Function pointers in C

Let's start with a basic function which we will be pointing to:

int addInt(int n, int m) {
    return n+m;
}

First thing, let's define a pointer to a function which receives 2 ints and returns an int:

int (*functionPtr)(int,int);

Now we can safely point to our function:

functionPtr = &addInt;

Now that we have a pointer to the function, let's use it:

int sum = (*functionPtr)(2, 3); // sum == 5

Passing the pointer to another function is basically the same:

int add2to3(int (*functionPtr)(int, int)) {
    return (*functionPtr)(2, 3);
}

We can use function pointers in return values as well (try to keep up, it gets messy):

// this is a function called functionFactory which receives parameter n
// and returns a pointer to another function which receives two ints
// and it returns another int
int (*functionFactory(int n))(int, int) {
    printf("Got parameter %d", n);
    int (*functionPtr)(int,int) = &addInt;
    return functionPtr;
}

But it's much nicer to use a typedef:

typedef int (*myFuncDef)(int, int);
// note that the typedef name is indeed myFuncDef

myFuncDef functionFactory(int n) {
    printf("Got parameter %d", n);
    myFuncDef functionPtr = &addInt;
    return functionPtr;
}

Function pointers in C can be used to perform object-oriented programming in C.

For example, the following lines is written in C:

String s1 = newString();
s1->set(s1, "hello");

Yes, the -> and the lack of a new operator is a dead give away, but it sure seems to imply that we're setting the text of some String class to be "hello".

By using function pointers, it is possible to emulate methods in C.

How is this accomplished?

The String class is actually a struct with a bunch of function pointers which act as a way to simulate methods. The following is a partial declaration of the String class:

typedef struct String_Struct* String;

struct String_Struct
{
    char* (*get)(const void* self);
    void (*set)(const void* self, char* value);
    int (*length)(const void* self);
};

char* getString(const void* self);
void setString(const void* self, char* value);
int lengthString(const void* self);

String newString();

As can be seen, the methods of the String class are actually function pointers to the declared function. In preparing the instance of the String, the newString function is called in order to set up the function pointers to their respective functions:

String newString()
{
    String self = (String)malloc(sizeof(struct String_Struct));

    self->get = &getString;
    self->set = &setString;
    self->length = &lengthString;

    self->set(self, "");

    return self;
}

For example, the getString function that is called by invoking the get method is defined as the following:

char* getString(const void* self_obj)
{
    return ((String)self_obj)->internal->value;
}

One thing that can be noticed is that there is no concept of an instance of an object and having methods that are actually a part of an object, so a "self object" must be passed in on each invocation. (And the internal is just a hidden struct which was omitted from the code listing earlier -- it is a way of performing information hiding, but that is not relevant to function pointers.)

So, rather than being able to do s1->set("hello");, one must pass in the object to perform the action on s1->set(s1, "hello").

With that minor explanation having to pass in a reference to yourself out of the way, we'll move to the next part, which is inheritance in C.

Let's say we want to make a subclass of String, say an ImmutableString. In order to make the string immutable, the set method will not be accessible, while maintaining access to get and length, and force the "constructor" to accept a char*:

typedef struct ImmutableString_Struct* ImmutableString;

struct ImmutableString_Struct
{
    String base;

    char* (*get)(const void* self);
    int (*length)(const void* self);
};

ImmutableString newImmutableString(const char* value);

Basically, for all subclasses, the available methods are once again function pointers. This time, the declaration for the set method is not present, therefore, it cannot be called in a ImmutableString.

As for the implementation of the ImmutableString, the only relevant code is the "constructor" function, the newImmutableString:

ImmutableString newImmutableString(const char* value)
{
    ImmutableString self = (ImmutableString)malloc(sizeof(struct ImmutableString_Struct));

    self->base = newString();

    self->get = self->base->get;
    self->length = self->base->length;

    self->base->set(self->base, (char*)value);

    return self;
}

In instantiating the ImmutableString, the function pointers to the get and length methods actually refer to the String.get and String.length method, by going through the base variable which is an internally stored String object.

The use of a function pointer can achieve inheritance of a method from a superclass.

We can further continue to polymorphism in C.

If for example we wanted to change the behavior of the length method to return 0 all the time in the ImmutableString class for some reason, all that would have to be done is to:

1. Add a function that is going to serve as the overriding length method.
2. Go to the "constructor" and set the function pointer to the overriding length method.

