Mastering Pointers in C++: A Practical Tutorial

The Challenge: Swapping Variables in Cyclic Order

Imagine you have three variables, a, b, and c, entered by the user. Your task is to swap these variables in a cyclic order without returning any values from the function.

The Solution: Leveraging Pointers and Pass by Reference

The key to solving this problem lies in passing the addresses of a, b, and c to the cyclicSwap() function instead of the actual variables. By doing so, we can manipulate the original variables in the main() function by swapping their values within the cyclicSwap() function.

void cyclicSwap(int *a, int *b, int *c) {
    int temp = *a;
    *a = *b;
    *b = *c;
    *c = temp;
}

Implementing the Solution

In the main() function, we’ll take input from the user, display the variables before and after the swap, and call the cyclicSwap() function:

int main() {
    int a, b, c;
    cout << "Enter three numbers: ";
    cin >> a >> b >> c;

    cout << "Before swap: " << endl;
    cout << "a = " << a << ", b = " << b << ", c = " << c << endl;

    cyclicSwap(&a, &b, &c);

    cout << "After swap: " << endl;
    cout << "a = " << a << ", b = " << b << ", c = " << c << endl;

    return 0;
}

The Output: A Successful Swap

Notice how the variables a, b, and c are swapped in a cyclic order without returning any values from the cyclicSwap() function. This demonstrates the power of pointers and pass by reference in C++ programming.

Further Learning Opportunities

Now that you’ve mastered the art of swapping variables in cyclic order, explore more advanced C++ topics, such as:

• Swapping two numbers using call by reference

Take your C++ skills to the next level by exploring these topics and more!