How to Check if Pointer Is NULL in C++

1. Compare With nullptr to Check if Pointer Is NULL in C++
2. Use Comparison With 0 to Check if Pointer Is NULL in C++
3. Use Pointer Value as Condition to Check if Pointer Is NULL in C++

This article will demonstrate multiple methods of how to check if a pointer is null in C++.

Compare With nullptr to Check if Pointer Is NULL in C++

The C++ language provides multiple low-level features to manipulate memory directly and specifies the concept of pointer, which is the object pointing to a memory address. Usually, a pointer should point to some object which is utilized by the executing program. Although, we can also declare a pointer as a null pointer that does not point to any object.

A null pointer is initialized by assigning the literal nullptr value or with the integer 0. Note, though, that modern C++ suggests avoiding 0 initialization of pointers because it can lead to undesired results when using overloaded functions. In the following example, we check if the pointer is not equal to a nullptr, and if the condition is satisfied, we can operate on it.

#include <iostream>

using std::cout;
using std::endl;

#define SIZE 123

int main() {
  char *arr = (char *)malloc(SIZE);

  if (arr != nullptr) {
    cout << "Valid pointer!" << endl;
  } else {
    cout << "NULL pointer!" << endl;
  }

  free(arr);
  return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Output:

Valid pointer!

Use Comparison With 0 to Check if Pointer Is NULL in C++

There is also a preprocessor variable named NULL, which has roots in the C standard library and is often used in legacy code. Mind that it is not recommended to use NULL in contemporary C++ programming because it’s equivalent to initialization by the integer 0, and the problems may arise as stated in the previous section. Still, we can check if a pointer is null by comparing it to 0 as demonstrated in the next code sample:

#include <iostream>

using std::cout;
using std::endl;

#define SIZE 123

int main() {
  char *arr = (char *)malloc(SIZE);

  if (arr != 0) {
    cout << "Valid pointer!" << endl;
  } else {
    cout << "NULL pointer!" << endl;
  }

  free(arr);
  return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Output:

Valid pointer!

Use Pointer Value as Condition to Check if Pointer Is NULL in C++

Null pointers are evaluated as false when they are used in logical expressions. Thus, we can put a given pointer in the if statement condition to check if it’s null. Note that dereferencing null pointers leads to undefined behavior, which causes a program to terminate abnormally in most cases.

#include <iostream>

using std::cout;
using std::endl;

#define SIZE 123

int main() {
  char *arr = (char *)malloc(SIZE);

  if (arr) {
    cout << "Valid pointer!" << endl;
  } else {
    cout << "NULL pointer!" << endl;
  }

  free(arr);
  return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Output:

Valid pointer!