Adding an overriding length method in ImmutableString may be performed by adding an lengthOverrideMethod:

int lengthOverrideMethod(const void* self)
{
    return 0;
}

Then, the function pointer for the length method in the constructor is hooked up to the lengthOverrideMethod:

ImmutableString newImmutableString(const char* value)
{
    ImmutableString self = (ImmutableString)malloc(sizeof(struct ImmutableString_Struct));

    self->base = newString();

    self->get = self->base->get;
    self->length = &lengthOverrideMethod;

    self->base->set(self->base, (char*)value);

    return self;
}

Now, rather than having an identical behavior for the length method in ImmutableString class as the String class, now the length method will refer to the behavior defined in the lengthOverrideMethod function.

I must add a disclaimer that I am still learning how to write with an object-oriented programming style in C, so there probably are points that I didn't explain well, or may just be off mark in terms of how best to implement OOP in C. But my purpose was to try to illustrate one of many uses of function pointers.

For more information on how to perform object-oriented programming in C, please refer to the following questions:

• Object-Orientation in C?
• Can you write object oriented code in C?

One of my favorite uses for function pointers is as cheap and easy iterators -

#include <stdio.h>
#define MAX_COLORS  256

typedef struct {
    char* name;
    int red;
    int green;
    int blue;
} Color;

Color Colors[MAX_COLORS];


void eachColor (void (*fp)(Color *c)) {
    int i;
    for (i=0; i<MAX_COLORS; i++)
        (*fp)(&Colors[i]);
}

void printColor(Color* c) {
    if (c->name)
        printf("%s = %i,%i,%i\n", c->name, c->red, c->green, c->blue);
}

int main() {
    Colors[0].name="red";
    Colors[0].red=255;
    Colors[1].name="blue";
    Colors[1].blue=255;
    Colors[2].name="black";

    eachColor(printColor);
}

Function pointers become easy to declare once you have the basic declarators:

• id: ID: ID is a
• Pointer: *D: D pointer to
• Function: D(<parameters>): D function taking <parameters> returning

While D is another declarator built using those same rules. In the end, somewhere, it ends with ID (see below for an example), which is the name of the declared entity. Let's try to build a function taking a pointer to a function taking nothing and returning int, and returning a pointer to a function taking a char and returning int. With type-defs it's like this

typedef int ReturnFunction(char);
typedef int ParameterFunction(void);
ReturnFunction *f(ParameterFunction *p);

As you see, it's pretty easy to build it up using typedefs. Without typedefs, it's not hard either with the above declarator rules, applied consistently. As you see i missed out the part the pointer points to, and the thing the function returns. That's what appears at the very left of the declaration, and is not of interest: It's added at the end if one built up the declarator already. Let's do that. Building it up consistently, first wordy - showing the structure using [ and ]:

function taking 
    [pointer to [function taking [void] returning [int]]] 
returning
    [pointer to [function taking [char] returning [int]]]

As you see, one can describe a type completely by appending declarators one after each other. Construction can be done in two ways. One is bottom-up, starting with the very right thing (leaves) and working the way through up to the identifier. The other way is top-down, starting at the identifier, working the way down to the leaves. I'll show both ways.

Bottom Up

Construction starts with the thing at the right: The thing returned, which is the function taking char. To keep the declarators distinct, i'm going to number them:

D1(char);

Inserted the char parameter directly, since it's trivial. Adding a pointer to declarator by replacing D1 by *D2. Note that we have to wrap parentheses around *D2. That can be known by looking up the precedence of the *-operator and the function-call operator (). Without our parentheses, the compiler would read it as *(D2(char p)). But that would not be a plain replace of D1 by *D2 anymore, of course. Parentheses are always allowed around declarators. So you don't make anything wrong if you add too much of them, actually.

(*D2)(char);

Return type is complete! Now, let's replace D2 by the function declarator function taking <parameters> returning, which is D3(<parameters>) which we are at now.

