Question

A pointer variable may be initialized with ________.

A) any non-zero integer value
B) a valid address in the computer's memory
C) an address less than 0
D) A and C only
E) None of these

Answer 1

A pointer variable should be initialized with a valid address in the computer's memory. Arbitrary non-zero integer values or addresses less than 0 are not standard and can cause undefined behavior.

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer to the question “A pointer variable may be initialized with ________” is B) a valid address in the computer's memory. Pointers are used in programming to store the address of a variable. It is considered best practice to initialize a pointer to either a valid address or NULL to ensure that it doesn't inadvertently point to some random location in memory. Initializing a pointer with an arbitrary non-zero integer value or an address less than 0 (which is an invalid memory address) is not standard and can lead to undefined behavior or program crashes. Thus, options A and C are incorrect. Generally, there is no such thing as an address less than 0 in a standard address space.