Unsafe code and Pointers in .NET

C# allows using pointer variables in a function of code block when it is marked by the unsafe modifier. The unsafe code or the unmanaged code is a code block that uses a pointer variable.

Pointer Variables

A pointer is a variable whose value is the address of another variable i.e., the direct address of the memory location. Like any variable or constant, you must declare a pointer before you can use it to store any variable address.

The general form of a pointer variable declaration is:

type *var-name;

Following are valid pointer declarations:

int    *ip;    /* pointer to an integer */
double *dp;    /* pointer to a double */
float  *fp;    /* pointer to a float */
char   *ch     /* pointer to a character */