(*D3(<parameters>))(char)

Note that no parentheses are needed, since we want D3 to be a function-declarator and not a pointer declarator this time. Great, only thing left is the parameters for it. The parameter is done exactly the same as we've done the return type, just with char replaced by void. So i'll copy it:

(*D3(   (*ID1)(void)))(char)

I've replaced D2 by ID1, since we are finished with that parameter (it's already a pointer to a function - no need for another declarator). ID1 will be the name of the parameter. Now, i told above at the end one adds the type which all those declarator modify - the one appearing at the very left of every declaration. For functions, that becomes the return type. For pointers the pointed to type etc... It's interesting when written down the type, it will appear in the opposite order, at the very right :) Anyway, substituting it yields the complete declaration. Both times int of course.

int (*ID0(int (*ID1)(void)))(char)

I've called the identifier of the function ID0 in that example.

Top Down

This starts at the identifier at the very left in the description of the type, wrapping that declarator as we walk our way through the right. Start with function taking <parameters> returning

ID0(<parameters>)

The next thing in the description (after "returning") was pointer to. Let's incorporate it:

*ID0(<parameters>)

Then the next thing was functon taking <parameters> returning. The parameter is a simple char, so we put it in right away again, since it's really trivial.

(*ID0(<parameters>))(char)

Note the parentheses we added, since we again want that the * binds first, and then the (char). Otherwise it would read function taking <parameters> returning function .... Noes, functions returning functions aren't even allowed.

Now we just need to put <parameters>. I will show a short version of the deriveration, since i think you already by now have the idea how to do it.

pointer to: *ID1
... function taking void returning: (*ID1)(void)

Just put int before the declarators like we did with bottom-up, and we are finished

int (*ID0(int (*ID1)(void)))(char)

The nice thing

Is bottom-up or top-down better? I'm used to bottom-up, but some people may be more comfortable with top-down. It's a matter of taste i think. Incidentally, if you apply all the operators in that declaration, you will end up getting an int:

int v = (*ID0(some_function_pointer))(some_char);

That is a nice property of declarations in C: The declaration asserts that if those operators are used in an expression using the identifier, then it yields the type on the very left. It's like that for arrays too.

Hope you liked this little tutorial! Now we can link to this when people wonder about the strange declaration syntax of functions. I tried to put as little C internals as possible. Feel free to edit/fix things in it.

A function pointer is a variable that contains the address of a function. Since it is a pointer variable though with some restricted properties, you can use it pretty much like you would any other pointer variable in data structures.

The only exception I can think of is treating the function pointer as pointing to something other than a single value. Doing pointer arithmetic by incrementing or decrementing a function pointer or adding/subtracting an offset to a function pointer isn't really of any utility as a function pointer only points to a single thing, the entry point of a function.

The size of a function pointer variable, the number of bytes occupied by the variable, may vary depending on the underlying architecture, e.g. x32 or x64 or whatever.

The declaration for a function pointer variable needs to specify the same kind of information as a function declaration in order for the C compiler to do the kinds of checks that it normally does. If you don't specify a parameter list in the declaration/definition of the function pointer, the C compiler will not be able to check the use of parameters. There are cases when this lack of checking can be useful however just remember that a safety net has been removed.

Some examples:

int func (int a, char *pStr);    // declares a function

int (*pFunc)(int a, char *pStr);  // declares or defines a function pointer

int (*pFunc2) ();                 // declares or defines a function pointer, no parameter list specified.

int (*pFunc3) (void);             // declares or defines a function pointer, no arguments.

The first two declararations are somewhat similar in that:

• func is a function that takes an int and a char * and returns an int
• pFunc is a function pointer to which is assigned the address of a function that takes an int and a char * and returns an int

So from the above we could have a source line in which the address of the function func() is assigned to the function pointer variable pFunc as in pFunc = func;.

Notice the syntax used with a function pointer declaration/definition in which parenthesis are used to overcome the natural operator precedence rules.

int *pfunc(int a, char *pStr);    // declares a function that returns int pointer
int (*pFunc)(int a, char *pStr);  // declares a function pointer that returns an int

Several Different Usage Examples

Some examples of usage of a function pointer:

int (*pFunc) (int a, char *pStr);    // declare a simple function pointer variable
int (*pFunc[55])(int a, char *pStr); // declare an array of 55 function pointers
int (**pFunc)(int a, char *pStr);    // declare a pointer to a function pointer variable
struct {                             // declare a struct that contains a function pointer
    int x22;
    int (*pFunc)(int a, char *pStr);
} thing = {0, func};                 // assign values to the struct variable
char * xF (int x, int (*p)(int a, char *pStr));  // declare a function that has a function pointer as an argument
char * (*pxF) (int x, int (*p)(int a, char *pStr));  // declare a function pointer that points to a function that has a function pointer as an argument

