Projects for embedded software

  Efficient coding technique with pointers When we use pointers in C++, more precisely when we use them as index variables in a for loop to traverse an array, there are two ways to move to the next position:  p++  (post-increment) and  ++p   (pre-increment). At first sight they look almost identical, but in reality there is an important difference between them. With  p++ , the program makes a copy of the pointer, - which in case of complex stuctures call an init method which could cause side-effects - and then increment the old value. By using  ++p , the program first increases the pointer and then returns the new value. This leads to the conclusion that, when trying to optimize code, using  ++p  is more practical and efficient. At first glance, in simple programs, the difference may not be visible, but in large loops this trick can save both time and memory. An example: for (int *p = v; p < v + n;  ++p ) {      ...