WordNet-Online
Free dictionary and thesaurus of English. Definitions, synonyms, antonyms and more...
Hint: double-click any word to get it searched!

	Enter your search terms Submit search form
	Web www.wordnet-online.com

Definitions from the Web

Dereference

Description:

Dereference, in computer programming, refers to the act of accessing the value that a pointer is pointing to. It is an essential concept when working with pointers and memory allocation.

Senses:

Sense 1:

Verb: To dereference a pointer, retrieving the value it points to.

Sample Sentence: In C programming, you need to properly dereference a pointer before using its value.

Sense 2:

Noun: The act of dereferencing a pointer.

Sample Sentence: Dereference ensures that you can access the data stored in memory through a pointer.

Sense 3:

Noun: In some programming languages, the notation used to access the value pointed to by a pointer.

Sample Sentence: The dereference operator (*) is used in C++ to retrieve the value stored at the memory location pointed by a pointer.

Sense 4:

Noun: In web development, the act of converting a web address (URL) into the actual content it represents.

Sample Sentence: Dereferencing a web address is crucial to retrieving the content of a webpage.