You can use variable length parameter lists in the definition of a function pointer.

int sum (int a, int b, ...);
int (*psum)(int a, int b, ...);

Or you can not specify a parameter list at all. This can be useful but it eliminates the opportunity for the C compiler to perform checks on the argument list provided.

int  sum ();      // nothing specified in the argument list so could be anything or nothing
int (*psum)();
int  sum2(void);  // void specified in the argument list so no parameters when calling this function
int (*psum2)(void);

C style Casts

You can use C style casts with function pointers. However be aware that a C compiler may be lax about checks or provide warnings rather than errors.

int sum (int a, char *b);
int (*psplsum) (int a, int b);
psplsum = sum;               // generates a compiler warning
psplsum = (int (*)(int a, int b)) sum;   // no compiler warning, cast to function pointer
psplsum = (int *(int a, int b)) sum;     // compiler error of bad cast generated, parenthesis are required.

Compare Function Pointer to Equality

You can check that a function pointer is equal to a particular function address using an if statement though I am not sure how useful that would be. Other comparison operators would seem to have even less utility.

static int func1(int a, int b) {
    return a + b;
}

static int func2(int a, int b, char *c) {
    return c[0] + a + b;
}

static int func3(int a, int b, char *x) {
    return a + b;
}

static char *func4(int a, int b, char *c, int (*p)())
{
    if (p == func1) {
        p(a, b);
    }
    else if (p == func2) {
        p(a, b, c);      // warning C4047: '==': 'int (__cdecl *)()' differs in levels of indirection from 'char *(__cdecl *)(int,int,char *)'
    } else if (p == func3) {
        p(a, b, c);
    }
    return c;
}

An Array of Function Pointers

And if you want to have an array of function pointers each of the elements of which the argument list has differences then you can define a function pointer with the argument list unspecified (not void which means no arguments but just unspecified) something like the following though you may see warnings from the C compiler. This also works for a function pointer parameter to a function:

int(*p[])() = {       // an array of function pointers
    func1, func2, func3
};
int(**pp)();          // a pointer to a function pointer


p[0](a, b);
p[1](a, b, 0);
p[2](a, b);      // oops, left off the last argument but it compiles anyway.

func4(a, b, 0, func1);
func4(a, b, 0, func2);  // warning C4047: 'function': 'int (__cdecl *)()' differs in levels of indirection from 'char *(__cdecl *)(int,int,char *)'
func4(a, b, 0, func3);

    // iterate over the array elements using an array index
for (i = 0; i < sizeof(p) / sizeof(p[0]); i++) {
    func4(a, b, 0, p[i]);
}
    // iterate over the array elements using a pointer
for (pp = p; pp < p + sizeof(p)/sizeof(p[0]); pp++) {
    (*pp)(a, b, 0);          // pointer to a function pointer so must dereference it.
    func4(a, b, 0, *pp);     // pointer to a function pointer so must dereference it.
}

C style namespace Using Global struct with Function Pointers

You can use the static keyword to specify a function whose name is file scope and then assign this to a global variable as a way of providing something similar to the namespace functionality of C++.

In a header file define a struct that will be our namespace along with a global variable that uses it.

typedef struct {
   int (*func1) (int a, int b);             // pointer to function that returns an int
   char *(*func2) (int a, int b, char *c);  // pointer to function that returns a pointer
} FuncThings;

extern const FuncThings FuncThingsGlobal;

Then in the C source file:

#include "header.h"

// the function names used with these static functions do not need to be the
// same as the struct member names. It's just helpful if they are when trying
// to search for them.
// the static keyword ensures these names are file scope only and not visible
// outside of the file.
static int func1 (int a, int b)
{
    return a + b;
}

static char *func2 (int a, int b, char *c)
{
    c[0] = a % 100; c[1] = b % 50;
    return c;
}

const FuncThings FuncThingsGlobal = {func1, func2};

This would then be used by specifying the complete name of global struct variable and member name to access the function. The const modifier is used on the global so that it can not be changed by accident.

