Stop 1 of 5 · Street map: house numbers

A pointer is just a variable whose value is an address. &balance produces that address, and *ptr follows it to the memory it names. Because the pointer and the original variable refer to the same memory, writing through the pointer changes the original, with no copy involved.

int balance = 1000;
int* ptr = &balance;
*ptr = 1500;   // balance is now 1500