type or a pointer type.T
contains only members that satisfy both of these criteria recursively.