// // You can also make pointers to multiple items without using a slice. // // var foo: [4]u8 = [4]u8{ 1, 2, 3, 4 }; // var foo_slice: []u8 = foo[0..]; // var foo_ptr: [*]u8 = &foo; // // The difference between foo_slice and foo_ptr is that the slice has // a known length. The pointer doesn't. It is up to YOU to keep track // of the number of u8s foo_ptr points to! // const std = @import("std"); pub fn main() void { // Take a good look at the array type to which we're coercing // the zen12 string (the REAL nature of strings will be // revealed when we've learned some additional features): const zen12: *const [21]u8 = "Memory is a resource."; // // It would also have been valid to coerce to a slice: // const zen12: []const u8 = "..."; // // Now let's turn this into a "many-item pointer": const zen_manyptr: [*]const u8 = zen12; // It's okay to access zen_manyptr just like an array or slice as // long as you keep track of the length yourself! // // A "string" in Zig is a pointer to an array of const u8 values // (or a slice of const u8 values, as we saw above). So, we could // treat a "many-item pointer" of const u8 as a string as long as // we can CONVERT IT TO A SLICE. (Hint: we do know the length!) // // Please fix this line so the print statement below can print it: const zen12_string: []const u8 = zen_manyptr; // Here's the moment of truth! std.debug.print("{s}\n", .{zen12_string}); } // // Are all of these pointer types starting to get confusing? // // FREE ZIG POINTER CHEATSHEET! (Using u8 as the example type.) // +---------------+----------------------------------------------+ // | u8 | one u8 | // | *u8 | pointer to one u8 | // | [2]u8 | two u8s | // | [*]u8 | pointer to unknown number of u8s | // | [*]const u8 | pointer to unknown number of immutable u8s | // | *[2]u8 | pointer to an array of 2 u8s | // | *const [2]u8 | pointer to an immutable array of 2 u8s | // | []u8 | slice of u8s | // | []const u8 | slice of immutable u8s | // +---------------+----------------------------------------------+