📍📚Intermediate

Find Largest Element Using Pointers

Array max with pointers

Finding the largest element using pointers demonstrates how pointers can traverse arrays efficiently. Instead of using array indices, we use pointer arithmetic.

C Program to Find Largest Element Using Pointers

largest_using_pointers.c

1#include <stdio.h>
2
3int findLargest(int *arr, int n) {
4    int *max = arr;  // Point to first element
5    
6    for (int i = 1; i < n; i++) {
7        if (*(arr + i) > *max) {
8            max = arr + i;  // Update max pointer
9        }
10    }
11    return *max;
12}
13
14int main() {
15    int arr[] = {45, 89, 23, 67, 12, 90, 34};
16    int n = sizeof(arr) / sizeof(arr[0]);
17    
18    printf("Array: ");
19    for (int *p = arr; p < arr + n; p++) {
20        printf("%d ", *p);
21    }
22    
23    printf("\nLargest element: %d\n", findLargest(arr, n));
24    
25    return 0;
26}

Output

Array: 45 89 23 67 12 90 34

Largest element: 90

📖 Code Explanation

Code	Explanation
int *max = arr	Initialize max pointer to first element
*(arr + i)	Access element at index i using pointer arithmetic
max = arr + i	Update max to point to new largest element
*max	Dereference to get the value