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How do function pointers in C work?

Asked 2009-05-08T15:49:17.003
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I had some experience lately with function pointers in C.

So going on with the tradition of answering your own questions, I decided to make a small summary of the very basics, for those who need a quick dive-in to the subject.

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129

One of my favorite uses for function pointers is as cheap and easy iterators -

#include <stdio.h>
#define MAX_COLORS  256

typedef struct {
    char* name;
    int red;
    int green;
    int blue;
} Color;

Color Colors[MAX_COLORS];


void eachColor (void (*fp)(Color *c)) {
    int i;
    for (i=0; i<MAX_COLORS; i++)
        (*fp)(&Colors[i]);
}

void printColor(Color* c) {
    if (c->name)
        printf("%s = %i,%i,%i\n", c->name, c->red, c->green, c->blue);
}

int main() {
    Colors[0].name="red";
    Colors[0].red=255;
    Colors[1].name="blue";
    Colors[1].blue=255;
    Colors[2].name="black";

    eachColor(printColor);
}
answered 2009-05-08T16:26:09.800

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