Can using 0L to initialize a pointer in C++ cause problems?

c++ pointers null-pointer
sharptooth picture sharptooth · Dec 15, 2009 · Viewed 12.1k times · Source

In this question an initializer is used to set a pointer to null. Instead of using value of 0 value of 0L is used. I've read that one should use exactly 0 for null pointers because exact null pointer representation is implementation-specific.

Can using 0L to set a pointer to null cause problems while porting?

Answer

Andreas Brinck picture Andreas Brinck · Dec 15, 2009

From the standard (4.10.1):

A null pointer constant is an integral constant expression (5.19) rvalue of integer type that evaluates to zero

so I guess 0L is ok.

Related questions

Is it safe to delete a NULL pointer?

Is it safe to delete a NULL pointer? And is it a good coding style?

Read More
Can I use if (pointer) instead of if (pointer != NULL)?

Is it safe to check a pointer to not being NULL by writing simply if(pointer) or do I have to use if(pointer != NULL)?

Read More
Uninitialized pointers in code

I am learning C++ and I came to know that pointers if left uninitialized could point to random locations in memory and create problems that memory might be used by some other program. Now if that is the case we …

Read More