int abcd = FuncThingsGlobal.func1 (a, b);

Application Areas of Function Pointers

A DLL library component could do something similar to the C style namespace approach in which a particular library interface is requested from a factory method in a library interface which supports the creation of a struct containing function pointers.. This library interface loads the requested DLL version, creates a struct with the necessary function pointers, and then returns the struct to the requesting caller for use.

typedef struct {
    HMODULE  hModule;
    int (*Func1)();
    int (*Func2)();
    int(*Func3)(int a, int b);
} LibraryFuncStruct;

int  LoadLibraryFunc LPCTSTR  dllFileName, LibraryFuncStruct *pStruct)
{
    int  retStatus = 0;   // default is an error detected

    pStruct->hModule = LoadLibrary (dllFileName);
    if (pStruct->hModule) {
        pStruct->Func1 = (int (*)()) GetProcAddress (pStruct->hModule, "Func1");
        pStruct->Func2 = (int (*)()) GetProcAddress (pStruct->hModule, "Func2");
        pStruct->Func3 = (int (*)(int a, int b)) GetProcAddress(pStruct->hModule, "Func3");
        retStatus = 1;
    }

    return retStatus;
}

void FreeLibraryFunc (LibraryFuncStruct *pStruct)
{
    if (pStruct->hModule) FreeLibrary (pStruct->hModule);
    pStruct->hModule = 0;
}

and this could be used as in:

LibraryFuncStruct myLib = {0};
LoadLibraryFunc (L"library.dll", &myLib);
//  ....
myLib.Func1();
//  ....
FreeLibraryFunc (&myLib);

The same approach can be used to define an abstract hardware layer for code that uses a particular model of the underlying hardware. Function pointers are filled in with hardware specific functions by a factory to provide the hardware specific functionality that implements functions specified in the abstract hardware model. This can be used to provide an abstract hardware layer used by software which calls a factory function in order to get the specific hardware function interface then uses the function pointers provided to perform actions for the underlying hardware without needing to know implementation details about the specific target.

Function Pointers to create Delegates, Handlers, and Callbacks

You can use function pointers as a way to delegate some task or functionality. The classic example in C is the comparison delegate function pointer used with the Standard C library functions qsort() and bsearch() to provide the collation order for sorting a list of items or performing a binary search over a sorted list of items. The comparison function delegate specifies the collation algorithm used in the sort or the binary search.

Another use is similar to applying an algorithm to a C++ Standard Template Library container.

void * ApplyAlgorithm (void *pArray, size_t sizeItem, size_t nItems, int (*p)(void *)) {
    unsigned char *pList = pArray;
    unsigned char *pListEnd = pList + nItems * sizeItem;
    for ( ; pList < pListEnd; pList += sizeItem) {
        p (pList);
    }

    return pArray;
}

int pIncrement(int *pI) {
    (*pI)++;

    return 1;
}

void * ApplyFold(void *pArray, size_t sizeItem, size_t nItems, void * pResult, int(*p)(void *, void *)) {
    unsigned char *pList = pArray;
    unsigned char *pListEnd = pList + nItems * sizeItem;
    for (; pList < pListEnd; pList += sizeItem) {
        p(pList, pResult);
    }

    return pArray;
}

int pSummation(int *pI, int *pSum) {
    (*pSum) += *pI;

    return 1;
}

// source code and then lets use our function.
int intList[30] = { 0 }, iSum = 0;

ApplyAlgorithm(intList, sizeof(int), sizeof(intList) / sizeof(intList[0]), pIncrement);
ApplyFold(intList, sizeof(int), sizeof(intList) / sizeof(intList[0]), &iSum, pSummation);

Another example is with GUI source code in which a handler for a particular event is registered by providing a function pointer which is actually called when the event happens. The Microsoft MFC framework with its message maps uses something similar to handle Windows messages that are delivered to a window or thread.

Asynchronous functions that require a callback are similar to an event handler. The user of the asynchronous function calls the asynchronous function to start some action and provides a function pointer which the asynchronous function will call once the action is complete. In this case the event is the asynchronous function completing its task.

Since function pointers are often typed callbacks, you might want to have a look at type safe callbacks. The same applies to entry points, etc of functions that are not callbacks.

C is quite fickle and forgiving at the same time :)