Pointers appear to point to the same address yet de-reference differnt values. I don't understand why?

[stringc]

Pointers appear to point to the same address yet de-reference differnt values. I don't understand why?

  #include <iostream>
using namespace std;

void printNTimes(string *msg, int n);

int main()
{
  string c = "string_c";
  string d = "string_d";
  string e = "string_e";
  string f = "string_f"; 
  string *mpoint = &c;
  string *npoint = &d;
  string *opoint = &e;
  string *ppoint = &f;
  printNTimes(mpoint, 5);
  printNTimes(npoint, 5);
  printNTimes(opoint, 5);
  printNTimes(ppoint, 5);
  return 0;
}

void printNTimes(string *msg, int n)
{
  for( int i = 0; i < n; ++i){
   cout << *msg;
   cout << " :asterisk";
   cout << "\t";
   cout << &msg;
   cout << " :ampersand: ";
   cout << "\t";
   cout << msg;
   cout << " :nothing: ";        
   cout << "\n";
 }
}

[vlad from moscow]

Why did you decide that they point to the same address?

[stringc]

Well, I'm a newb, so my rational is probably flawed and I'm trying to figure out what I am missing.

The output of the function for each call shows 0x7fff2cb48348 for &msg.

I'm assuming that each pointer points to that address?

[vlad from moscow]

It is the address of the local parameter of the function. It is always the same because it points to the same variable msg.

[MikeyBoy]

msg is already a pointer. It's the address of a string. To display the value of it, you simply need:

cout << msg;

&msg is the address of msg; i.e. it's the address of the argument itself. It's not the address of a string. It's the address of a pointer to a string.

[stringc]

Ah, makes sense now. Thank you guys much.

[MikeyBoy]

You're welcome!