Arrow operator (->) usage in C?

Question

I am currently learning C by reading a good beginner's book called "Teach Yourself C in 21 Days" (I have already learned Java and C# so I am moving at a much faster pace). I was reading the chapter on pointers and the -> (arrow) operator came up without explanation. I think that it is used to call members and functions (like the equivalent of the . (dot) operator, but for pointers instead of members). But I am not entirely sure. Could I please get an explanation and a code sample?

Answer 1

#include <stdio.h>

#include <malloc.h>

#include <string.h>

struct Person {

char* name;

int age;

};

void main() {

Person person;

person.age = 20;

person.name = (char*)calloc(10, sizeof(char));

strcpy(person.name, "armstrong");

printf("Person's name: %s and age: %d\n", person.name, person.age);

Person* otherPerson;

otherPerson = (Person*)calloc(1, sizeof(Person));

otherPerson->age = 30;

otherPerson->name = (char*)calloc(9, sizeof(Person));

strcpy(otherPerson->name, "vladimir");

printf("Person's name: %s and age: %d\n", otherPerson->name, otherPerson->age);

/* other way of printing otherPerson info */

printf("Person's name: %s and age: %d\n", (*otherPerson).name, (*otherPerson).age);

}